Stephen Cepello (born June 29, 1949) is an American artist and former

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. As a wrestler, he was best known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

, "The California Terminator" Steve Strong. After retiring from wrestling to focus on his art career, he was selected to paint the official Governor's Mansion and

Minnesota State Capitol The Minnesota State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Minnesota, in its capital (political), capital city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul. It houses the Minnesota Senate, Minnesota House of Representatives, the offic ...

portraits of former wrestler and

Governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory ...

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, political commentator, actor, media personality, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), he ...

Early life

Cepello was raised in Arizona, where he began painting at age seven. He attended the Kachina School of Art in Phoenix. He attended college in Phoenix and played on the basketball team, earning an induction to the school's athletic hall of fame.

Professional wrestling career

Strong began wrestling in 1973, competing for

Stu Hart Stewart Edward Hart (May 3, 1915 – October 16, 2003) was a Canadian sport wrestling, amateur and professional wrestling, professional wrestler, wrestling Booker (professional wrestling), booker, professional wrestling promotion, promoter, and ...

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...

promotion. Much of his career was spent in Hawaii. He competed for NWA Hawaii as both a singles wrestler and as a member of several

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

s. Several championships had been inactive due to the promotion itself being inactive from July 1974 until June 1977, and the promotion held tournaments to determine the new champions when the titles were revived in July 1977. Strong competed for the

NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship The NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and was defended in the US state of Hawaii. The title, which began in 1935. From February 1940 through 1942 the titl ...

and advanced to the final round of the tournament before losing to Bill Francis. He also made it to the final round of a tournament for the

NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship The NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title of 50th State Big Time Wrestling and was defended between 1952 and 1979 when it was phased out. The title was later revived by the current incarnation of NWA Hawaii in 2000. It is ...

along with partner Steve Lawler but ultimately lost to

Sam Steamboat Samuel K. Mokuahi (May 4, 1934 – May 2, 2006) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Sammy Steamboat. Early life Mokuahi grew up in Honolulu, attending President Theodore Roosevelt High School, where he pl ...

and Billy White Wolf. Strong was then paired with

, as the promoter thought that their similar heights and muscular physiques made them a good match. On July 28, Strong teamed with Ventura to win the tag team championship. They held the belts until November, when they dropped them to

John Tolos John Tolos, nicknamed "The Golden Greek", (April 5, 1931 – May 28, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler, and professional wrestling manager. Professional wrestling career Tolos was born on April 5, 1931, in Hamilton, Ontario to G ...

and Bill Francis. In January 1978, Strong gained momentum in his rivalry with Francis, defeating him for the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship and, with partner Chris Markoff, for the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship as well. Strong lost the heavyweight title to Tolos the following month but held the tag team belts until Bill and

Russ Francis Russell Ross Francis (April 3, 1953 – October 1, 2023) was an American professional football player who was a tight end for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers. He w ...

won the championship on April 26 that year. On June 14, Strong teamed with former rival Tolos to win the belts for the final time. They defeated

Big John Studd John William Minton (February 19, 1948 – March 20, 1995) was an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name, Big John Studd. Studd is best known for his appearances with the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World ...

and

Buddy Rose Paul E. Perschmann (November 27, 1952 – April 28, 2009) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Playboy Buddy Rose. He wrestled primarily for the AWA, WWF, and for promoter Don Owen in Pacific Northwest W ...

and held the title for two months before dropping it to

Mr. Fuji was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, actor and Manager (professional wrestling), manager, known professionally by his ring name Mr. Fuji (or Master Fuji to his protégés). He was famous for often throwing salt in the ...

and

Karl Von Steiger Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl of Austria, last Austrian Emperor * Karl (footballer) (born 1993), Karl Cachoe ...

on August 16.

Art career

Cepello appeared in the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for

Michael Nesmith Robert Michael Nesmith (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the Monkees and co-star of their The Monkees (TV series), TV series of the same name (1966–1968) ...

's "Cruisin'", which was included in the 1981 collection titled ''

Elephant Parts ''Elephant Parts'' is a collection of comedy sketches and music videos made in 1981 by Michael Nesmith, formerly of the Monkees. Nesmith produced the video through his company Pacific Arts. ''Elephant Parts'' is one-hour-long with parody comme ...

''. Nesmith mistakenly stated in 1989 that

Hulk Hogan Terry Gene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a brand ambassador. Known for his flamboyance and massive physiq ...

played the role, but he corrected his statement in 2003. He has also appeared in several movies. In 1981, he played Ivory King in ''Tarzan, The Ape Man''. That year, he also had a role in ''Looker'', which was directed by

Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author, screenwriter and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavil ...

. In 1985, Strong appeared in ''Grunt! The Wrestling Movie'', portraying a character known as The Mask. Cepello has painted two portraits of former tag team partner and Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura. One, which was painted for the Governor's Mansion, shows Ventura riding a horse while holding an American flag. The other, a portrait of Ventura resting his hand on

Musée Rodin The Musée Rodin () of Paris, France, is an art museum that was opened in 1919, primarily dedicated to the works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. It has two sites: the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds in central Paris, as well as just ...

's ''

The Thinker ''The Thinker'' (), by Auguste Rodin, is a bronze sculpture depicting a Heroic nudity, nude male figure of heroic size, seated on a large rock, leaning forward, right elbow placed upon the left thigh, back of the right hand supporting the chin ...

'', is displayed in the

. The latter picture has been the subject of scrutiny, as Cepello stated before the unveiling that it would contain a reference to Ventura's wrestling career. Some viewers have stated that they see the letters WWF, a reference to the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

, hidden in the folds of Ventura's sleeve, while others believe that Ventura's tie contains a hidden face. He has also done commercial artwork, which has including the logo for

Dave Draper David Draper (April 16, 1942 – November 30, 2021) was an American bodybuilder, actor and author. Early life Draper was born in Secaucus, New Jersey, on April 16, 1942. His weight training began at the age of ten and was a well-formed habit by ...

's Bomber Blend whey protein. While living in Hawaii, he also painted and sold

seascape A seascape is a photograph, painting, or other work of art which depicts the sea, in other words an example of marine art. The word originated as a formation from landscape, which was first used for images of land in art. By a similar de ...

paintings. Cepello, whose work has included many portraits of animals, is also active in working to preserve marine wildlife.

Championships and accomplishments

50th State Big Time Wrestling 50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Haw ...

( 1 time) **

( 3 times) – with

(1 time),

Chris Markoff Risto Zelevarov (March 1, 1938 – February 10, 2024), known professionally as Chris Markoff, was a Yugoslav-American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with professional wrestling promotions in the Midwestern United S ...

(1 time), and

(1 time)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cepello, Stephen 1949 births 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters American male professional wrestlers American male painters Living people Painters from Arizona Professional wrestlers from Arizona