Scott Steiner '93 vs Scott Steiner '03

[IrishCanadian25]

In the midst of the Survivor Series tournament, an interesting question was posed - whether Scott Steiner from 1993 cancels out Scott Steiner from 2003. My answer, was, a resounding "NO!" They are two different wrestlers, two different people.

Which then begs this question - which Steiner was better?

When Scott Steiner, often called "Scotty" at the time, was first in WCW and WWF in the late 80's and early, 90's, he was a clean cut, fresh faced technical and physical marvel from the University of Michigan. He had terrific power, obviously impressive upper body strength, a tremendous amateur background (3-time Big 10 Division 1 runner up from '84-'86 and D1 All American in 1986 at the University of Michigan), and agility and innovation to boot.

Scott, along side brother Rick, won numerous tag team titles, including being the last NWA United States Tag Champions, winning the NWA World Tag Championships, the WCW World Tag Championships 6 times, and the legendary IWGP World Tag Titles, which they won from Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki. Scott also earned a pinfall win over Ric Flair (non title) and went to a time limit draw with Ric for the NWA World Title. He also beat Ricky Steamboat for the WCW TV Title.

In WWF, the Steiners increased their legend status, winning 2 world tag team titles and holding several strong feuds with the Heavenly Bodies, The Quebecers, the Headshrinkers, etc. The Steiners also participated in the USA vs the World feud on the side of Lex Luger, with frequent matches with the likes of Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, Crush, etc.

Flash forward to WCW, late 1997. After the Steiners finished a feud with The Outsiders, "Scotty" started to change. Muscle upon muscle with softball-sized biceps, the mullet gone, his hair platinum blonde. After a boring and useless feud with "Buff" Bagwell, Scott attacked brother Rick, allowing Hall and Nash to regain the WCW Tag belts. Scott's character was a true toast to Superstar Billy Graham.

"Big Poppa Pump" was born, after the moniker "White Thunder" was dropped due to protests from people linking it to white supremacist groups. BPP never looked back, winning TV and US Titles, remaining a heel, and surviving a bad back injury. The Frankensteiner was put away (WCW had 132 luchadors doing it 13 times each per night anyway) and the Steiner Recliner showed up.

After joining "The New Blood," Scott won the WCW World Title from Booker T. After WCW closed, Scott waiting for his AOL Time Warner money to stop coming in before showing back up in WWE. He had a high profile feud with HHH, but bothced several moves, and was coincidentally buried in the mid card. He later returned to wrestling in TNA.

So which Scott Steiner is the better one? Is it "Scotty" Steiner from 1993? Or is it "Big Poppa Pump?"

 

[jmt225]

1993 version, by far.

I was a HUGE fan of the Steiner Brothers back in the day. One of the best tag teams ever, in my opinion, and Scotty was my favorite out of him and Rick. In fact, I remember Scott getting a shot at the WCW World Title on Nitro sometime in 1996 I believe against the Giant, and heavily rooting for him. I remember thinking how good of a champion he'd make in my eyes.

Unfortunately though, he has suffered serious injuries since that time and ultimately became only a shadow of a shadow of his former self. By the time he was given the ball in WCW, not only was the company on its last legs, but I think he was too. His character was alright, and I enjoyed for a while how he kept putting his opponents out of wrestling after each pay-per-view by having a funeral service for the fallen wrestler. So, he did have some good moments when the 'Big Poppa Pump' version of himself came out.

However, he was awful in WWE. Plain awful. In TNA, while he is much better in this company then he was in WWE, he's still nothing compared to what he was in the early nineties. The guy was incredible back then, but now? Even though I still sort of like him and respect him, to most he's just a joke. Back in the day though, no one, and I mean NO ONE, looked at Scott Steiner and his brother as jokes.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I'm all for a Scott Steiner thread. But I think a better topic would be singles or tag wrestler. There's really no comparison.

The Steiners weren't pushed as hard as they could've been in 1993, but when they wrestled they still showed what they could do. They had good matches with everybody, if a little unspectacular. In 2003 Scott was having good matches with nobody. The only highlight would be him swearing at the Survivor Series. I'd even go so far as to say that he's had more highlights as a TNA wrestler than a WWE wrestler.

In the dying days of WCW Stenier could still go.He wasn't the same as 5 years or so before, but he was still worthy of carrying a main event. Especially one that nobody was buying.