Israel Blair (born in 1982) is a professional wrestler better known for performing as Israel Steele and under his real name. He is currently signed to Premium Championship Wrestling where he's performing on the Saturday Night Rapture brand under the Israel Steele name. Israel is more known for working in the Classic Wrestling Federation, as well as YouTube Championship Wrestling where he reigned as both YCW Broadcast Champion and YCW Hardcore Broadcast Champion. Israel has held six championships in his career. The YCW Broadcast and Hardcore Broadcast Championships, the PCW Platinum Championship, PCW Brawl Championship (he held both Platinum and Brawl titles at the same time), the SCW Tag Team Championship (with Paul Blair) and the EWF Elite Tag Team Championship (a title he currently holds with Danielle Lopez)
Classic Wrestling Federation (2009 - 2010)[]
Debut and Feuding with Jimmy Johnston[]
After some successful years on the independent circuit, Israel signed a contract with the CWF and he decided to continue to perform under his Israel Steele gimmick. He made his debut as a face on the October 24th edition of Showdown as he went up against his former tag team partner Jimmy Johnston, but lost to him in an impressive bout. Two weeks later on the November 7th edition of Showdown, he went one on one with Enrique Lopez and got the win with a Death Drop and he showed respect to Lopez after the match. On the November 14th edition of Showdown, he went up against both Lopez and Johnston in a triple threat, but came out on the losing end after Johnston pinned Lopez. At Battle to Survive, he captained a team that included Jaxx Harrington, Paul Blair and Keith Daniels to go up against Jimmy Johnston's team that included Lev Mikovich, Chris Chandler and Christoffer Wallace Patrickson and Steele's team got the victory as Keith Daniels emerged as the team's soul survivor. On the December 5th edition of Showdown, he went one on one with CWF Legend Jimmy Blast and got the victory over him, which gave him his biggest win to date. On the December 12th edition of Showdown, he competed in a triple threat match against Roland Ulv and Johnston, but lost when Roland pinned him following a Radiant-Plex. At Season's Beatings, he then costed Jimmy Johnston a match against Bob Osbourne for the CWF Unified Championship. On the January 2nd edition of Showdown, he went one on one against Jimmy Johnston with Bob Osbourne as the referee and got the win over Johnston to seemingly take him out for good.
Heel Turn and The Richards Legion/Legion of Shadows Membership[]
At Last Man Standing, Steele got his first opportunity at the CWF Unified Championship as he went up against Bob Osbourne and despite the valiant effort, he came out with the loss. On the January 16th edition of Showdown, Steele cracked Brian Adams in the head with the steel chair after his win over Paul Blair. Afterwards, he acted like he was going to kiss Paul's hand, but he instead punched him in the face and cracks the chair over his back. At the CWF House Show Event, Steele then disguised himself as a fan and assaulted Paul Blair with a chair and helped The Richards Legion beat him down further. He then revealed himself as a member of the team which turned him into a heel for the first time in his CWF career. At the Valentine's Bash, he went one on one with Paul Blair and lost due to interference. The next week, he was a lumberjack in Da Xtreme Dynasty vs The O'Reilly Brothers tag team title match and despite his best efforts to screw over the Dynasty, it failed as they won the titles. On the February 27th edition of Showdown, he teamed with Leon Lonewolf to go up against the Osbourne's and lost when Lonewolf was pinned. He then assaulted Lonewolf after the match and injured him. On the March 6th edition of Showdown, he went up against Ricky Chambers and got the win after a Death Drop.
A Dramatic Change, the formation of The Apocalypse and Da Xtreme Dynasty membership[]
At Night of Champions V: Liftoff, after Terry Richards defeated Mariano Fernandez to win the CWF Unified Championship, Steele seemingly was defending the Legion as he tried to prevent them from being attacked by Paul Blair, but Steele ducked and Richards was hit instead. Steele then whacked Terry in the leg with the bat and then revealed himself to be Paul Blair's younger brother as they then revealed that they were playing mind games with the Legion, which turned Steele into a Tweener. On the March 20th edition of Showdown, he went one on one with his fellow Apocalype teammate Hudson, but they had other ideas. Blair then was revealed as a competitor in the Chamber match at Super Card for a title shot.
On the March 27th edition of Showdown, he went one on one with Sickboy and despite a valiant effort, he came out on the losing end of the match. At Super Card, he went go up against Eddie Noble, Mariano Fernandez, SJ Funk, Leon Lonewolf, Jimmy Johnston, his brother Paul Blair and Ricky Chambers in a chamber match, but ultimately came up short. During the events that lead up to it, Israel attended the funeral of Enrique Lopez, who was murdered by his former stable, The Legion of Shadows. To honor Enrique, Israel joined Da Xtreme Dynasty. However the membership didn't last long as everybody in Da Dynasty (save for Israel) departed from the CWF due to personal reasons (in Danielle's case, was to concentrate on her stint in YCW). From there, he re-formed his tag team with Paul Blair.
Superior Championship Wrestling/Elite Wrestling Federation (2010)[]
After the CWF was bought out by Greg Johnson, Israel and Blair went for the SCW Tag Team Championships that were held by The O'Reilly Brothers. At Extreme Measures, the Blair's won the titles from the O'Bro's and they left the company. As the EWF formed, the Blair's were named the EWF Tag Team Champions. They only had one match for the EWF when defeated Bobby Crane and Leon Lonewolf to retain the titles in Little Rock. After that, the company went out of business and Israel was left on his own once again.
YouTube Championship Wrestling/Premium Championship Wrestling (2010 - present)[]
Pursuiting both YCW Broadcast and Platinum Championships[]
Israel signed a contract to compete for YouTube Championship Wrestling by Terrell Ryder, a fellow alumnus of Da Xtreme Dynasty. He reverted to the Israel Steele name, basically trashing the Blair family name. He made his YCW debut on the first episode of Step Up when he crushed Owen Anderson with the Death Drop. His next match was on the fourth edition of Monday Night Wrestling on YouTube as he went up against fellow CWF, SCW and EWF alumnum Leon Lonewolf. Israel was victorious with the Death Drop to move on to face Kerry Collins for the YCW Platinum Championship. On the next MNW episode, he went up against good friend and fellow DXD alumnus Danielle Lopez for the YCW Broadcast Championship. Israel won the title when Danielle couldn't answer the ten count. Israel announced that he was turning the title into the Hardcore Broadcast Championship. However after the announcement, Danielle returned and defeated him for the title. At the end of night once Osiris won the belt, he gave it back to Israel and told him to return it back to its normal rules so he can beat him for it at Battle Finale I. At the event, Israel competed in two matches. He lost the Broadcast title to Osiris via the Intrinsic Evil. Later on in the night, he and Collins competed for the Platinum Title. Despite appearances by Paul Blair, Chemical X and a mysterious figure (later turned out to be Mariano Fernandez), Israel lost out on a chance to be champion when Collins hit him with the Final Judgement.
Return and Psycho's R' Us[]
Israel suffered a minor injury at Battle Finale, but claimed that he was fine. He competed in a Dark Match on the second edition of Rapture by defeating "Mr. Imperfect" Mike Stevens, but he suffered an injury to his ankle during the bout. He spent a month on the sidelines until he returned on the September 18th edition of Rapture where he defeated his CWF nemesis Bob Osbourne and Draven Logan Kennedy in a 3 Way Match. At Pyramid Battle, Israel battled Viktor Orlov where the winner would get a PCW Platinum Championship match the next week, Israel won the match and was congratulated by Da Xtreme Dynasty, hinting at a reunion of sorts with them. The next week on Rapture, Steele battled Collins for the title and lost with the Final Judgement. However, he rebounded the next week when he defeated "The Soldier of Truth" John Parker with a new finisher called Totally Fucked Up (a Package Piledriver). The next week on Rapture, he competed in a 3 way match with Draven and Jade Cao. Draven got the win with the Death Note, but the two worked together the entire match up until Jade's elimination. The next week at Alma Mater Diem, the two of them teamed up against Nightrain and Uno, Dos, Tres Cabrito (Paul Blair). They got the victory and decided to go for the tag titles the next week.
Going Back with the REAL Family of Professional Wrestling and PCW Platinum and Brawl Championship Reigns[]
On the November 7th edition of Rapture, Steele had a conversation with Kevin Styles and J.T. Banks, furthering the possible reunion even more. During the match, a miscue between Draven and Izzy happened which caused Styles and Banks to retain. After the match, Draven attacked Israel, only for Styles, Banks and James Baker to make the save. The next day, it was revealed that Danielle Lopez filmed Styles, Banks and Baker beating down Draven with steel toed boots. At a press conference, Steele and Baker teased facing off, but Israel ripped off his Psycho's R' Us shirt to reveal a Da Xtreme Dynasty t-shirt, effectively making him a member of Da Xtreme Dynasty once again. On the November 14th edition of Rapture, Psycho's R' Us were scheduled to face Crunk N' Cyde, but Israel came out to the music of Da Xtreme Dynasty and wore a white suit. He stood on the ramp with Styles and Banks and just watched Draven compete in a 2 on 1 match. As expected, Draven fell to Crunk N' Cyde and Styles, Banks and Israel beat Draven down after the match.
At The Asylum of Slaughter, Steele faced Draven in a Barbwire Cell match for the newly created PCW Brawl Championship. After a brutal encounter, Steele won and became a champion for the first time in PCW. The next week, he had a match with Simon Jacobs for the title and retained by defeating him. The next week, he went up against X-Treme with James Baker as the referee. Steele emerged victorious. On the December 12th edition of Rapture, Steele faced Sickboy for the PCW Platinum Championship and defeated him for the title, making Steele a double champion (triple if you count the Elite tag titles). At this point, Steele was on a major role in his career and it continued at Battle Finale II when he faced Draven for the Platinum title in a TLC Match. Despite it being brutal, Israel retained the belt. Only continuing his role. On the January 1st, 2011 edition of Rapture, he lost the Brawl Championship to Damon Warrens due to interference from Draven. For weeks, Draven taunted Israel, showing himself in scenes with Kelly which included rape and branding her ass cheek with a branding iron. During this, Steele defeated Kyle Sync while losing to Yoshiru Long. At Struggle for Power II, Israel and Draven faced off in a Last Man Standing Match and retained the Platinum title when he barely answered the ten count.
Feuding with Michael Morrison and Injury[]
After his feud with Draven ended, he started one with newcomer Michael Morrison, who defeated him in a non-title match on the February 12th edition of Rapture due to interference from Paul Blair. The next week, he faced both Yoshiru and Sickboy in a triple threat match and lost due to interference from Morrison. The next week, he and Heather Monroe teamed up to face Blair and Morrison in a tag team match. Israel and Heather won by DQ, but Blair, Morrison and Yoshiru Long got the last laugh. At Blackout, Steele defended the Platinum title against Morrison and despite a great match, Israel lost due to interference by Paul Blair. Earlier on in the night, Da Xtreme Dynasty and Generation Next merged, forming Generation Xtreme which effectively made Israel a member of the group.
On the March 19th edition of Rapture, he and Danielle Lopez defended the EWF Elite Tag Team Championships against Blaq Death and retained their titles in basically a squash match. On the March 26th edition of Rapture, Israel went up against Draven one more time in a Falls Count Anywhere match. The match was one of the most brutal matches in PCW history and it went to a draw as neither man answered the ten count. At Super Clash I, Israel got his rematch for the Platinum title, but lost when Morrison used dirty tactics to win. Israel re-aggrivated his ankle injury and decided to take some time off for it to heal.