Biography WWE Legends: The Steiner Brothers: Season 4 Episode 12
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00:00There has never been a tag team in the sport of wrestling as dominant as the Steiner brothers.
00:08It's hard to overestimate how good those guys were.
00:12They were the real deal.
00:13They could both go.
00:15The way they manhandle people is amazing.
00:17I've never seen a team like this.
00:20They were always feared.
00:22Legion wrestlers.
00:24My brother and me are at the top of the food chain.
00:27In terms of having each other's back, I don't think you could find two people tighter.
00:31But Scott was always a shorter fuse.
00:34Scott could be dangerous if you pushed him too far.
00:36Scott got physical backstage.
00:39I'm not one to hide my emotions.
00:41I'll tell you how I feel about you.
00:43And if you don't like it, I don't give a ****.
00:47He had a short fuse, but so did Robbie.
00:50Rick did not mind showing his dominance.
00:52He was an amateur wrestler. He could handle himself.
00:55I was an amateur and myself.
00:57It was a blessing to have my brother with me.
01:00But this business can be rough.
01:01You know, every time something goes wrong, I worry about my brother.
01:04Like, are you freaking kidding me?
01:06You just tore your trachea, almost died.
01:09I'm just going to have to accept the fact that this is what makes them happy.
01:13They always had a respectful understanding between each other.
01:15Those two brothers had it worked out.
01:18Those guys are as tight as two brothers could be.
01:21Yeah, you never really want to piss them off too much.
01:25Bow down to the greatest tag team that ever lived!
01:37Rob was born March 9th in 1961 in Bay City, Michigan.
01:42Scott was born July 29th in 62.
01:47Sixteen months difference between the two.
01:50They were very busy. They were boys.
01:53But they learned early that there are rules.
01:57My dad was a strict Marine.
01:59He made his total line. He was very strict with us.
02:02When we talked to him, we had to look him in the eye or he'd whack you.
02:06He kept us in line.
02:07Well, the thing is, my brother and I, we always used to fight growing up.
02:10And I think at one point, my dad had enough.
02:13And so he said, you guys want to fight?
02:15Well, he taped our mouths shut with duct tape and put a belt around us.
02:19And then we had to stare at each other.
02:21It's good to have rules, and you abide by them.
02:24Or there's consequences.
02:26And we trained the kids that way, and they told them,
02:28the Lord was first in our family, and you've got to go with it.
02:31Their mother instilled in them, my Aunt Babe,
02:33would always push those guys to excel, to do their best.
02:36So they wanted to win all the time.
02:39My brother and I wrestled each other growing up all the time.
02:42We used to get four carpets together,
02:44because we couldn't afford a mat, and wrestle on that.
02:47I wasn't going to let my younger little brother take me down, or even anything.
02:51You know, being two years older is a big difference.
02:54I mean, I could get him every once in a while.
02:57Cheap shot him.
02:59It was fun, man.
03:01We were real close.
03:03My brother played football and wrestled in high school, and I did the same.
03:06So I did what he did.
03:08My junior year was undefeated.
03:10That was when I won the state championship.
03:12In recruiting, Scotty traveled to his home,
03:15and talked to he and his mom and dad,
03:18and they were all saying how Rob was a good wrestler, too.
03:22And so that kind of planted the seed for us to go ahead and look into Rob also.
03:31Oh, man.
03:32College life was the best, man.
03:34My brother and I got away from that strict household.
03:38We went wild.
03:39Yeah, them guys were nuts.
03:40They were absolutely nuts.
03:42I don't know how much I should say, but, I mean, we were taking cars.
03:46They took this guy's car, and then got it down through the tunnel,
03:49and put it right on the block M in the 50-yard line on the Michigan football stadium.
03:53They were a little crazy.
03:54They had a big dog.
03:56It was on a chain, and the chain was leased just so it could get to the sidewalk.
04:01People would be walking, and they didn't know how far they at least walked.
04:06People would be walking, and they didn't know how far that leash went,
04:09and they would jump on the car.
04:11They scared the hell out of students.
04:13Scott and Rob would be sitting there just crying, laughing.
04:16Just having fun, bored.
04:18And we'd mess with them.
04:19But they were good-natured guys.
04:21But you didn't want to cross them.
04:22Because if you crossed one, you had two rex tires you had to deal with.
04:25They were probably two of the closest brothers I think I've been around,
04:28probably in my entire life.
04:30Scott always looked up to Rob,
04:32and then Rob would basically always look after Scott.
04:36We were tight.
04:38You got to trust somebody, right?
04:40We lived together.
04:42We practiced together.
04:44We ate together.
04:46They both worked hard in wrestling.
04:48And they were pretty good.
04:49Scotty, who was an All-American.
04:51And Rob, I think if he'd have stayed completely healthy, could have been.
04:56I enjoyed it.
04:57You know, and then my senior year got hurt.
04:59I tore my meniscus.
05:02And that really bothered him.
05:04And at the time, I said to him, you know, there's a reason for it.
05:07You know, don't dwell on it.
05:09Rick wanted to be a teacher.
05:12I graduated in 1984 from Michigan.
05:14And then I had a science of education degree.
05:16I was going to teach school.
05:18And I substitute taught for a little bit.
05:21I made $23 a day.
05:23I knew right away I was going to make it in life with that.
05:25So I called my coach, Steve Frazier.
05:27I went back there.
05:28We had the summer camps that we did for Michigan.
05:31And Steve let me be involved in that and made some money doing that.
05:36Steve introduces me to George Animal Steel.
05:39He knows Vern Gagne in the AWA in Minnesota.
05:43About two weeks later, I was giving him my resume.
05:45Sent it to Vern.
05:47And about a week later, I was in my car driving out to Minneapolis to go to the school.
05:52It was tough going through it.
05:54It's not like amateur wrestling.
05:56Do not worry about the point system because there isn't any point system.
06:00I thought because I was an amateur it was going to be easy.
06:02It wasn't easy.
06:03But there was a lot of guys that helped me out a lot getting started in the business.
06:06Introducing now, in the corner to my right, from Ann Arbor, Michigan,
06:10weighing 265 pounds, Rob Ricksteiner.
06:16I remember it because we were actually at a sports bar in Ann Arbor with my buddies.
06:21He came on the big screen and it was pretty cool.
06:24And he knows his way around the ring. You can tell that.
06:26So for him to start wrestling, it just basically got the ball rolling.
06:31That's when I decided to do pro wrestling.
06:36I never really had a plan, man.
06:39I knew I wanted to keep on training and wrestling was the best way to do that.
06:44We had Michigan wrestling camps and one of the instructors was actually the great Wojo.
06:49And he was wrestling for Dick the Bruiser around Ohio, Indiana, Michigan area.
06:56And then it just so happened that when I graduated they asked me to come down.
07:00Asked me if I wanted to do it and I said yeah.
07:02Because of course they knew my brother was in that race, so yeah.
07:06Started with Dick the Bruiser, legendary professional wrestler.
07:11And my first match was against the great Wojo.
07:13The great Wojo has been upset by a special unknown manager, Dave Hughes of the W.A.
07:20We have a new champion, Scott Wexleiter.
07:24You could drive six, seven hours, make 20 bucks.
07:27Sometimes the only gratification you get is when you're in the ring.
07:31Because that's a lot of time spent on the road for such little money.
07:36But it was always the driving force of tagging with my brother.
07:39Something I always wanted to do.
07:43I worked with the A.W.A. in Minneapolis and then Vern sent me to Montreal.
07:47I wrestled there for about a year with Tom Zink.
07:50And then we went back to Minnesota.
07:53And then Jack Lenz has sent me down to Bill Watts down in Mid-South.
07:57Rob Ricksteiner. Now, obviously at first he called us Ricksteiner.
08:03They said, Steiner, we can't pronounce your name.
08:06So one day I came back and they go, why don't you just split your name up?
08:09Just go as Rick Steiner.
08:12I said, OK. So from that day on, it was Rick Steiner.
08:16Rick Steiner, a powerful young man with a lot of potential.
08:20When I first met Rick Steiner, he was there working for Watts.
08:24He was green, he made mistakes, but he worked hard.
08:27Always worked hard.
08:32Tulsa was one of the towns we worked in.
08:36And I met this girl at the gym named Jamie.
08:38And she was very inquisitive about Rick Steiner.
08:41So I was like, hook me up.
08:44If you know him, hook me up.
08:48Didn't know that he was a wrestler.
08:51I just liked the way he looked.
08:54Went out and the rest is history.
08:57She gave me three beautiful boys.
08:59Best thing that's ever happened in my life.
09:02We dated about three years.
09:04We had gone from Universal Wrestling Federation, which was Mid-South Sports.
09:09They sold to Crockett.
09:11We moved to North Carolina.
09:14And then Turner bought it.
09:17And we ended up moving to Georgia.
09:20In 87 is when we moved here.
09:23And we just kind of stayed.
09:26So I didn't get married until I was working for Turner.
09:28So it made it a lot easier because we were able to stay around the Atlanta area more.
09:33Doing TVs and stuff.
09:35But every chance I got, if we were in driving distance, you know, four or five hours.
09:40Once we were done with the show, I was in my car and I was driving home.
09:43I wanted to be here.
09:45If I'm going to have kids and have boys, I want to make sure I'm here to raise them.
09:48So I made every effort I could to be here to take care of them.
09:54And I think within six months of me being in with Turner and in the WCW, my brother came in.
10:02I knew he was in the business and what he was doing.
10:04But we never really stayed in contact, you know, close contact like we used to.
10:08I just went off and was involved and engrossed in what I was doing.
10:16But, you know, being my brother, I wanted to get him in to be a part of this company.
10:21And it would be great for him and I to tag together.
10:24Rick Steiner, the singles wrestler, was compelling.
10:29There was something there for Rick Steiner.
10:31But Rick Steiner, when teamed with Scott Steiner, went to a completely different level.
10:39It took me two and a half years to get to the NWA where we finally hooked up.
10:44It felt great.
10:46They love this kid, Rick Steiner.
10:48Boy, what a superstar he has become.
10:50And I really feel like that his brother has unlimited potential.
10:54It was great.
10:56I wouldn't want to do it with anybody else but my brother.
10:59I don't know how it gets any better than that.
11:01I mean, what's going on here?
11:02Two brothers wrestling together.
11:03They form a tag team.
11:04I was like, wow, okay, this is pretty cool.
11:06You know, kind of like gave me and my brother a little inspiration there.
11:09They are some of the most exciting wrestlers ever.
11:12And they have literally perished on the scene.
11:14They're coming from athletes all their lives and amateur background.
11:18Then there's a natural bond there.
11:19They're brothers.
11:20So you know the camaraderie is going to be there.
11:23It gave us a decided advantage.
11:27Yeah!
11:28New tag team champions!
11:29That big crowd!
11:31The Steiners have won it!
11:36It was a great feeling winning that first title with my brother.
11:42It was my goal to be the best tag team in the world.
11:45We trained all these years for nothing!
11:49We're going to have these belts now and we're going to keep them!
11:52He was always striving to be better and come up with stuff that nobody else did.
11:57Scotty possessed an ability to do something that anybody that size was not doing at the time.
12:03Like the Frankensteiner at the time.
12:06That's the most beautiful move in professional wrestling today.
12:11He pushed me, not accept this, but accept we can do better, we can do more.
12:16So he was a good influence for me.
12:20Seeing Rick and Scott Steiner together and finding out that they were really brothers
12:24added this whole new dynamic to the mix that you knew watching wrestling, you were watching characters.
12:32When you find out the Steiner brothers are really brothers, have really been together all their lives,
12:37it makes it seem like this team, these guys are the real deal.
12:41It comes down to believability.
12:43And nobody was more believable than those guys.
12:46Rick was so strong that he would do things like he would just get you into position.
12:51I'm not talking about in the ring, I'm talking about backstage.
12:55Back then in the day, you walked in the locker room and you didn't say a word.
12:58You walked in the locker room, you sat down on the bench,
13:01and you were respectful of all those other guys in that room and that's what I did.
13:06I remember Michael Hayes come in the room one time.
13:08He grabbed a hold of me and I just...
13:11I went into that shoot mode and I freaking took him down, put him on his back,
13:15and Buddy Roberts came over and grabbed him too.
13:18He was having his way with me and, you know, when we finally...
13:22He let me loose and I called him the gremlin.
13:24That's when that gremlin movie, when you pour water on these animals,
13:27they turn into gremlins, crazy gremlins, and so Michael Hayes gave me that gremlin.
13:31And that dog face thing, Kevin Sullivan gave me that.
13:34I don't know how or why, but stuck from then on.
13:38It's like the dog pound! They're barking for the dog face gremlin!
13:42Rick did not mind showing your abdominals.
13:45Especially like in the case of taking down Lex Luger in a three-piece suit.
13:49Rick decided to go amateur wrestling on me in front of all the boys before the matches.
13:54He rode me for like a half hour, hurt my shoulder, my arm.
13:58I was trying to get out of stuff he had me in all his wrestling holds.
14:01I was so mad at him.
14:03Luger was one of the primo talents at the time.
14:07You could have got fired for that, easily.
14:10But, you know, Steiner, Steiner.
14:16And they became really good friends.
14:19A lot of times that was part of their indoctrination.
14:21They play around with you like they're wrestling.
14:22They take you down.
14:23You try to get up, they take you down again.
14:25And I guess I passed the test because Rick, after that, jumped in the car with Stinger and I,
14:30and I guess he thought I was okay.
14:32We traveled in the car together.
14:34We hung out together and ate together.
14:36We were like our own family, us four guys on the road.
14:40Once the Steiners started to get established,
14:43and, you know, they had some pretty good friends that had some stroke in Sting and Lex Luger.
14:50Then, you know, they kind of let down their hair.
14:52They got more accepted by the boys.
14:55It was like college times ten because you had so much freedom.
14:59You know, you're basically on the road with no supervision.
15:04It was a free fall, man.
15:07They're mischievous kids in like a grown man's body, which makes them a lot of fun.
15:13The Steiners would do some crazy stuff like they'd duct tape people in the dressing room.
15:19I'm watching the Steiner brothers and they're torturing this referee.
15:22I looked over and he's taped up with gaff tape like a mummy.
15:27Duct taping the nasty boys' feet and the arms behind their back.
15:31Stripping them down and throwing them out into the crowded arena.
15:34None of the reps were that serious or vindictive.
15:37It was just young, dumb, and just trying to have fun.
15:42They know not to mess with me because of my brother.
15:45Having a brother along for the ride was the best thing.
15:48Never had to worry about each other's back.
15:51Him and I never fought.
15:52I mean, we'd have words, but that was probably the extent of it.
15:56I mean, we were with each other all the time, you know, morning, noon, and night.
16:01A lot of good times on the road, man. A lot of good times.
16:04Those guys were known for pranks.
16:06I saw a lot of guys get pissed.
16:09But there again, nobody would do anything because you got two legitimate wrestlers
16:14that could really tie you up like a pretzel.
16:17And there's nothing that you can do about it other than go cry to the boss.
16:21That's not going to help a whole lot.
16:23I don't think firing them or suspending them really ever crossed anybody's mind except maybe Watts.
16:29Bill Watts came and took over at WCW.
16:33Bill knew the inmates were kind of running the asylum
16:37and something had to be done immediately to stop that to get progress going.
16:42Bill Watts is in charge and my brother and Bill did not get along.
16:47Yeah, I got pretty heated one time.
16:49Bill had a kid that was in the business and he showed a lot of favoritism
16:53towards that boy over some of the older, experienced guys.
16:57It pissed me off, so I let him know I was pissed.
17:01Scotty didn't like that, didn't put up with it.
17:03He stood up to Bill. Bill didn't like that.
17:06I just don't think there was a chance of reconciling any of that with Bill and my brother.
17:11Yeah, I wasn't going to take no s**t from him.
17:14It was a personal thing between him and my brother.
17:17You know, he's told me, I'd give you a contract, but I'm not going to do it.
17:20And I told him, well, I'm not leaving my, you know, I'm not going to leave my brother.
17:24And my brother had been talking to Vince and WWE and he was receptive for us coming up there.
17:31And it was a great opportunity and so we went.
17:34Strider Brothers, Rick and Scott pouring it on here in the World Wrestling Federation.
17:38Climbing the ladder of success.
17:40A lot of leaps and bounds, I might add.
17:42Technically, in the ring, it was a team.
17:44They were really good. I enjoyed them.
17:46They're legit.
17:48The Strider Brothers are the champions.
17:50Well, we were tag team champions, but we wanted more.
17:56You know, it took Vince's word.
17:58We had his handshake.
18:00He promised us we'd make more money than we ever had in our life.
18:03And we did.
18:05And we did.
18:06It took Vince's word.
18:08We had his handshake.
18:10He promised us we'd make more money than we ever had in our life.
18:13We didn't make as much, so we asked to leave.
18:19And he let us go.
18:21We were in WWE for probably about two years.
18:25At that point, another company, a Japanese company, offered us some really good money to come up there and less travel.
18:31And so we ended up leaving WWE and going to Japan.
18:36They went over there, and they rocked Japan.
18:42I remember going to Japan, and guys over there trying to take advantage.
18:45I know these guys will test you and see how good you are.
18:48It was really good having my brother with me there.
18:51He was an amateur wrestler, and he could handle himself.
18:53I was an amateur, and I'm myself.
18:56The Strider Brothers, to this day, are still legendary in Japan.
19:00It was great.
19:02We were wrestling in front of 75,000 people in Tokyo Dome.
19:05We won the world titles over there.
19:08Japan was hot, man, and we thrived.
19:11We were there for about a year.
19:13I wanted to get back into WCW because they were still rolling, and we were only doing one day a month, two days a month.
19:20So I called up, and it just so happened WCW was working a deal with Japan.
19:25And so I worked out a deal with WCW, and we were able to come back.
19:29When we came back to WCW, it was like coming home.
19:32And then shortly after that was when NWO was formed.
19:37Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Hulk Hogan.
19:40And from then on, man, it just took off.
19:44Look at this crowd! They are all on their feet!
19:47WCW, each and every week, the number one most-watched wrestling program on planet Earth.
19:53And it keeps getting hotter and hotter and hotter.
19:57It was the best time.
19:58It was nothing like I've ever seen before.
20:01Wrestling was hot.
20:03I managed them for a while in the WCW.
20:07Fans' reactions were good, very good.
20:10At that time, when you're doing it, and you're in the moment, it's like, wow, this is never going to end.
20:14They are the best tag team in our sport, bar none.
20:18This is great, man. This will go on until I'm old.
20:22Six times, they have held the WCW World Tag Team titles.
20:26I always thought we'd be a tag team until the end of the business.
20:31I never thought we'd split up.
20:33There has never been a tag team in the sport of wrestling as dominant as the Steiner Brothers.
20:38It got to a point, there wasn't a lot of tag teams left that we hadn't wrestled.
20:42I know Mr. Bischoff, who was running the company at that time, thought,
20:46you know, let's try and see if we can split them up and see if it works,
20:49and see if, you know, we can do some singles with you guys.
20:52We played it out.
20:53There was not much else to do with the Steiner Brothers,
20:56because at that time, we had wrestled everybody in WCW,
21:00and there was really no more heels to climb.
21:04There is kind of a ceiling for most tag teams in wrestling,
21:09only in the sense that most of the time, the main event of the big shows
21:13are not going to be the tag team championship.
21:16They're going to be the singles world championship match.
21:18And I think as you watch the Steiner Brothers, as much as people loved them as a team,
21:22just the dynamic of who Rick and Scott were,
21:26people started to get a little hungry to see them separate.
21:30What did I just see?
21:32He double axed on his own brother!
21:34What in the world did I just see?
21:36You've got to be kidding!
21:38My oldest son, he did not understand it when Scotty turned.
21:42He was highly upset.
21:44Can you imagine the Steiners family at home watching this?
21:47Can you imagine this?
21:49And they just both came over and sat him down and talked to him
21:53and just said, look, this is our job.
21:55We're not mad at each other.
21:57We still love each other and, you know, it's nothing like that.
22:02And it's not going to change.
22:04I'm not going to stop coming over here to hang out.
22:06It's just work.
22:08I didn't like when they made him split.
22:10It didn't have to be, but they did.
22:11To see what would happen.
22:13But it didn't divide the boys.
22:15You know, I just wanted the best for my brother.
22:18It was his turn to take the next step and do his thing.
22:22And he was ready for it.
22:24I was included in a lot of top things.
22:26And, I mean, it was okay.
22:28There was really nothing I could change or do about it.
22:30Was I happy?
22:32I mean, I was fine with it.
22:34I was making money.
22:36I probably could have did more, but, you know,
22:38you're kind of at the mercy of the world.
22:39You know, you're kind of at the mercy of the people in charge.
22:43He had to deal with politics also.
22:45He was probably a little more passive than I was.
22:48In some cases, I took advantage of him.
22:51They push and push to see how much they can push until you push back.
22:55Unfortunately, it didn't take much to push me.
22:58My attitude was changing.
23:01I wasn't the same fresh-faced kid out of college anymore.
23:04And I was kind of hardened by the politics of wrestling,
23:08so I was ready.
23:10Watching Scott Steiner break away and become a solo star
23:14was mind-blowing.
23:16It was incredible.
23:18Scott completely reinvented himself.
23:24That's the voice?
23:26Yeah.
23:28It was heavy.
23:30I bet he was.
23:31As much as I appreciated the cheers of the fans
23:34and who all was supportive of the Steiner brothers,
23:37I just felt that it was time.
23:39I knew I had to change.
23:41I wasn't the guy wearing a Michigan jacket anymore,
23:44and I wanted to take, you know, a 180-degree turn
23:47and go the opposite.
23:49I went and bleached my hair.
23:51It showed up, and, like, a lot of people didn't even recognize me.
23:55Scott Steiner, look at his head!
23:57That's Scott Steiner?
23:59That's Scott Steiner?
24:02You wouldn't even know it was him.
24:05It was one of the almost unbelievable transitions ever.
24:11As time went on, he just got bigger and bigger and bigger.
24:15There's no plausible way
24:18you could have watched Scott Steiner's body change on television
24:23and not thought something was going on,
24:26beyond him being in the gym.
24:28How do you feel about it when you would come out of an entrance
24:31and you'd see steroid signs in the crowd?
24:34You can make all the accusations you want.
24:37I've never failed a drug test,
24:39so take that information and do what you want with it.
24:43When I made that transition
24:46from the Steiner brothers to Big Papa Pump,
24:49I wanted to get in the best shape I possibly could,
24:52so a lot of strict diet.
24:54How about your legs, freak?
24:56Once you are leaner,
24:58they're going to look bigger.
25:00I'm going to make you understand that size does matter,
25:03and I'm the genetic freak.
25:05When he got into that Big Papa Pump routine,
25:07he's kind of got it down.
25:09His mic skills went up exponentially.
25:11You see, all my hooches have a space to fill,
25:16and they all tell me I'm the big thrill.
25:20I was single for most of my career,
25:23so I always had a good time,
25:25and I never had any thoughts of getting married.
25:26When you're in wrestling,
25:28you see all the divorces,
25:30the hardships that are on your family,
25:32and I never wanted that for myself.
25:34It was just for the fact that I didn't want to miss
25:38my kids growing up and stuff.
25:40And then he met Krista.
25:43She's probably been the best thing in his life he's ever had.
25:46I believe she's an angel.
25:48Scott and I actually met at the gym,
25:50and I was like, oh, he's got a cute smile.
25:52So we went out, and then we kind of just clicked.
25:55I mean, she was the best person I ever met.
25:58He was so sweet to me all the time.
26:00I met her in 1998, and then we got married in 2000.
26:06Scott was such a different person at home,
26:09and when he would be at work, he'd be so intense.
26:12It kind of made me nervous.
26:14Like, I'd rather just stay outside of it.
26:17There's a difference between me at home
26:21and then me on the road.
26:22And then me on the road at the arena.
26:25I took my job serious.
26:27You know, the booking committee wanted me
26:29to do something that was bad.
26:31I let them know that I thought was bad.
26:33I'm not one to hide my emotions.
26:36You know, I'll tell you how I feel about you,
26:38and if you don't like it, I don't give a ****.
26:41He developed a bad attitude,
26:44and he always thought people were out to get him,
26:47and he kind of got a little crazy back then.
26:49Did you have an anger problem?
26:51Uh, maybe.
26:54You know, you just got to know when to approach me
26:56and when not to approach me.
26:58You know, I've always had a wild hair on my ass,
27:00you know, since I was a little kid.
27:02You know, nothing's changed.
27:04It's just that, you know, don't push me,
27:06and, you know, I won't push you.
27:08That's all.
27:10I don't knock him for it at all,
27:12because when you're dealing with the system,
27:14sometimes you got to make some noise.
27:17You got to shake some feathers,
27:19man, and especially when you're good,
27:21especially when you're talented.
27:23When you're talented, you know you can lead,
27:25and they know you can lead.
27:27Hulk Hogan wearing about a spot.
27:29All he can have is spot.
27:31This bald spot.
27:33Wow. I think Scott certainly had a chip on his shoulder.
27:36He knew, I have the pedigree for this.
27:39Incredibly athletic in the ring.
27:41I have a physique like no one else.
27:44Scott Steiner was so desperate to be the guy,
27:47or so it seemed.
27:49He really had some animosity against a lot of these guys
27:51that were on the top,
27:53just because everybody was reaching for that
27:55and wanted to be on top,
27:57and my brother did too,
27:59and he had to fight for it, and he did.
28:01It's over! Scott Steiner is the new World Heavyweight Champion!
28:08That was the validation of hard work pays off.
28:14I was very proud of it.
28:16It was very satisfying.
28:19I won the belt on my terms,
28:21and I can look at myself in the mirror in the mornings and at night,
28:25and know I think I did it the right way.
28:27I didn't have to kiss anybody's ass.
28:29My athletic ability brought me to the top.
28:35It was great. He was happy, and I was happy for him.
28:39I never felt like I was in my brother's shadow.
28:41Never had a problem with it.
28:43Never was jealous of him.
28:45Never was jealous of it.
28:47He was doing his thing, and I was doing mine.
28:50Rick Steiner is the United States Heavyweight Champion!
28:55Everything was going great at WCW.
28:57Everybody was making money.
28:59It was like a dream come true, you know, being in that business.
29:02We were just riding the high.
29:04I had been a champion for six, seven, eight months,
29:08and all of a sudden, when WCW closed,
29:11our legs were cut from under me.
29:13And they ended up selling it to WWE.
29:17We were all, like, in shock.
29:19We are stunned. We are floored.
29:21The very last telecast of WCW Monday Night Raw.
29:25For the last night,
29:28my foot was paralyzed.
29:30I wasn't supposed to be there.
29:33A couple months after I won the title,
29:35I woke up, and my foot was totally paralyzed.
29:40I mean, it just flopped there.
29:42It happened during the night,
29:45which was the weirdest thing.
29:47There's nothing like looking at your foot,
29:50and you can't do nothing with it.
29:53And all the doctors were explaining to me that,
29:56you know, when you damage a nerve, it will come back.
30:00Unfortunately, I waited.
30:02This never came back.
30:05He used to take trainer's tape,
30:07wrapped it around his shoe,
30:09and around the back of his ankle and calf.
30:11He called his toe back so it didn't drop.
30:14He didn't get in the ring and wrestle.
30:18For the last night,
30:20when WCW was taken over by the WWE,
30:25I wasn't supposed to be there.
30:27My doctor wouldn't give me clearance,
30:29but I showed up anyways,
30:31and did what I had to do to do the right thing.
30:34We've got a new world heavyweight champion
30:38on this very last Monday Night Drove.
30:41When WCW closed, it was shocking.
30:46You're like, holy cow, is this really happening?
30:48And you don't really, you know,
30:50and then I had a year on my contract,
30:52so, you know, I had a year to get everything in order
30:55and everything for the, you know,
30:57that final check to come in,
30:59and so I decided to go to Japan.
31:00My oldest called me.
31:02I was on the bus.
31:04He was about 10 years old,
31:06and he asked me, are you gonna come watch me this Saturday
31:08on a football game?
31:10And I said, son, I'm in Japan.
31:12I won't be able to be home.
31:14And he goes, don't you like watching me play football?
31:16Dad, you never come.
31:18You never come to my games.
31:20And I sat there, and it just stuck in my brain
31:22for the rest of the tour.
31:24And that was the last tour I went over to Japan for.
31:27I came back and reactivated my real estate license,
31:29and I stayed home from then on.
31:31I mean, if you're his dad,
31:33I couldn't think about myself.
31:35I had to think about them,
31:37and so I just never went back.
31:40My brother, he told me he was gonna go up to WWE.
31:46My foot was still paralyzed.
31:48We still went forward.
31:50At that time, I had to wear a brace,
31:52and I taped my ankle up over the brace
31:54to where it was almost a cast.
31:55That's how I wrestled.
31:57It was tough.
32:00I remember that first match he had with Hunter
32:02on his entrance.
32:04He's coming into the ring,
32:06and he goes to get up on the second rope,
32:08and he slips.
32:10And, you know, something like that gets in your head.
32:12It's not good.
32:14And then from then on,
32:16it just...
32:18I don't think it ever clicked for him
32:20the way that he wanted it to
32:22or the way that I wanted it to.
32:23The way that he wanted it to
32:25or the way that we wanted it to.
32:28I ended up lasting, I think, a year,
32:30a year and a half.
32:33As soon as I left there,
32:35a week later, I had, like,
32:37three major surgeries.
32:39One to fix my ankle.
32:41I got a lot of home time with my boys,
32:44and it was great.
32:46He played with the kids every day.
32:48And it wasn't until the kids
32:50got into, like, kindergarten
32:51and they'd have play dates,
32:53and Scott would be like,
32:55well, where are they?
32:57I'm like, oh, they're at a play date.
32:59Well, why didn't they come over here?
33:01Like, he had nothing to do.
33:03So I think that's why he went back to work,
33:05because his boys wanted to play with kids
33:07their own age.
33:09I went back to full-time wrestling
33:11and went to TNA
33:13for, you know, two reasons.
33:15Because my boys, they love wrestling.
33:17And two, I wanted to prove, you know,
33:19that what I did
33:21was an abomination,
33:23was something I wasn't proud of.
33:27I mean, even though my foot
33:29still wasn't 100%,
33:31I could still move around.
33:33Being at TNA was a great time,
33:35and then, unfortunately,
33:37I almost died in Puerto Rico
33:39in a wrestling match.
33:41Scott was in a tag team match
33:43in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for TNA.
33:45And Scott got kicked in the throat
33:47towards the end of the match.
33:49Got kicked in the throat,
33:51and if I would've just tore my trachea
33:53up here,
33:55I would've just had a tracheotomy.
33:57It would've been easy.
33:59But unfortunately, I tore in my chest.
34:01So they had to go through my rib cage,
34:03open it up,
34:05went through my lung.
34:07And he made it through.
34:10His wife was able to fly down
34:12the next morning.
34:14He was really swollen,
34:16so he was, like, wide.
34:18They went through his side,
34:19and they basically filleted his back.
34:21And then they put a chest tube
34:23in the side, so he was swollen.
34:25But I was like, oh, he looks,
34:27you know, he seemed good.
34:29And the doctor happened to be in there,
34:31and the first thing he said to him
34:33was, how much downtime is this?
34:35And I thought, I'm done.
34:37I'm not worrying about you anymore.
34:39Like, are you freaking kidding me?
34:41Like, I just,
34:43you just tore your trachea,
34:45almost died.
34:47I'm just gonna have to accept
34:49that this is what happened.
34:51When you do something
34:53that you love to do,
34:55and that's sort of your identity,
34:57that, you know, not doing that
34:59was never, like,
35:01really an option for him.
35:03This business can be rough on the body,
35:05and it is rough on the body.
35:07Every time something goes wrong,
35:09I worry about my brother.
35:11I was wrestling again
35:13in two, three months.
35:15There's nothing like going out
35:17in front of a live crowd
35:20It's like an addiction.
35:22There's adrenaline.
35:24I mean, I love wrestling.
35:27Yeah.
35:31When WCW went and closed,
35:34the next step for me was
35:36doing real estate.
35:38I got my real estate license
35:40probably back in the mid-90s.
35:42I was buying houses with
35:44Kurt Henning and Rick Rude and Bossman.
35:46We had a little company,
35:47and I reactivated my license,
35:49and I started selling real estate again.
35:51And it worked out great.
35:54And I was able to
35:56focus all my concentration on my boys.
36:00You know, I look back,
36:02and, you know, my dad's passed now,
36:04but I just learned so much character.
36:06I learned a lot from my dad.
36:08He was a good dad.
36:10He still is.
36:12He was strict,
36:14no doubt about it,
36:15but he just
36:17made him toe the line
36:19and made him be respectful.
36:21He loves his boys.
36:23I get to do all the things
36:25that Dad does with his son,
36:27and I was able to do that.
36:29And they were of the age
36:31that I could do that with them
36:33and we could make some memories.
36:35He was around a lot.
36:37He was a part of our athletics and sports,
36:39and he was a part of our school.
36:41I've been on the school board now
36:43for 16 years.
36:45He was involved in our sports.
36:47He loved to watch me play.
36:49Football was the focus for me
36:51for four years, but
36:53my dream was to be
36:55WWE Superstar.
36:57I talked to my dad.
36:59He said, all right,
37:01so I came down for a tryout.
37:03Work your ass off.
37:05Good luck to everyone.
37:07I'm here to be a student.
37:09I want to learn,
37:11and both my dad and uncle
37:13are both excited for me.
37:15I want to go with it.
37:17Well, Breaker,
37:19an aspiring NXT Superstar,
37:21certainly wants to stand out,
37:23and he wants to make
37:25an immediate impact.
37:27He has the potential to be
37:29better than both of us.
37:31The new NXT Champion,
37:33Braun Breaker.
37:35It was so cool, man,
37:37to do it in front of my father
37:39because he had never seen me
37:41work live.
37:43It's a great feeling to see
37:45your dream come true.
37:50It's so ironic that it's the kid
37:53and his success
37:55that got the family
37:57back in good graces
37:59with WWE.
38:01The news is broken this morning.
38:03Rick and Scott Steiner
38:05finally taking their rightful place
38:07as members of the WWE
38:09Hall of Fame.
38:11Congratulations.
38:13For a while there,
38:15I think Scott definitely
38:17did not like the WWE
38:19and definitely let everybody
38:21know about it prior to this.
38:23When I left the WWE,
38:25there was frustration,
38:27anger.
38:29I was pissed off.
38:32I saw there was supposed to be
38:34an Irving Hand,
38:36a Scottie Steiner,
38:38a Hot Mike at the WWE Hall of Fame.
38:40They're like,
38:42I'm going to watch this.
38:43Some things go good.
38:45Sometimes it can go off the rails.
38:53A lot of people actually thought
38:55that me having a live mic
38:57was a dangerous thing,
38:59but I never had those thoughts
39:01because I wasn't going to do
39:03anything to hurt Bronson.
39:05The years go by way too fast.
39:07You wonder,
39:09where did all the time go?
39:11So have fun.
39:13I came in peace,
39:15water under the bridge.
39:17One person I want to thank,
39:19I want to thank my brother.
39:22He always set the standard high.
39:25He kept me on a pace
39:27to be the best I could be.
39:29I probably wouldn't be here
39:31if it wasn't for him.
39:33I thank my brother
39:35and I thank all you people out there
39:37for supporting us.
39:39Woo! Woo! Woo!
39:43I mean, it was just
39:45like a dream come true.
39:47We had a great partnership
39:49and I think that's part of our success
39:51is just being around my brother
39:53pretty much my whole life.
39:55We never really separated
39:57and we still are.
39:59We live a mile apart from each other.
40:01You're actually nice to somebody.
40:03Look at you shaking a kid's hand.
40:05Look at that mullet.
40:07Look at the size of those arms.
40:09What arm?
40:11See that pain right there?
40:13I always carry my brother with me.
40:15Did you bore us like a stall?
40:17No, mine didn't stall.
40:19You stalled yours.
40:21I look back on those days,
40:23I wouldn't want to do it
40:25with anybody else but my brother.
40:27Perhaps the most awesome
40:29brother combination
40:31to ever compete in the sport of wrestling.
40:33I don't know of any two brothers
40:35that have the opportunity
40:37to really create a dynasty
40:39that these two kids have.
40:41It's amazing what they've done
40:43and they were cutting edge.
40:45They wrestled on top with everybody
40:47and always gave you
40:49an unbelievable match.
40:51We worked hard.
40:53We came here to be the best.
40:55One of the greatest tag teams of all time
40:57and then to turn around
40:59and have that kind of a run
41:01as an individual.
41:03Nobody had more fun than I did
41:05in professional wrestling.
41:07I had a great time from day one.
41:09It was an awesome feeling
41:11having my brother as a partner
41:13and my brother would be the only one
41:15I'd want by my side.
41:17My brother's great.
41:19I couldn't have done anything without him.