Scott Steiner really should've became a singles star in 1992

[TEIWCSCSAATBHPHASP]

There were talks of Scott Steiner (at the time an innovative babyface tag team wrestler alongside brother Rick) being rumored to have a heel turn in 1992, which would've meant breaking up The Steiner Brothers tag team.

Think about the singles run Ron Simmons got to have once he made the jump from his former heel tag team Doom (allied with Butch Reed and managed by Teddy Long) to a singles babyface who went on to become WCW's first ever African-American WCW World Heavyweight Champion in 1992-93.

Imagine if his Big Poppa Pump (BPP) persona worked in 1992 at a time when he still had wrestling ability plus healthy body from 1989-1991 (when his torn bicep suffered in '91 didnt hinder him too dearly) and his late mic skills from '98-'01. There's no doubt Scott Steiner would've achieved greater heights than he did in 1998 when Scott finally turned heel but his body was breaking down due to back injuries, so he needed a gimmick change to help mask his fading wrestling skills, age and past injuries in favor of his real life played up to 11 by a notch, and even 2000 when Scott totally became WCW World Heavyweight Champion but was hindered by drop foot.

Even in 1998 as an NWO Hollywood heel, Scott Steiner (for all the excessive muscle he put on) sure looked like he can wrestle at a decent level (shortly prior to his ankle fusion surgery) while he was putting work on his mic skills, having Buff Bagwell as his lackey even though he could do with Miss Elizabeth as his manager. And it wasn't until 1999 that Steiner had catchphrases and beating up fans with lead pipes all in his arsenal, despite yet another back injury that sidelined him for a large portion of 1999. But by 2000, Steiner finally became the WCW World Heavyweight Champion like WCW envisioned back in 1990 when they had Scott battle with Ric Flair before Flair deliberately sandbagged Scott in their Clash of The Champions match in early 1991.

 

[Makaveli31]

Well, Jim Herd wanted Scotty Steiner as his top babyface and potential World Heavyweight Champion but was fired before he could make that happen. They brought in Bill Watts who wanted to turn Scotty heel but the Steiners didn't want to break up if it wasn't going to be a "main event" angle. I don't think Watts would've put the belt on Steiner anyway. Scott had major heat with Watts.

Vince wanted to break up the Steiners also but Scott also vetoed it and left the WWF. Like you said, I don't think there was any need for Scotty Steiner to change gimmicks until his body started breaking down and he couldn't to the things eh used to do (the Frankensteiner for instance). 1992 the Steiners were still extremely over as a tag team and I think Scotty was waiting for that babyface run with the belt but it never came.

 

[FromGlasgow]

I'm sure he probably would have been successful but I liked the Steiner Brothers back in the day and tag team wrestling was a bigger thing back then, Who knows it might have been interesting with Scott Steiner as a heel especially with Flair gone during that time but they still had their main event dominant heel Vader, So Steiner may have ended up in just a couple of midcard feuds, I never enjoyed the Steiner/ Test tag team in the WWE though and would have prefered Steiner to have gotten more of a decent singles run.

 

[stingray11214]

The Steiner Brother were one hell of a team. They were also money. Very popular in the NWA. Though it might have made sense to break them up, they were still drawing money. You don't fix what is working.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Eh, I don't know if it would've been good for Steiner or not. During the early 90s, the Steiner Brothers were arguably the most over tag team in wrestling and they made a lot of money.

Starting in the last few months of 1989, the Steiner Brothers began their success with their first win of the NWA World Tag Team Championship. That first run lasted about 200 days before they were dropped to Doom in May 1990. A few months after that, they became that last good team to win the NWA United States Tag Team Championship, they had a 200+ day run with it before vacating the titles due to also winning the, by then renamed, WCW World Tag Team Championship. During their 2nd tag title run in WCW, they simultaneously won the IWGP Tag Team Championship by defeating Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki in a title vs. title match at a WCW/New Japan card. The first run with the IWGP straps lasted about 220, maybe 230, days if I remember correctly. During their 3rd run as WCW World Tag Team Champions, they won the IWGP Tag Team Championships for a 2nd time in another title vs. title match in Tokyo in the summer of 1992. In late 1992, they headed for the WWE and had a few brief runs with the tag titles there and, as has been pointed out, Vince wanted to break them up but Steiner wouldn't go along with it and that was that.

Also, WCW was a fairly chaotic place during the early to mid 90s as it had incompetent bookers like Jim Herd or Bill Watts' outdated booking styles & frequent heat with talent, including Steiner. After Steiner left the WWE in mid 1994, he & Rick went to ECW for about a year or so before signing back with WCW in 1996. By that time, Steiner wasn't nearly the in-ring wrestler he had been, WCW was Hulk Hogan's personal playground and Steiner himself was becoming pretty damn unstable who could, and sometimes did, just go off without any warning or sign.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

It's hard to tell if he would have come up with the Big Poppa Pump gimmick then, or if he'd even be allowed to do it. That was the height of Jim Herd and terrible gimmicks in WCW, they may have given Steiner something awful like when they tried to Make Ric Flair into Spartacus.

They might have made Scott into Spartacus for all we know. Scott Steiner as a singles star when he could still really go could have been insanely good. If he got pushed then he might not have cut and dyed his hair or added any of the familiar Big Poppa Pump trappings. This was pre-nWo, so cool heels were not at all a thing. Steiner would have been encouraged to be uncool as possible and might have been included in something awful like the Dungeon of Doom.

Steiner physically could have made it work but it's the outside forces that are impossible to quantify here. Who knows what gimmick he might have been handed.

 

[TEIWCSCSAATBHPHASP]

@Jack-Hammer So you're telling me is that Scott Steiner's attitude changed for the worst when WCW was about to go under by the late 1990s/early 2000s? Because WWE when looking to bring aboard people like Sting, Goldberg and Ric Flair, cited Steiner as a locker room cancer who has the credentials to hurt people like Flair, DDP or Kimberly Page.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Well, Jim Herd wanted Scotty Steiner as his top babyface and potential World Heavyweight Champion but was fired before he could make that happen. They brought in Bill Watts who wanted to turn Scotty heel but the Steiners didn't want to break up if it wasn't going to be a "main event" angle. I don't think Watts would've put the belt on Steiner anyway. Scott had major heat with Watts.

Vince wanted to break up the Steiners also but Scott also vetoed it and left the WWF. Like you said, I don't think there was any need for Scotty Steiner to change gimmicks until his body started breaking down and he couldn't to the things eh used to do (the Frankensteiner for instance). 1992 the Steiners were still extremely over as a tag team and I think Scotty was waiting for that babyface run with the belt but it never came.

It wasn't so much making Scott the top guy (heel to Bret's Face) that was his issue in WWF... it was that Vince didn't want Rick AT ALL... he'd have lost quickly to Scott and been fired... not even the jobber role and that's why Scott balked at it.

Ironically Rick had been getting over until Scott started, but it's a bit like the Hardyz, once the "better bet" started to get over, the better all rounder wasn't wanted...

Not sure 92 would have worked for Scott... he'd have had similar impact to Ron Simmons all told, he wouldn't have drawn enough to really keep the belt for long or turn WCW around. He could have gone solo and into feuds with Rude etc... but ultimately if he was gonna get over as a main eventer it was in 94 WWF as part of the Bret/Owen feud... Imagine if that had gone on with Scott and Owen teaming instead of Yoko? You could have easily seen heel Scott vs Face Bret becoming the major feud for 95, add Shawn, Bulldog and other guys into that mix and it gets interesting.

 

[Makaveli31]

It wasn't so much making Scott the top guy (heel to Bret's Face) that was his issue in WWF... it was that Vince didn't want Rick AT ALL... he'd have lost quickly to Scott and been fired... not even the jobber role and that's why Scott balked at it.

Ironically Rick had been getting over until Scott started, but it's a bit like the Hardyz, once the "better bet" started to get over, the better all rounder wasn't wanted...

Not sure 92 would have worked for Scott... he'd have had similar impact to Ron Simmons all told, he wouldn't have drawn enough to really keep the belt for long or turn WCW around. He could have gone solo and into feuds with Rude etc... but ultimately if he was gonna get over as a main eventer it was in 94 WWF as part of the Bret/Owen feud... Imagine if that had gone on with Scott and Owen teaming instead of Yoko? You could have easily seen heel Scott vs Face Bret becoming the major feud for 95, add Shawn, Bulldog and other guys into that mix and it gets interesting.

Well, that and the fact Scott HATED his first run in WWE. Remember, they were coming from big money guaranteed contracts in WCW to the old "10 date" guarantee in the WWF. It was all about Wrestlemania in those days. It was rare to see a team like the Steiners, so successful in WCW and "on top", jump to the more cartoonish WWF. Their style and "gimmick" so to speak as legit wrestlers didn't fit in the WWF at the time. I think Scott was looking for a way out. They just used that as an excuse to get out.

I think he would have had more of an impact than Ron Simmons. The Steiners were the most popular tag team in WCW after the Road Warriors and Scotty was the superstar. I think his in-ring work was better than Simmons and he could have great matches with the big heels of his time i.e. Luger, Vader, Sid etc.....As far as drawing power. I don't know anybody who could've drew in WCW in those days. They changed bookers so often. I envision a run similar to Sting's though. PPV matches against monster heels.

But all told, yes a Scott Steiner vs Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels in 1994 would've been something. Imagine Scott Steiner picking up and slamming 550 plus pound Yokozuna? He had that natural strength also it wouldn't have been a hip toss like Luger's. I can't remember if Scotty was a candidate to slam Yoko on the aircraft carrier or not?