In the theatrical world of professional wrestling, where larger-than-life personas often vanish as quickly as they appear, few stories are as compelling—or as creatively unconventional—as that of Stephen Cepello, better known to wrestling fans as “The California Terminator” Steve Strong. With rippling biceps, sun-kissed hair, and the presence of a Marvel villain, Strong looked every bit the classic 1970s wrestling superstar. But when the final bell rang on his in-ring career, Cepello swapped turnbuckles for turpentine—and embarked on a second act as unexpected as it was brilliant.
From his beginnings in Arizona art schools to hoisting titles in Hawaii’s wrestling rings to becoming the official portrait artist for one of America’s most eccentric governors, Cepello’s story is equal parts canvas, contest, and curiosity. Here’s a deep dive into the kaleidoscopic life of the grappler-turned-gallery-man, Stephen Cepello.
Chapter 1: The Arizona Brushstroke Kid
Born on June 29, 1949, in Arizona, Cepello was a gifted child with a sketchpad in one hand and a barbell in the other. Raised in the American Southwest, he began painting at the precocious age of seven. He eventually studied at the Kachina School of Art in Phoenix, honing a style that would one day be bold enough to hang in the Minnesota State Capitol and vivid enough to fit in a wrestling ring.
While attending college in Phoenix, Cepello proved he wasn’t just a right-brain savant—he made the school’s basketball team and later entered its athletic hall of fame. It was a unique fusion: part jock, part artist, and fully destined for something unusual.
Chapter 2: The California Terminator Rises
Cepello entered professional wrestling in 1973 after training with Mac McFarland, eventually becoming a fixture on Stu Hart’s notoriously tough Stampede Wrestling circuit. But it wasn’t in the frozen tundra of Canada that he’d gain his greatest notoriety—it was in the tropical chaos of Hawaii.
There, as Steve Strong, he became a charismatic powerhouse for NWA Hawaii (then under 50th State Big Time Wrestling). With his 6-foot-4 frame and 282-pound build, he cut an intimidating figure, earning a rep as a capable bruiser both in singles matches and as a tag team partner.
Promoters recognized the visual pairing gold when they saw Strong alongside a then-up-and-coming Jesse Ventura. Their similar size and Hollywood-ready charisma made them instant headliners. On July 28, 1977, Strong and Ventura captured the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship—kicking off what would become both a wrestling alliance and an eventual artistic collaboration decades later.
Strong didn’t just dabble in tag gold; he also claimed the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship in early 1978 by defeating Bill Francis. He cycled through partners including Chris Markoff and the infamous John Tolos, stacking up three NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship reigns before exiting the business in 1980.
Strong was never a household name like Hogan or Flair, but he was undeniably solid—an anchor for a regional promotion and a prototype for what wrestling would later brand as the “power wrestler.”
Chapter 3: Lights, Canvas, Action
After hanging up the boots, Cepello didn’t vanish like many of his contemporaries. Instead, he turned to art—not merely as a hobby, but as a calling. He appeared in films such as Tarzan, The Ape Man (1981), Looker (also 1981), and the wrestling mockumentary Grunt! The Wrestling Movie (1985), where he played a masked character called “The Mask.” Oh, and in case your nostalgia alarm wasn’t ringing already, he also showed up in Michael Nesmith’s pioneering music video mashup Elephant Parts—though confused fans for years believed it was Hulk Hogan.
But his real post-ring renaissance came with the brush.
Chapter 4: Painting the Body Politic
Perhaps the most surreal chapter in Cepello’s story is his professional relationship with Jesse Ventura—his former tag team partner turned Governor of Minnesota. When Ventura needed someone to paint his official gubernatorial portraits, he turned not to some Ivy League oil painter, but to the man who used to throw suplexes with him in Honolulu.
The first portrait, hung in the Governor’s Mansion, featured Ventura on horseback, proudly hoisting an American flag—George Washington meets biker gang. The second, placed in the Minnesota State Capitol, depicted Ventura seated in classic statesman pose, hand resting on Rodin’s The Thinker. Viewers claimed to see hidden messages in the folds of Ventura’s suit—WWF? A secret face? Was Cepello playing tricks with oil and shadow, or simply giving the people what they wanted: a riddle wrapped in a portrait wrapped in tights?
Either way, these weren’t just paintings—they were time capsules. Tributes to a wrestling past wrapped inside the halls of democratic power.
Chapter 5: Seascapes, Protein Powders, and Preservation
When he wasn’t painting governors, Cepello was still putting paint to canvas—particularly of the oceanic variety. Living in Hawaii during and after his wrestling career, he became a prolific painter of seascapes and marine wildlife, channeling his passion into both art and environmental activism. His works reflected a tranquilism at odds with the chaos of the squared circle—a man who could once bench press opponents now capturing the softness of crashing waves and migrating whales.
Oh, and in case you needed more eccentricity—he also designed the logo for bodybuilder Dave Draper’s “Bomber Blend” whey protein. A former strongman designing a protein label? Of course he did.
Legacy: The Sleeper Star of Two Worlds
Stephen Cepello’s story is one that straddles physicality and philosophy, brawn and brushstroke. He may not have headlined WrestleMania or hosted a podcast dissecting Montreal screwjobs, but he carved a niche all his own—an artist in a business full of hammers.
From the mat to the museum, from elbow drops to oil paint, Steve Strong lived up to his name in more ways than one. He was a wrestling lifer who escaped the trope, a musclebound monolith who found softness in the subtle hues of life after wrestling.
And somewhere in the folds of a suit sleeve in a Capitol building, a whispered memory of suplexes and seascapes remains.
Stephen Cepello: The California Terminator who conquered not just the canvas of the ring—but the canvas of life.
