HeadLocker — Jay Shannon
OWW Wrestler of the Week — Scott Steiner
Our resident philosopher, Jay Shannon, awards the OWW Wrestler of the Week to the returning Scott Steiner. Big Poppa Pump became the fifth male member of the newly-formed Main Event Mafia.
Thursday’s TNA Impact saw the return of Big Poppa Pump, Scott Steiner. Steiner had been out for rehabilitation of his latest injury. Steiner surprised the Impact Zone when he aligned himself with the Main Event Mafia, becoming their fifth active member (Sharmell doesn’t compete in the ring). By joining the M-E-M, Steiner has reignited his career. The move also garnered him this week’s OWW Wrestler of the Week award.
Baby Brother Breaks into the business
Scott Rechsteiner was born in Michigan in 1962. He had a stellar high school and college wrestling career. He also earned a degree in Education from the University of Michigan. Scott was introduced to Detroit wrestling legend, Ed Farhat (The Sheik). Farhat saw great potential in Scott and suggested he give pro wrestling a try. Scott thought it was a great idea and became one of Farhat’s brightest students.
Scott started wrestling in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. He used the name Scott Rexsteiner, which was a phonetic spelling of his given name. Scott’s first title was the WWA championship, which he won from The Great Wojo. Steiner also had a successful team with Jerry Graham, Jr. During this time, Scott’s older brother, Rick, was also wrestling in the Northeast. The two brothers worked for different territories until both showed up in WCW.
The birth of the Steiner Brothers
Scott Rechsteiner wrestled for the CWA for several months. He had several successful tag teams during his time in the Jerry Jarrett-owned promotion. Meanwhile, Rick Steiner had been working for Bill Watts’ Mid-South promotion. Rick had been wrestling under the name of Rob Rechsteiner, until “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer re-christened Rob “Rick Steiner”. The name was a take-off on Robert Rechsteiner’s real name.
When Watts’ company was incorporated into the newly expanding NWA, Rick Steiner moved on to Jim Crockett’s Promotion. Rick suggested his little brother be brought into the fold. When Scott signed on, it was determined that he would also use his brother’s surname. Thus, Scott Steiner was born. Scott began his NWA/WCW career as moral support for his older brother. Eventually, the two brothers were placed into a tag team. They defeated The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin) for their first NWA World tag team titles. The Steiners would win the NWA/WCW World tag belts on 7 occasions. They would also win the US Tag belts. They were considered the top tag team in the company. The two would eventually take an offer from the then-WWF, when both Steiners felt “ripped off” by Bill Watts (who was in charge of WCW in 1992).
The WWE Years
Scott Steiner had won the World TV championship not long before the Steiners’ contracts came up for renewal. Scott actually surrendered the title and accepted a lucrative offer from the WWF. The two Steiners were immediately placed in feuds with the other top teams in the WWF, including The Beverly Brothers, The Headshrinkers, and Money, Inc. The Steiners would take the WWF Tag belts from Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster. Money Inc and the Steiners would swap the tag straps back and forth, several times, at house shows over the next few weeks.
The Steiners would lose their titles to the Quebecers in an odd match where belts could change hands on a disqualification. The manager of the Quebecers, Johnny Polo (Scott “Raven” Levy) threw a hockey stick to Scott. The ref thought he had used the stick as a weapon and called for the DQ. The Steiners would run out their contract working in tag team and mega-team matches.
Steiners get Extreme
When the Steiners contract ran out in 1994, the brothers weighed several options. Both men had met and befriended Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman) during their late 80s run in the NWA/WCW. Paul invited the brothers to join his renegade organization, Extreme Championship Wrestling. The Steiners lost most of their matches in ECW. They feuded with various members of the Dudley clan. The Steiners were recruited heavily by WCW. Since Bill Watts was gone from WCW, the Steiners agreed to return to the place that made them superstars.
Scott goes solo
When Scott returned to WCW, he had an all-new look. He had added tremendous muscle mass to his form. Many fans suspected that Steiner had taken massive amounts of steroids to achieve his new look, but that has never been proved. Scott also cut off his trademark mullet and grew a Fu Manchu mustache, which he bleached blond. The Steiner feuded with Harlem Heat and The Outsiders, before Scott and Rick disbanded the team. Creative knew that splitting up one of the most successful tag teams of all time would require something shocking.
The shock came when Scott attacked his own brother. The two would feud Scott began to use a few different nicknames as his new character developed. He first used “White Thunder”, which referenced his newly bleached hair and increased power. When test groups felt that the name had a racist feel to it, the name was dropped, in favor of Superstar. That name was a tribute to “Superstar” Billy Graham, a man Scott very much admired. That was the original reason for the Superman-like “S” symbol on Scott’s wrestling tights.
As Scott’s heel character continued to evolve, he began to push the bodybuilder story of how he received his increased mass. That led to his most well-known nickname of “Big Poppa Pump”. Some say the name was a suggestion by Kevin Nash as a counterpart to his own WWF nickname of Big Daddy Cool. Scott stayed with the nWo until it fell apart in 1999.
Scott was so embraced as a heel that he remained on the dark side even after the nWo disbanded. Scott brought his brother, Rick, back for a short-lived reunion. That reunion had to be halted when Scott injured his back. When Scott returned, he became a key player in both the New Blood and Magnificent Seven groups. When the WWF bought out WCW, Steiner declined to return to the WWF. Instead, he sat at home and rode out the remainder of his contract with Time Warner. Scott did work on a few projects for Time Warner outside of the ring. His most memorable was getting trashed by the witches of Charmed. Scott, Buff Bagwell and Booker T fought the three sisters and ended up sent to Hell.
Returning to action
After his contract finished, Scott worked several shows for the WWA promotion, which would later join with TNA. Scott also worked with his Rick in Japan. Eventually, Scott would be approached by agents for the WWE. Scott agreed to return to the WWE.
Scott signed a three-year deal with the WWE. He was ridiculed for his horrible matches against Triple H. After the embarrassing outing against Triple H, Steiner was partnered with Test. The team was a flop, even with leggy Stacy Keibler as their manager. Scott was injured during one of the tag matches. The WWE worked out a deal to allow Steiner an early release.
After his recovery, Scott worked the independent scene for a year before getting a call from an old friend, Jeff Jarrett.
TNA
Scott was brought in as Jarrett’s bodyguard. Scott wasn’t under contract for the first few weeks that he was in the organization. Vince Russo, head writer for TNA, devised a storyline where Scott would continue to attack the TNA stars until he got his contract. The contract was only a short-term one. Scott would leave TNA for a short while after the initial contract ran out. He would return and assist Christian Cage in retaining the TNA World title. Steiner would also feud with Kurt Angle during this time.
Scott worked independent cards, as well as working for TNA. During a show in Puerto Rico on June 3, 2007, Scott was kicked in the throat. The injury didn’t seem severe, at first. When Scott began to cough up blood, he was rushed to a hospital. It was determined that the kick by Apolo had torn Scott’s trachea. Scott has a tremendous scar on his back from where the doctors operated on Scott to fix the trachea and drain fluid on Scott’s lungs. Scott had to take an extended leave to recover.
Upon returning, Scott feuded with Team 3D. Team 3D were scheduled to face the Steiners in a so-called “Dream Match” when Scott was injured. Road Warrior Animal took Scott’s place in the battle. Scott would have various feuds over the next year, before becoming a mentor.
Petey Williams was looking for a new image. He turned to Scott for advice. Scott converted Petey into a smaller version of himself. Petey even received a variation of Scott’s most famous nickname. Petey was christened Little Petey Pump by Steiner. Petey was also given his own personal “freak”, Rhaka Khan, to join Petey at ringside. Khan was a recreation of Midajah, who had accompanied Scott to the ring for years.
The next step for Scott
Scott ended up on the shelf due to a knee injury. The injury came during a TNA Title match against Samoa Joe. TNA downplayed the injury, initially. They finally admitted that the injury was severe enough to require surgery. Scott had knee surgery on June 24, 2008. It was rumored that Scott would announce his retirement. Scott simply disappeared from sight until October 30, 2008.
On the 10/30 edition of Impact, Scott rushed to the ring with a lead pipe. He attacked the various TNA Originals. He then aligned himself with the other members of the Main Event Mafia. Scott Steiner was the fifth active member of the group. Scott was set to feud with men like A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe and others. Big Poppa Pump attacked everyone, except Petey Williams. It is unclear where their relationship stands. Scott Steiner is poised to make yet another dramatic comeback.
In conclusion
Scott Steiner has had great success in the ring. He has been one half of the Steiner Brothers (easily one of the top 5 tag teams in wrestling history). He also held every singles title in WCW. He has undergone several character changes during his career. He’s also suffered severe injuries that would have sidelined most men. Scott Steiner is ready to possible make the biggest return of his career. Scott is set as the Power Man of the new Main Event Mafia. Scott’s return was the talk of the wrestling industry during the last week. His return was also the catalyst for him receiving the OWW Wrestler of the Week award.
–Jay Shannon
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(11/3/2008)