Debra Marshall
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Debra_Williams.jpg
Debra Gale Marshall is an American former professional wrestling manager, most famously known as Debra. She was married to two prominent professional wrestlers, first to former NFL star Steve McMichael and later to Stone Cold Steve Austin (real name Steve Williams).
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Career
World Championship Wrestling
Debra was a track runner, cheerleader and Homecoming Queen at high school before attending the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York. She then became an Airline Attendant, before she joining World Championship Wrestling along with her husband, Steve "Mongo" McMichael in 1996.
Debra was originally one of many women who would stand on the entrance ramp and clap as Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage entered the ring. On one occasion she was sitting at ringside while her husband was performing announcing duties. Ric Flair hit on her and she ended up throwing a drink in his face, much to Mongo's delight. This caused Mongo to want a match with Flair, so they set up a match for the Great American Bash pay-per-view in 1996. Mongo and Debra ended up turning on his partner, Kevin Greene, to join the Four Horsemen.
During this time, Debra bickered with Woman, with Mongo and Chris Benoit having to step in and separate them. Debra would usually have the last word after Woman and Benoit had left the area.
Jeff Jarrett arrived in WCW and Debra wanted him to join the Horsemen, while Mongo did not. She eventually helped Jarrett defeat Mongo to gain membership, forcing Mongo to team with him. Just as the duo had began to co-exist peacefully, Debra and Jarrett turned on Mongo. Debra recruited Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Bill Goldberg and Alex Wright to a shortlived stable which disbanded when Debra left WCW (and divorced Mongo).
World Wrestling Federation
Debra rejoined Jarrett in the World Wrestling Federation. At the beginning of her WWF career, Debra played the part of a shrewd businesswoman, wearing business suits and rarely smiling. She helped Jarrett win matches through cheating. Following Survivor Series: Deadly Games in November 1998, Jarrett began a feud with "The Bizarre One", Goldust. A match was set for the December 1998 pay-per-view, Rock Bottom: In Your House, which Goldust announced would be a "Striptease Match", meaning that if Jarrett won, then Goldust would have to strip naked, but if Goldust won, then Debra would have to strip naked. Debra played mind games with Goldust in the weeks preceding to the match, flashing him in order to distract him and costing him matches.
On December 13, 1998, Jeff Jarrett faced Goldust in the Striptease Match. The crowd was strongly behind Goldust, as they wanted to see Debra strip. Unfortunately for them, Debra hit Goldust over the head with Jarrett's trademark Guitar, enabling Jarrett to win, meaning that Goldust had to strip. However, WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels ruled that, since Debra had hit Goldust with a guitar, Jarrett was disqualified, meaning that Goldust was the winner, and Debra had to strip. Debra was hesitant at first, but soon warmed up to the crowd, and stripped down to her bra and thong. However, before Debra could unhook her bra, The Blue Blazer (a disguised Owen Hart) entered the ring and covered her up, just as Shawn Michaels took off her bra.
Jarrett hoped this would be the last time anyone saw Debra in her underwear, but Rock Bottom was only the beginning. From that point on, in every Jeff Jarrett match, Debra would take off her blouse and show her bra in order to distract Jarrett's opponents. The strategy was normally successful, and helped Jarrett and his partner, Owen, defeat The Big Bossman and Ken Shamrock to become World Tag Team Champions. Jarrett became a defacto face as a result of Debra, who would willingly take off her blouse to show the crowd her "puppies" (a nickname bestowed by commentator Jerry Lawler).
Debra "won" the Women's Championship from Sable in an Evening Gown Match on May 10, 1999. Technically, in an Evening Gown Match, the winner is the woman who forcibly removes her opponent's dress. Sable took off Debra's dress, and should therefore have been the winner. However, Commissioner Shawn Michaels ruled that he considered the woman who had lost her dress the winner, making Debra the new Women's Champion. She would rarely defend the title, remaining a manager. Jarrett and Debra began feuding with Val Venis and Nicole Bass, leading to a match at Over The Edge on May 23, 1999; a match that took place immediately after Owen Hart had passed away after falling from the top of the arena in a stunt gone wrong. The feud ended in a bikini contest between Debra and Nicole Bass, which Debra won. Afterwards, Bass attacked Venis with Jarrett's guitar, and was never seen in the WWF again.
Debra lost the Women's Title to Ivory on June 14, 1999. She continued as Jarrett's manager, still distracting his opponents by removing her shirt, and wearing bikinis and a sports jacket at pay-per-views. Jarrett began to mistreat her, at one point applying the Figure Four Leglock on her after losing a match to Test and Stephanie McMahon. Finally, at Unforgiven on September 26, 1999, Debra turned on Jeff Jarrett, becoming a face, in the middle of his match against Chyna for the Intercontinental Championship. She smashed Jarrett's guitar over his head and told him she was no longer going to manage him. Chyna pinned Jarrett, but scab referee Dr. Tom Pritchard overturned the decision due to Debra's involvement.
Debra appeared sporadically thereafter, participating in the Sudden Death Match for the WWF Women's Championship at Survivor Series 1999, and acting as Ring Announcer for the World Tag Team Championship match between Edge and Christian and D-Generation X (X-Pac and "The Road Dogg" Jesse James) at Backlash 2000. She disappeared in the summer of 2000, but made her full-time return in the fall of that year, playing the role of Lieutenant Commissioner, the assistant of Commissioner Mick Foley. At this point, Debra married to Stone Cold Steve Austin, and the marriage was incorporated into onscreen storylines.
After Mick Foley was fired as Commissioner in December 2000, Debra took another break, but returned in March 2001. She was ordered by Vince McMahon to become The Rock's manager, in order to generate tension between him and Stone Cold, who were set to face each other for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania X-Seven. The storyline was made as a "tribute" of sorts to the famous Hulk Hogan / "Macho Man" Randy Savage / Miss Elizabeth angle from 1988-1989. Austin finally attacked The Rock after he failed to prevent Kurt Angle placing an ankle lock on Debra in the course of a match. The angle was dropped after two weeks when the WWE decided that the Rock versus Austin with the World Heavyweight Championship on the line was a big enough match to headline WrestleMania X-Seven without further embellishments.
Debra decried her husband's heel turn at WrestleMania X-Seven, but still stood by him as he slowly descended into madness throughout his reign as World Heavyweight Champion. It wasn't until Austin joined The Alliance during the InVasion angle that Debra officially turned heel again. She no longer wore business suits, instead, her attire changed to wearing tight black t-shirts with Stone Cold written on them, and leather pants. While she didn't accompany Stone Cold to the ring for his matches, she did join him in backstage segments and in interviews. She also started baking cookies which she served to the Alliance members during this time period. The cookies supposedly tasted terrible, but no one ever told Debra this other than the somewhat tactless Austin. On August 2, 2001, Debra hit Austin with a tray in the middle of the ring after he repeatedly interrupted and disrespected her.
Debra retained an on-screen role with Stone Cold even after the Alliance angle ended and Stone Cold turned face again. However, her appearances became more and more infrequent, as she wasn't involved in any actual angles or storylines, and just made random appearances backstage with Stone Cold. Finally, in June 2002, Stone Cold walked out of the WWE, and Debra followed. She hasn't been seen in the wrestling business since.
Personal Life
On June 15, 2002 police were called to the residence of Debra and Austin in San Antonio, Texas, and found Debra bruised and hysterical. Austin had left the house and was asked by police not to return. On August 14, Austin was arrested and charged with domestic abuse. He pled no contest on November 25 and and was given a year's probation, a $1,000 fine and ordered to carry out eighty hours of community service. In addition, he was banned from drinking alcoholic beer for a year, as alcohol was believed to be linked to his offence.
Austin filed for divorce on July 22. Debra later auctioned her wedding ring on eBay, with a portion of the proceeds going to "SafePlace", a legal clinic which assists the victims of domestic abuse. Debra is now involved in the world of real estate.
Profile
- Height: 5'5" (165.1 cm)
- Weight: 121 lbs (54.9 kg)
- Birthday: March 2, 1966
- Hometown: Tuscaloosa, Alabama
- Professional Debut: August 1996
- Beauty Titles Won: Miss Texas USA, Miss Illinois America
- Previous Identities: Debra, Debra McMichael, Debra Williams, Queen Debra
- Wrestlers Managed: Steve McMichael, Ric Flair, Steve Austin, Jeff Jarrett, Alex Wright, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Owen Hart
Championships/Accomplishments
- 1-Time WWF Women's Champion
| Preceded by: Sable | Women's Champions | Succeeded by: Ivory |
- Debra won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Manager of the Year Award in 1999.