Scott Steiner is alive, but he was kinda dead a few hours ago. His heart stopped, he stopped breathing, they zapped him back, rushed him to the hospital and he's now in stable condition. That's right, Scott Steiner has resurrected from the dead. Legend. 

Extremely Scott Steiner: "DYING SUCKS ASS. SO I CAME BACK. LIKE A REAL MAN."

Anyway, now is as good a time as any to pay respect to Big Poppa Pump.

It's hard to put into perspective anyone even a few years younger than I am, let alone people a lot younger, how fucking insane the Frankensteiner was the first time you saw it. It was the craziest thing I had ever seen. Young Scotty Steiner, with all his freakishly athletic moves was a marvel and that version getting a real singles run is one of my biggest what ifs. Despite that the Steiner Bros. were such a big deal to me, one of the first things I thought of for WCW. Like before Lex Luger, I thought of the Steiners. It was basically Flair, Sting, Steiners, in that order.

WWF Steiners was another missed opportunity, but even still, they put in some decent work. Would have loved Steiners vs. Harts to get more than that one (sort of famous now) match because that looked like the start of something would have gotten to bonafide classic status. Steiners didn't have the best psychology, so Bret being the architect is an enormous upgrade.

Skipping to Big Poppa Pump, the first time I noticed he seemed to have a bicep on top of a bicep, I was like "What the fuck am I looking at here? Did he always have this?" Dude's peaks were legitimately legendary, like no bodybuilder ever really had something to that degree. Big Poppa Pump turning into a can't miss promo was not something I ever saw coming. Yes, it was an acquired taste, some even liked him ironically (and all of it was ironic as time passed), but when Big Poppa Pop was going rogue, it was legitimately compelling stuff.

It's a shame the Big Poppa Pump character and Scotty Steiner the wrestlers never intersected, but even Big Poppa Pump produced some good matches in WCW (the inexplicably good one against Goldberg!), and his WCW Championship runs weren't great, but it always had great optics where I used to do this thing where I'd compared the WWF/WCW/ECW champions against each other just from a "Look at that guy with a belt" standards, and it was tough to ever beat Steiner. He'd always win that comp.

Anyway, glad Big Poppa Pump is okay, might as well pay tribute to him while he's alive.

Size does matter bitch.

One of a kind. Speaks his mind, doesn't back down from anyone and the less scripted of a promo, the better you get from him. How he went from a blue collar Michigan wrestler to Big Poppa Pump is rather amazing.

Kilgore fucking SPOT ON with Scotty being such a huge missed opportunity/what if, both in WCW and WWF.

Maybe WCW would've botched it, but with the WWF machine behind him!? Fuuuck me.

Early 90s, he's the best aspects of Sting/Bret/Warrior/Luger/etc. all rolled into one. Good size in terms of height, Amazing build, unique look with the neon singles and letterman jacket, awesome moveset. Solid enough on promos, and if we knew he had the Big Poppa Pump potential in him that could've been harnessed/groomed/honed!? Fuuuck me!!!

That's a business-saving leader for the New Generation.

Then, come early Attitude Era days, he totally reinvents himself as Big Poppa Pump... A transformation and turn to rival Hogan's by this point.

Then he can ultimately pass the torch to Angle and Lesnar.

The wreddit thread about this is a gold mine. The comments have me rolling.

Glad he’s ok. The Steiners were something else back in the day, and the promos and memes Scott has been responsible for over the years are what makes being a fan of this thing so special. Dude is so unintentionally hilarious, you just gotta love him.

LOOKS LIKE THE CHANCES OF DEATH JUST DRASTIC WENT DOWN. DOCTORS MUST HAVE LOST THEIR MINDS WHEN THE GENETIC FREAK KICKED OUT AT 2

Imagine if Scotty turned heel in 1995 when Hogan was floundering as a babyface. I think that would have huge.

Mar 7, 2020 17:55:35 GMT Ed said:

Imagine if Scotty turned heel in 1995 when Hogan was floundering as a babyface. I think that would have huge.

Would it?

Glad to see Scotty pull through. Hope there are no further complications.

As I've mentioned many times in the NWA Powerrr threads, 57 year old Scott Steiner is still a big view count draw for them here in 2020.

I didn't really get to see the Steiners real time peak due to not getting WCW tv in my area for long stretches of time in the early 90s. It wasn't really until the Steiners made their way to WWF that I got to see Scotty perform on a regular basis. And as a heel fan, I was more into their rivals, Money Inc & The Quebecers. Yet even then I "remembered" the Steiners having a long tag title reign- like 5 months for sure. Turns out it wasn't quite 3 months. Main eventing what I (wrongly) thought was the biggest, most important Survivor Series up to that point (1993) was another feather in the caps of the Steiner Brothers.

But I didn't really realize the Bigness of the Steiners until 95-96 when I started getting more hardcore into wrestling. My friend Brandon and his brothers were HUGE Steiner Brothers fans. The Steiners influenced what the 3 Brothers (and the rest of us by proxy) thought made a "good wrestler." A "good wrestler" to Brandon did a Frankensteiner and/or a Moonsault. The 3 Brothers were also always going on about the now-mythical War Games 91, which featured the Steiners, and more famously had "Sid almost kill Brian Pillman with a Powerbomb until Al Gontay (El Gigante) made the save by pulling off the door!" They had their other favorite match (Brainbusters vs. Rockers from SNME) on tape, but sadly not "the War Games where Sid almost killed Brian Pillman."

Anyway, around that same time, the Apter Mags were forever writing articles about how the Road Warriors & Steiners were the two greatest tag teams of all time, and were now also huge free agents in the burgeoning Monday Night War. The Apter Mags framed it to where either team would be a MAJOR game changer in the Raw vs. Nitro war.

So all this hype rubbed off on me. Even though I had previously been meh on the Steiners (and Road Warriors tbh), and missed out on the Steiners prime, I now viewed them as Very Big Deals. And WCW got them both! 

I think it's been forgotten just how HUGE Scott Steiner already was. He was basically already at Big Poppa Pump levels. Now that I cared more about "good wrestling," I appreciated Scotty both as a good wrestler, and as an already legendary tag team specialist. He had the best suplexes in the business pre-Taz. The Frankensteiner was also the coolest move of the early 90s. To this day nobody did it better than Scotty. The way he'd whip guys into the ropes and then snap off frankensteiners at 250+ pounds.... And that's not even getting into what I called the "Moonsault Slam" or the Steiner Screwdriver. Scott Steiner had the best offense in wrestling for many years in the 90s, and since I was a movez guy.....

Most of my favorite Steiner tag matches are when they're just effortlessly throwing around big hosses like Vader & Hughes, Fire & Ice, or Quebecer Pierre. But my choice for GOAT Steiners match is their battle with Sting & Lex at some 1991 WCW PPV. That was a true dream match which delivered. The two top babyfaces vs. the top tag team going all out for just over 10 minutes. In terms of Bigness, it would be like if WWF ran Hogan & Warrior vs. Legion of Doom around that same time. 

I'm a low voter on Big Poppa Pump though. Missed his WCW peak. Was initially hyped for his WWF run in no small part due to this Marilyn Manson lookalike cook named John I worked with who was forever hyping BPP. And also simply because I hadn't seen Scotty wrestle much for 6 years. It made him super fresh.

But that run was awful. His Royal Rumble DUD with HHH is a Worst Match of All Time contender. His mush mouthed promos were garbage. Even his goofy pants (which were just a mishmash of seemingly random stuff) were awful. He was definitely one of my least favorite wrestlers during that 0/10 WWE run. I didn't get the appeal of roided up BPP at all. A literal "change the channel" guy for me.

But, as is usually the case, I've mellowed out on BPP in my old age. I am now amused by the legendary "Steiner Math" promo after initially dismissing it as more Steiner crap. The best part of that promo is how the math actually checks out if you use bizarro Scott Steiner logic. I was also amused by Steiner's ring introductions that one time the Main Event Mafia took over TNA Impact. He really was the most jacked dude in the business during his latter day WCW run. And even when I was a hardcore Steiner hater, I loved the Chain Mail helmet. Chain Mail is just cool. Fact!

If you could somehow combine athletic freak 90-92 Scott Steiner with 98-01 genetic freak Scott Steiner, you'd be looking at one of the all time money making greats for sure. 

Yes, Scotty Steiner was like 95% Big Poppa Pump physique wise, but that last 5% was freakish. Love the story where upon his WWF arrival they demanded he take a steroid test and he'd agreed to do it if Triple H would do it with him then they never asked him again.

Also randomly thought about when he was roughing up Mike Tenay one night, absolutely furious that "hurricanrana" had become common parlance like, "It's the Frankensteiner! Everyone knew it as the Frankensteiner then you came along!"

Mar 7, 2020 20:37:19 GMT Kilgore said:

Also randomly thought about when he was roughing up Mike Tenay one night, absolutely furious that "hurricanrana" had become common parlance like, "It's the Frankensteiner! Everyone knew it as the Frankensteiner then you came along!"

This one is new to me and I love that it happened. Steiner is not wrong.

I had to find the Steiner/Tenay interview Kilgore mentioned. Success!

Just trying to envision an alternate reality where we go all in on Scott as face of the WWF at the right time IMO...

Steiners debut very end of 1992, winning impressive tag squashes on Superstars and Challenge. They earn a spot in the annals of history by kicking off the first-ever RAW, with Scott notably getting the pin with a mind-blowing Frankensteiner. Make this the Royal Rumble match against the Beverly Brothers if you want even, to give it a lil more star vs. star pizazz.

Scott enters the 1993 Royal Rumble as #1. He gets a rub by eliminating last year's winner, #3 Ric Flair, in relatively short order. Scott goes on a pre-Diesel tear with eliminations. Rick joins the fray, and the Steiners prove that brotherhood trumps all as they work together to eliminate others and save each other from perilous situations. The final three end up being Yoko and the Steiners. Yoko eliminates Rick. Scott almost eliminates Yoko in the most impressive fashion possible with a Frankensteiner... But Yoko manages to throw Scott off, eliminating him to win the Rumble.

Yoko goes on to WrestleMania IX, where he defeats Bret for the world title. Meanwhile, Steiners defeat Money, Inc. for the tag titles. If I'm allowed to keep Flair until WrestleMania, I'm doing Hogan/Flair in a "Loser Leaves the WWF" retirement match. If I'm not allowed to keep Flair, maybe I run Hogan/Luger (after Lex breaks Beefcake's face with a steel plate forearm to the steel plate face?) and Perfect/Razor... Or who cares. Keep the belt on Yoko, but still set up Yoko/Hogan for the title at KOTR.

At KOTR, Yoko retains and kills Hulkamania. The tournament becomes both a Bret AND Scott showcase. Bret gets his real life wins over Razor and Perfect in the quarterfinals and semis. Scott gets an impressive win over Bigelow and Luger in the quarterfinals and semis. The finals sees Hart vs. Steiner - Chapter 1 in a respect-based good sportsmanship match. Former champ Bret counters a Frankensteiner into a Sharpshooter to become the 1993 King. No shame in tapping. Plus, Bret needs to be king to set up the Lawler feud.

Scott, not Lex, slams Yoko on the USS Intrepid. Lex remains a narcissistic heel, and eventually becomes the crown jewel of DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation. Anyway... The body slam heard round the world earns Scott a world title shot at SummerSlam.

SummerSlam, in Scott's hometown, features him winning the title in the main event with a Frankensteiner on Yoko (calling back to his failed one on Yoko in the Rumble). On the undercard, Bret/Lawler/Doink have their deal with a lil Owen tossed in to start setting that up. Also, heel Lex essentially retires Perfect here in a program potentially delayed from WrestleMania... And we blow off Shawn/Marty once and for all with an IC title match.

In the fall, Yoko costs the Steiners the tag titles to the Headshrinkers... Or maybe Quebecers. Who cares? Anyway, it helps bridge the gap to Survivor Series. 

Survivor Series features Harts and Steiners both leading their teams to victory in separate matches. Harts vanquish Lawler's Knights, with Owen being the only casualty (if I can't book Lawler, I'm booking a fourth anonymous knight or Doink instead of Shawn). Steiners, Tatanka, and surprisingly patriotic Taker defeat evil Polynesians Yoko, Headshrinkers, and Polynesian sympathizer Crush. Just to round shit out, we'll say Luger/Borga/Quebecers defeat Men on a Mission/Bushwhackers in a squashy clean sweep to position them as the next batch of strong heels. And... Savage/Razor/Kid/Marty defeat Shawn/Diesel/IRS/Bigelow.

To ease the tension between he and Owen, Bret tags with his little bro post-Survivor Series and they win the tag belts off of the Shrinkers or Quebecers or who cares.

Royal Rumble 1994 is largely the same beats, just with some new wrinkles. Scott doesn't defend the world title. Instead, it's brothers vs. brothers/Steiners vs. Harts Bret & Owen's titles. Run the same story ish with Bret injuring his leg, not tagging Owen in, and this ultimately costing the Harts the tag belts. Despite his bad wheel, Bret goes on to co-win the 1994 Rumble with still-heel Lex. If I'm allowed to keep Taker to WrestleMania X, I do Taker/Yoko in a normal match that ends in a DQ schmoz with all the same gaga as their real life casket match here.

Ever the fighting champion, Scott agrees to defend against both Bret and Lex at WrestleMania X. In particular, even though he just beat Bret in a tag match at the Rumble, he still wants his one-on-one win back to rectify his 1993 KOTR loss. Thanks to a weighted coin from DiBiase though, Lex wins the coin toss for the first title shot. To keep things fair, Bret will wrestle Owen beforehand at WrestleMania X. We'll also get special guest refs for the two world title matches to ensure no BS (especially from DiBiase).

At WMX:Owen beats Bret in the second greatest PPV opener ever. Perfect officiates Scott/Lex, and DQs Lex for DiBiase interference as a "fuck you" to Lex for retiring him last year at SummerSlam. If I'm allowed that Taker cheat, I run the Survivor Series 1994 casket match here against Yoko with CHUCK FUCKIN' NORRIS and everything. Taker gets a big win, adds to his growing Undefeated Streak, continues his WrestleMania continuity, and then gets the entire spring and summer off. In the main event, Bret beats Scott for the second time to finally reclaim his world title (after unwanted Rick interference unintentionally backfires).

Spring and summer becomes brother vs. brother themed. Bret/Owen runs its course as the world title program. Instead of Lex/Tatanka doing the DiBiase sellout angle, we do it with Rick and Scott. Scott thinks Rick has sold out, Rick denies it, it leads to Rick vs. Scott as a co-main event at SummerSlam 1994... Where Scott turns on Rick, revealing himself as DiBiase's new crown jewel. A jealous Lex turns face and leaves the Million Dollar Corporation.
 
Heel Scott ditches the neon for all black. He takes Rick out with a vicious attack, which features the debut of Scott's new non fan-pleasing finisher: the Steiner Recliner. Goodbye, Frankensteiner. To get the move over, Scott goes on a tear of squash matches in the fall where he breaks JTTS backs with the Recliner. Good guy people's champion Bret stands up to Scott, calling him a big ol' bully. Scott forms a loose alliance with Owen, who likes what Scott is willing to do to an annoying older brother. Instead of Backlund, we get Bret/Scott III for the world title in a Towel Match at Survivor Series 1994. The equally muscled Davey Boy will be Bret's towel man. Owen volunteers to be Scott's towel man since DiBiase will be managing the Million Dollar Corporation's Survivor Series team.

At Survivor Series, we get the same shenanigans as real life with the only difference being it results in Scott (not Bob) becoming champion. And Scott doesn't immediately job to Diesel on an MSG house show. Instead, he holds onto the title and seems unstoppable with DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation around him.

At Royal Rumble 1995, Scott defends against ex-MDC Crown Jewel Lex. Meanwhile, in the 1995 Royal Rumble match itself, Owen and Davey Boy go the distance as #1 and #2. Owen cheats to eliminate Bret earlier somehow, and Shawn and Diesel are involved with each other's eliminations. Bret comes back in the end to pull a 1992 Hogan and help ensure Owen's elimination as payback for Survivor Series 1994. With plans to try expanding business internationally, we give the RR win to Davey Boy.

WrestleMania XI features, in no particular order:
Taker vs. MDC - Grave Consequences Gauntlet Match;
Luger vs. returning Yoko
Shawn vs. Diesel - grudge match;
Owen vs. Bret - "final chapter" I Quit Match;
Scott vs. Bulldog - agile muscle world title match
Razor & LT vs. IC Champ JJ & Lawler

We get cold feet on international expansion plans, so Scott retains over Bulldog. Rick returns the night after on RAW and confronts his brother, setting up Scott vs. Rick II for the World Title at the first-ever IYH PPV subtitled Mother's Day Mayhem.

At IYH:MDM, Scott retains against Rick. Diesel avenges Shawn by beating Sid. Newly formed tag teams of Owen & Yoko and Lex & Bulldog both find success: Owen & Yoko win tag gold from Smoking Gunns, and Lex & Bulldog beat MDC members Bam Bam Bigelow & King Kong Bundy (managed by IRS). Bret reprises old feud with Lawler (+Hakushi), and Jarrett retains IC Title against Razor in a cage after a returning Kid slams the door on Razor's head. Maybe Taker squashes Backlund too.

KOTR features:
Scott wrestles Diesel to a DQ in a world title match thanks to outside interference from Sid. Shawn wins the KOTR crown by defeating Hakushi, Owen, and Yoko in the quarter, semi, and final. Meanwhile Bret beats Lawler.

Sometime in the spring of 1995, Rick apologizes for turning on his little brother and turns heel to rejoin him.

IYH2 features:
Lex & Bulldog def. Owen & Yoko for the tag belts, Shawn def. Jarrett for the IC belt, Diesel def. Sid in a powerbomb battle to earn a world title shot at SummerSlam, and Scott defends the world title against Bret in their "final chapter" which is an iron man match. If Bret loses, he can never challenge Scott for the World title again. It's essentially the Brock/Kurt blueprint with Scott sacrificing early DQs to have an edge over Bret.

SummerSlam features:
- Owen & Yoko win the tag belts back when Lex turns on Bulldog and abandons him. Lex leaves for WCW after instead of hanging around to feud with Bulldog. Bulldog doesn't join Camp Cornette just yet.
- Shawn retains the IC Title against Razor in a ladder match rematch.
- Bret beats heel Rick for something more meaningful to do than feuding with a demented dentist.
- Diesel def. Scott for the World title after countering a Frankensteiner with a jackknife.

IYH3 features two HUGE tags:
World Champ Diesel & IC Champ Shawn defending their singles titles against the Steiners. If Steiners win, Scott gets world title and Rick gets IC Title... I guess unless Rick pins Diesel maybe? Doesn't really matter, as Diesel pins Rick after a miscue with Scott to retain.
And—
Owen & Yoko defend tag titles against Bulldog and new partner Bret. But it's a setup. After being betrayed and abandoned at SummerSlam, Bulldog now does the same to Bret. A now heel Bulldog now joins Camp Cornette.

Remember... Now that Scott is no longer champion, Bret can challenge for the World title again. However, the Bulldog betrayal is violent enough it takes Bret out of action for a month. Bret will get a world title shot at Survivor Series 1995 against whoever wins Diesel/Bulldog world title match at IYH4. Meanwhile, Scott gets a little lost in the shuffle. Maybe a mini feud with Rick for fucking up at IYH3?

IYH4 features:
- Bulldog def. Diesel by DQ when Diesel blasts him with a chair after using the chair to preemptively dispatch interfering Owen & Yoko.
- On the undercard, let's say Rick forfeits his match to Scott as a way of making amends.
- Shawn must forfeit the IC Title to Owen (instead of Dean) due to injuries from the USMC beating. But then Razor beats Owen in an impromptu match to win the title.
- Bret defends his Survivor Series world title shot by defeating Sid.

Survivor Series 1995 features:
- Bret beating Diesel for the world title like real life.
- Razor defending the IC Title against Razor thanks to backfiring interference from Sid's new tag partner Kid.
- Steiners and Camp Cornette forming a five-man super team to take on Taker, Ahmed Johnson, Smoking Gunns (who beat Owen & Yoko to regain the titles some point earlier in the fall), and... FIFTH MAN a.k.a. who cares. Biggest thing to note is Ahmed eliminating Scott. Maybe it's something a little inconclusive like walking out of the match after narrowly avoiding a Pearl River Plunge.

Scott starts being positioned for a big program with Ahmed as fallout from Survivor Series 1995. IYH5 features mostly real life stuff... Bret retaining against Bulldog, Owen defeating tweener Diesel by technicality, etc. Let's also add Razor defending the IC title against Yokozuna, and Smoking Gunns defending the tag belts against Sid & The Kid (Kid screws up again!). We're supposed to get Ahmed vs. Scott, but Scott forces Rick to be his sub right before the match. Rick is DQ'd when Scott pearl harbors Ahmed after Ahmed pearl river plunges Rick.

Scott and Ahmed cross paths again in the 1996 Royal Rumble, eliminating each other to continue their inevitable collision course. Am I allowed to keep Sid around? If I am, I also run some angle where Kid causes Sid to be eliminated to set up a Sid vs. Kid deal and a Sid face turn. If not, let's blow off Sid vs. Kid on RAW in late December 1995 or early January 1996 before Sid runs off for softball. Other key things stay the same... World champion Bret gets caught in the middle of a developing feud between Taker and tweener-now-heel Diesel; newcomer creep Goldust beats Razor for the IC title; Smoking Gunns face a lack of good competition for their tag belts.

IYH6 again features a lot of the same stuff as real life. Key differences to note:
If I'm not allowed to keep Sid around (meaning I've already blown off Sid vs. Kid), then we do Razor vs. Kid in the crybaby match here. If I'm allowed to keep Sid and blow off Sid/Kid here, then Goldust retains the IC title against Razor in a rematch and Razor is sidelined with a suspension afterward. Meanwhile, we get the Ahmed/Scott blow-off here. We give Scott the win but protect Ahmed by making Scott's win come via Rick interference. Overall, Scott is kinda getting lost in the midcard shuffle a bit in late 1995/early 1996... poor guy; doesn't deserve it. Maybe gets him thinking about a jump to WCW? To remedy this, we book him a HUGE opponent for WrestleMania XII.

WrestleMania XII features:
- Owen & Bulldog vs. The Smoking Gunns for the tag titles.
- Vader kills ex-Camp Cornette member/now-face Yoko (or... if this and the previous match eat up too much time, combine them into a six-man)
- Taker def. Diesel
- Roddy Piper def. IC Champ Goldust in a non-title Backlot Brawl
- Savio Vega def. Steve Austin (w/ Ted DiBiase) to claim possession of the reintroduced Million Dollar Championship
- Ahmed Johnson SQUASHES Hunter Hearst Helmsley in less time than Warrior did in real life, after no-selling the Pedigree just like Warrior.
- Speaking of Warrior, he returns to face Scott Steiner; the promo battle and posedowns leading up to this match are some of the most epic pro wrestling spectacles ever witnessed. When it's finally time for the match, it's an epic clusterfuck because neither man wants to job. It ends in a no contest, with an interfering Rick eating Warrior's finish post-match to appease Warrior. Scott really starts contemplating jumping to WCW...
- 1996 Royal Rumble winner Shawn beats Bret in an iron man to win the world title.

IYH7: Good Friends, Better Enemies
- Shawn retains the world title against Diesel as Diesel is on his way out the door
- Savio "defends" the Million Dollar Title against the embarrassed aristocrat Hunter Hearst Helmsley
- Steve Austin (w/ Ted DiBiase) send Razor Ramon packing from the WWF in a some special stipulation match
- If we did Vader/Owen/Bulldog vs. Yoko/Gunns as a six-man at WrestleMania, then we run the separate matches here; otherwise, vice versa... whatever makes better sense for each card, I guess.
- Ahmed squashes an injury-nursing Goldust to win the IC title.
- Scott Steiner (w/ Rick Steiner) vs. Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) **FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!** - Taker is a substitution for Warrior, who is written out with "injury" due to being a backstage pain in the ass over his comic book and other bullshit; Taker wins via DQ when newcomer Mankind attacks him

IYH8:
- Shawn retains the world title against Bulldog in the midst of the Diana storyline (which we'll later learn was concocted by Scott Steiner, not Cornette)
- Steve Austin lose to Savio in a strap match on purpose to indirectly send DiBiase packing to WCW.
- Marc Mero (w/ Sable) def. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
- Ahmed defends the IC title against Owen.- Vader officially kills Yoko in a stretcher match or some other similar gimmick deal.
- Mankind strikes again during a Goldust vs. Undertaker freak vs. freak match; and...
- Realizing Warrior is more trouble than he's worth, Scott is given a win over Warrior to earn a world title shot; the finish is a strong one for Scott, but also protected for Warrior... Warrior passes out in the Steiner Recliner, so it's not like he ever gave up. But now Scott looks like a reestablished bad ass beast. Warrior isn't seen or heard from until the next PPV.

KOTR 1996:
- Scott suplexes Shawn around like a ragdoll. Shawn is ultimately disqualified when Warrior returns and attacks Scott.
- Ahmed defends the IC title against Bulldog.
- Steve Austin wins the 1996 KOTR crown after defeating Jake Roberts in the finals... Austin 3:16 is born!
- Mankind def. Taker with the Mandible Claw in what is considered to be a surprise upset

IYH9:
- Scott technically has a recent win over the world champ, and so has a claim to a world title rematch... but he KNOWS Warrior will just interfere outta insecurity, so he challenges Warrior to a career vs. career match here to settle shit and blow off their feud. World Champ Shawn is set to be the special referee. But, Warrior is Warrior and walks out on Vince right before the PPV... so we pivot to Shawn/Scott II for the world title here. Scott ragdolls Shawn all around with every suplex known to man... until Shawn scores a Bret/Diesel surprise small package type of flash pinfall on Scott (maybe a Frankensteiner counter to a powerbomb attempt, as poetic justice?).
- Ahmed defends the IC title against a surprise returning Sid... but ever the sore loser, Sid powerbombs Ahmed after the match. Ahmed proves to be surprisingly brittle and suffers an injury. He must forfeit the IC belt.- Vader wins a battle royal for a SummerSlam title shot.

SummerSlam features:
- Shawn/Vader, just like real life.
- Steiners beat Gunns, Owen & Yoko, and Godwinns in a four-way for the tag titles as a make-good to Scott for not putting the world title on him.
- Mankind def. Taker in a boiler room brawl when Paul Bearer does the unthinkable and turns on the deadman.
- Marc Mero (w/ Sable) def. Goldust (w/ Marlena) to win the vacant IC title
- Lawler def. Jake in a tasteless match/angle
- Austin finally gets his win back over Savio
- Sid stuns everyone when he powerbombs Yoko in Yoko's last televised match

Through September & October we get some epic heel vs. heel tag matches on PPV with Steiners and Owen/Bulldog, with both teams possibly even trading the straps back and forth. In November, we add the debuting Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon to the mix, and the matches get even more epic. I debated giving Scott the Sid spot with the title win and then drop-back to Shawn... but meh, fuck it.

Scott gets a little bit of shine in the 1997 Royal Rumble by suplexing every luchador out of the ring. Ultimately it's the returning-from-injury Ahmed Johnson who eliminates Scott. Scott vs. Ahmed at IYH13: Final Four in February ends in a no contest, which leads to Ahemd and the returning Legion of Doom vs. Farooq and the Steiners at Wrestlemania 13 in a Chicago Street Fight. Ahmed and LOD pick up the win, allowing Ahmed to move onto other things and the Steiners to pivot into a tag team title dream feud with LOD post-Mania. LOD eventually emerge as the victors in this dream feud.

Through late 1997, as the Attitude Era continues to take shape, Scott starts morphing more and more into his Big Poppa Pump character. Going broad strokes here now because I have somewhere to be...

Big Poppa Pump grows tired of Rick's dead weight always dragging him down. So eventually Big Poppa Pump turns on Rick, beating the FUCK outta him at No Way Out of Texas in February 1998. This leads to Big Poppa Pump vs. Rick at WrestleMania XIV; losing brother leaves the WWF (used as cover for Rick to go to WCW, as he disliked how Bret was screwed... whereas Scott was quite alright with it, because fuck Bret / Bret screwed Bret!).

Post-Mania, BPP sucks up to Mr. McMahon and takes the Foley role in challenging Austin at the April & May 1998 PPVs. In parallel, in a booking move that will forever fuck with HHH's head, Big Poppa Pump replaces the retiring Shawn Michaels as the new head of DX.

After failing to take the title off Austin in the spring of 1998, Big Poppa Pump transitions into a feud with Ken Shamrock over who's more bad ass. BPP costs Shamrock the 1998 KOTR tournament. This leads to Big Poppa Pump vs. Shamrock at Fully Loaded, which ends in no contest... which sets up a submission match between the two at SummerSlam 1998. BPP wins that with the Steiner Recliner after knocking Shamrock out cold with a pair of brass knux or some shit.

BPP finds himself back in the title hunt in the fall of 1998, but ends up left out in the cold with the Foley/Rock shit. BPP ends up fighting Foley as Mr. McMahon's proxy at WrestleMania XV. OK, that's it for now... I've got to go. I'll come back with more, at least to get us through late 1999 when Steiner is sidelined with injury.

This thread just made me wanna go see the best thing TNA ever produced minus Unbreakable and that's his Sacrifice promo. Disappointed it's not embedded.

Scott Steiner placed 5th in the NCAA tourney as a senior and was a really great amateur wrestler. Although he lost many times to my old coach Duane Goldman throughout his college career but still great. Scott invented many moves throughout his fake career including the my favorite the Steiner screwdriver. Would love to see a suplex match with him and Brock in there primes. He is also a true legit badass of the business up there with Meng, Brock, Angle and Simmons.

After reading 🤯 's Scott Steiner WWF Fantasy Booking post I was like "lol. Nice try. But there's no way WWF would have pushed one half of a newly acquired WCW tag team to the moon in 1993." Turns out the joke is on me because I just stumbled across this gem on Wikipedia....

"WWF talent relation officials Pat Patterson, and Bruce Prichard were enamored with Scott Steiner and pitched an idea to Vince McMahon for Scott to come in as a surprise entry into the Royal Rumble in 1993 and win the event, then moving on to win the world championship at WrestleMania 9. However Vince was not keen to the idea and both the Steiners themselves voiced their desire to remain as a tag team, therefore Vince began booking them as such." Source: A Bruce & Conrad podcast on Wrestlemania IX

Also just watched a young Scott Steiner vs. Ronnie Garvin match from 1988 AWA. Steiner already had a good look. I liked how the commentary team freely mentioned NWA & Scott's brother Rick. That would never happen in 1988 WWF. Fellow tough guy Ron Garvin  slapped the shit out of Scotty a few times with his patented Garvin Chops. Not sure if even Ron Garvin would have had the balls to do that 10 years later. Scotty was also victimized by the dreaded Garvin Stomp. Steiner did get in a bit of offense on the AWA TV Champion before missing a flying crossbody and succumbing to Garvin's Hard Punch finisher.

Then I watched a Steiners vs. Fire & Ice match from a 1996 episode of WCW Worldwide because of course I did. Scott hit a few cool suplexes in that one.

Scott Steiner is the GOAT.

Let's not forget this is the second time Steiner cheated death. He had a torn trachea in 2007 and had 5 hours to live before emergency surgery. Glad he pulled through once again.

Liked both his incarnations for different reasons, both his athleticism and larger than life character were hugely entertaining. In 1992 WCW was so close to having that perfect amalgamation everyone wanted to see. Due to poor logistics on their part though they lost out.

Also got reminded of this story going down the YouTube rabbit hole.

My fantasy booking vs. jTjohncenaGOAT's: who's do ya take!?

The stuff of legend! and I was there to see it live!