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Tape Reviews
Rick Steiner Shoot Interview
Posted by Brandon Truitt on Jul 28, 2003, 19:00
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I'm feeling lazy tonight because I've typed up about 19 pages on the Jim Cornette shoot this weekend and I'm STILL not done, so this will be a short introduction. The Cornette shoot WILL be posted next week. The week after that will be Raven's second shoot, which should undoubtably be great if only for what he'll say about his time in WCW.
As always, you can feel free to Drop me an e-mail, read the archives, buy me stuff, or buy yourself stuff at Highspots.com.
Rick Steiner shoot interview (3-12-2002)
Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko vs. Tazz and Rick Steiner- Steiner is a surprise guest to replace Sabu, who no-showed the match and was publicly fired. Tazz and Steiner clean house but the match never started.
Getting into the business- He started by doing amateur wrestling at Michigan and, through a coach, got hooked up with AWA trainer Brad Rheingans. They did some kids camps on amateur wrestling where a wrestler was invited and, at the end of one week, he was asked to be the wrestler�s opponent. He wasn�t thrilled with the idea of it since he was a �real� wrestler but did it for the kids. The guy then introduced him to George �The Animal� Steele, who told him to contact Verne Gagne. After he graduated, he went to see Verne in Minneapolis before starting his training under Eddie Sharkey.
Training- He trained alongside Scott Nord (Nord the Barbarian, The Berserker) and a few other guys. Three weeks into the camp, Rheingans took over. They mostly learned how to take bumps and, if the trainers didn�t like someone, they ended up wrestling Steiner or Nord.
Did he have misconceptions going into the business? Not really because he was just interested in making money. He had a teaching degree but didn�t see himself going far at it.
Him and his brother growing up- They were just normal brothers, as they�d fight all the time and so forth, although they�ve been close since they went to college.
His first territory- He worked a few AWA matches in against Brad Rheingans until he, Tom Zenk, and a few others were sent to work for Dino Bravo�s promotion in Montreal, where he stayed for six months before leaving. He went back to the AWA and was sent to UWF shortly thereafter due to Blackjack Lanza setting it up.
Working for Bill Watts- Watts was just like his dad so it wasn�t unusual for him. Watts may have intimidated a lot of guys but he learned a lot and respected him. He talks about how Watts would make you earn your living in the business, such as by showing the Ultimate Warrior how to kick by putting him on the ground and laying kicks into him. He says that the new wrestlers today wouldn�t stand for it and calls them �a bunch of pussies.�
The travel schedule of the UWF- It was his first real territory so he didn�t know better. He, Sting, and Ultimate Warrior would all ride together.
Did he learn a lot from anyone in particular? �Dr. Death� Steve Williams was someone who Watts told him to watch, and then he learned more by riding with him. He also did the same thing with Buzz Sawyer.
Buzz Sawyer- One of the best ring generals.
Early memories of matches with Dr. Death and �Hacksaw� Jim Duggan- Doc would try to get him to relax, look at girls in the crowd, etc. He didn�t have many matches with Duggan, although he had a lot with Chavo Guerrero Sr. and Terry Taylor.
Eddie Gilbert- Eddie helped him and Sting out a lot when they were the Hot Stuff International stable. He had a good wrestling mind but had a lot of distractions. He liked him a lot.
Initial thoughts on Sting and Ultimate Warrior- He thought they were musclebound Road Warrior imitators but he got to know them when they were all living in the same apartment complex and riding together. Sting�s probably one of his few friends from the business to this day. He learned a lot about tag team wrestling by working with Sting, Gilbert, and others.
Favorite guys to work against in the UWF- Dr. Death, Chavo Guerrero Sr., and Terry Taylor all stick out from that time. He remembers working one particular match in Houston against Jake �The Snake� Roberts where Jake taught him a lot.
He and Dr. Death helping out victims of a car wreck- Rick was driving and Doc was asleep when he saw a big bonfire down the road. He eventually woke Doc up to ask what he thought was going on, then they came upon a two car wreck. They couldn�t help the people in one of the cars but they pulled the three guys from a local army base out of the other car. They thought they were all dead but the guy who was in the backseat survived and, as a show six months later, came up to thank him. Two weeks after the incident, they were written up in the Lafayette, Louisiana, paper for what they did� which pissed off Watts because they were heels at the time.
Shane Douglas- He doesn�t remember him in the UWF.
The Freebirds- He, Sting, Missy Hyatt, and the Freebirds were riding in a van on the way back from a show. They all got out to take a piss and they had Missy go around the side of the van. He saw Michael PS Hayes and Buddy Roberts go around the van and then they heard screams, which was the two of them holding her down and pissing on them. Hayes would annoy people in the locker room and Buddy was disgusting in general, as he�d chew tobacco and make a tremendous mess and he would always carry around a small paper bag with his one change of clothes in it.
Learning that the UWF was sold to Jim Crockett- He and Sting were champions and they were told about the sale because Brad Armstrong and Tim Horner were going to beat them for the belts. No one knew how many guys Crockett would keep, which ended up just being himself, Sting, and Dr. Death.
Dusty�s initial booking meeting with them- �I don�t know if I�ll like this but I have to put up with it.� He went along with everything he was told.
Was he surprised they didn�t do an invasion angle? A little, but he figures he knows why since they were considered B-level and C-level wrestler compared to the Jim Crockett Promotions guys, and that was all Dusty�s booking. He and Sting didn�t want to put Horner and Armstrong over because they thought it was bullshit but went through with it.
Teaming with Dick Murdoch- �I teamed up with Murdoch? Did I really?�
The Varsity Club- Dusty came up with the idea and put him, Mike Rotundo, and Kevin Sullivan together. They ended up making him a face and turning Dr. Death heel to take his spot. He feels that there was a lot more stuff they could have done with it but they didn�t. He liked the gimmick.
Dusty and Watts as bookers- Watts was loud, hardcore, and was upfront. Dusty was quiet and more underhanded about things and would never tell you if he liked what you were doing or hated it.
Was he against his babyface run? He felt it was done too soon.
Ric Flair- He wasn�t much of a threat to Flair, so they got along. He got to know more about him over the years and know in particular Flair was against he and Scott Steiner coming back to WCW in 1996. �My brother hates his guts and wants to kill him.� Flair�s nice but he�s also a snake in the grass and has screwed a lot of people over during his career.
How did the company change when Ted Turner bought it? He and Sting had just gotten contracts and then, six months later, they had a meeting where they found out that Crockett was going broke and that he couldn�t pay their contracts. They ended up getting about 40% of their contract money in buyouts and there was a feeling of general panic until Turner finally bought the company, at which point he got a contract worth double or triple what Crockett had paid him. Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, and the Big Bossman all left around that time but he didn�t consider going there.
The locker room under Jim Herd- He was put in a position he was clueless about. He tried to keep it going. He was upfront but could be very hard to deal with. He remembers going through about eight or nine bosses while he was in the company.
Bringing Scott into the company- He tried to do it when Dusty was booking but couldn�t even get a minute of his time. After his face turn, he pitched it to Flair and a few other guys who ended up bringing Scott in.
Match with the Nasty Boys at Halloween Havoc- The Nastys were only in the business a few years and really wanted to go to the WWF because they had problems with WCW. They�d partially worked out a deal with Vince McMahon and were asking for a good match to ensure their position. They ended up going balls-out that night and doing all kinds of crazy spots.
Their reputation for being stiff in the ring- They were rough on the jobbers but didn�t break their bones or anything like that. He has a screw in his arm from clotheslining a guy in the jaw and remembers one time where the jobber blew several spots and Scott beat the living crap out of him.
Is it true Scott asked him to punch him in the face as part of an angle? Yes. Scott was supposed to have a black eye for one angle but it didn�t look good enough. He asked Rick to pop him one to make it look better but not to hit him too hard.
Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk- He worked in Montreal with him. Nice guy. Zenk and Scott were good friends in WCW. Both he and Scott were friends with Brian during their first run in WCW but lost track of him when they went to the WWF. He�d changed by the time they came back in 1996 and he thinks the biggest part of it was the ugly situation involving Brian�s wife and his daughter. (For those who don�t know, Brian�s first wife was a drug addict who had screwed up in many ways before losing custody of their daughter to Brian after their divorce. She committed suicide shortly after losing custody.)
Sting changing over the years- He matured a lot over the years but was always quiet.
Terry Funk- He remembers partying at his house in Amarillo and likes him a lot. Straight-up guy, although he wonders why he takes such crazy bumps at his age.
Paul Heyman- One night, Paul E was riding with the Samoan Swat Team (Samu and Fatu(Rikishi)) and the New Zealand Militia (Jack Victory and Rip Morgan) when the car that the Steiners, Sting, and Brian Pillman drove by. They ended up shooting bottle rockets and so forth at them and the Samoans ended up tearing the car apart. Paul got stuck with the bill and couldn�t rent at Hertz anymore.
Sid Vicious- Imposing guy with a good look. He used to screw with him in the locker room. He changed a lot by the end and was a good guy.
How did things change when Flair left for the WWF? There was no heat on Flair for taking the title with him to the WWF. Everyone thought he was at the end of his career and that he was always looking for that one last thing to make his career.
Matches with Sting and Lex Luger- He remembers one in Tampa where they had a good match. He heard through the grapevine that Flair had set all four of them up to fail.
The Wrestlewar match where they beat up the jobbers- They were told to be rough on the green Japanese wrestlers because the style they were used to was stiff. They ended up breaking the eye socket of one of them. He�s since seen the guy in Japan and has apologized to him.
His first Japan tour- He went there with Dr. Death and hated it. He was completely lost because Doc arrived a few weeks after Rick arrived. The Sheepherders were over there at the same time. Doc always told him �Watch me� during those matches. He limits himself to two weeks there at a time now, which keeps him from going nuts.
How hard was it to work in Japan while getting a WCW push? It wasn�t too bad because they�d work two weeks there and get a week off before returning to WCW. They always kept it in mind as a place to go if things went sour in the WWF or WCW.
Bill Kazmeyer- He and Scott tormented the guy all the time. He was a big, strong guy but didn�t have a head for the business because he wasn�t aggressive. He was a great guy though.
Winning the WCW tag titles from the Freebirds before the Freebirds had ever won them- He remembers winning the belts at a TV taping that wouldn�t air for a few weeks then the Freebirds winning the titles at a house show a few nights later.
vOle Anderson as a booker- He remembers wrestling Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed) around this time. Ole had some good ideas but his time was past since he was unwilling to adapt to the current product. He puts Ole in the same category as Verne Gagne because he refused to change and was left behind as a result.
Working against Konnan at Starrcade 90- He doesn�t get along with Konnan because he wants to be higher on the card than his abilities warrant and, on top of that, is careless and reckless in the ring. If you�re going to be like that, don�t get around Rick because he�ll kick the crap out of you. He�s also lazy and doesn�t like him.
Terry Gordy- Gordy taught him a lot and was a great big man, much like Big Bossman, who Rick considers one of the best big men of all time.
The Chamber of Horrors match- He thought it was a joke for Kevin Sullivan and Abdullah the Butcher because Abby got �electrocuted.� He didn�t have a choice, though, because it was either take easy money and do the match or quit.
Working against Hase and Great Muta in Japan- It was great because their style meshes well with Japanese style because of the snugness of the blows.
Bam Bam Bigelow and Vader- Vader had an attitude the first few times they met but that�s because Rick helped Brad Rheingans break Vader into the business and beat the living shit out of him, fracturing his ribs. Bam Bam was great though.
Tony Haime and Scott Norton- Norton is difficult to work with because he likes the strong style. Tony was a bodybuilder who thought he was going to be a big movie star but, instead, flopped.
Who was overrated or underrated in Japan? Yatsu is overrated. Riki Choshu was a bit overrated but, since he was the booker, he could get away with it.
His singles program against Lex Luger- He likes Lex and had some okay matches against him although Dusty would cut the matches short. He feels that Lex took more criticism for his abilities than he deserved.
Mick Foley- He was crazy to begin with because of the bumps he took. WCW didn�t understand his character and screwed it up as a result. He respects Mick a lot and says he deserved the success he got in the WWF. Mick�s success there helped the whole business.
Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner vs. Two Japanese Guys- Rick hits one of the guys with a Steinerline while Scott hits the Frankensteiner for a simultaneous three count.
Being paired with Missy Hyatt- Scott is a loner and doesn�t like being paired with people, so he did it because the office said to. Rick knew her from the UWF and could only think of the disgusting stuff from back then like the Freebirds pissing on her or �Hollywood� John Tatum screwing her up, down, and sideways before switching off with someone else. He liked her tits, though.
Ribs they played on Diamond Dallas Page- The one they remember the most was in Charleston, West Virginia, where Page was helping manage the Freebirds along with Big Daddy Dink (Sir Oliver Humperdink). The Freebirds didn�t like Page much so they helped the Steiners mess with him. At the end of the night, there was a battle royale and Page got stripped naked during the match. Humperdink threw DDP a t-shirt, which was even worse because they had to see Humperdink without a shirt. He feels that Page is one of the reasons why the young guys don�t respect the business much. When Page started getting his big push, he�d come in with a list of moves to use in his match instead of learning how to build a match and use psychology.
Bill Watts running WCW- He thought it would be a good thing because of how the UWF was but things went bad. Rick got injured then Scott ended up getting into a fight with Watts. Scott had gotten so pissed about Erik Watts� push that he cornered Bill in the locker room and screamed at him over it. Bill claimed he had a pistol in his shoe that he�d use on Scott but no one knows if that�s true. Shortly thereafter, Bill called up Rick and told him that their contracts were coming up soon and that Rick would be resigned but that he didn�t want Scott. Rick passed it up so they could go to the WWF as a team.
Were there any plans to use Scott as a heel? Watts was teasing it because he wanted to turn Scott heel, but they wouldn�t have gone for it.
Steve Austin- You never know what Vince will do because he can take a castoff from WCW and make him a big star but some big names from WCW end up being mediocre there. His career was on the rocks for a while before he impressed Vince when working on commentary.
Going to the WWF- It was a foregone conclusion after Scott attacked Bill Watts.
His first night in the WWF- They were there when Nailz beat the shit out of Vince McMahon. John Nord was watching the door to keep anyone from coming in. He thought that Vince was a businessman and somewhat sincere but, after working for him, you realize he is the Mr. McMahon character from TV these days.
How were they misused? The company already had enough problems with the accused sexual harassment of the ringboys, the bad investment in ICO-PRO, doing the drug testing, etc. Rick was told he tested positive for an unnamed substance one time, which he claimed was bullshit then immediately went to another lab to get a separate test taken to prove it. He was back at work a week later. Part of their pay was tied to merchandising and other such avenues and, when Vince would tell them their merchandise wasn�t selling well, he�d respond by saying �Vince, you control the merchandise. Do whatever you need with us to sell the stuff.� They finally reached the breaking point when Scott got into a screaming match with Vince and they ended up being released.
Were they told anything about their style when they arrived? They were asked not to hurt anyone in order for people to keep working with them.
Was it unusual to see Ric Flair as a small fish in a big pond there? Yes, he found it satisfying and Scott loved it to death because of his hatred of Flair.
Hulk Hogan- He was on a different level. He was pretty upfront when they asked him about some of the behind-the-scenes stuff.
Did things change when Hogan quit? Yes, because they already had enough problems at the time like the steroid stuff. Bret tried to carry the business but couldn�t quite do it.
Shawn Michaels- He knew him from when he was in the Rockers with Marty Jannetty. Marty was always a big ribber. Shawn got to be friends with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall around that time. From the people Rick talked to back then, Shawn wasn�t well-liked. He never personally had a problem with him while he was there and says that Shawn even came up with the Quebec Rules match where they lost the tag belts to the Quebecers.
The Quebecers- He didn�t like Jacques Rougeau but liked Pierre Oulette. Jacques is underhanded in trying to get himself ahead.
Matches with Owen Hart and Bret Hart- Their big match with them was right before they got released. They called the whole match in the ring and it was one of the best matches in their career.
Going to Smokey Mountain Wrestling- He thinks they did it as a favor to Vince.
Was Lex Luger different in the WWF? No, he was the same as in WCW. He knew it was a big letdown for Lex when Vince finally pulled the plug on his push.
Was there a clique of WCW guys in the WWF? No, although they didn�t get along with half of the locker room. They mainly got along with the ribbers like Mr. Fuji, the Headhunters, Curt Hennig, Marty Jannetty, etc. and they didn�t get along with Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, and a few other guys. One night, someone ribbed Fuji�s car and the Headhunters decide they�re going to kick the shit out of Shawn Michaels. It turned into a HUGE brawl.
The 1994 Royal Rumble- Vince wanted him and Scott to fight each other, which they refused to do, so they were the first two people eliminated.
The drug situation in the WWF at the time- It was mainly pills and GHB. His personal take is that he doesn�t mind steroids because they are a performance enhancer, although he knows they cause health problems. He didn�t get into the whole pill thing, though. One day, Scott Hall took so many that he passed out in his lunch in the middle of a restaurant.
Pat Patterson- They got along with him �even though he�s a fag� (his words, NOT mine).
What lead to them leaving the WWF- He thinks it was a combination of Vince not keeping his word and the crappy matches with the Quebecers and so forth. It was one of the worst times in his life. One of the few bright points at that time was travelling with Owen Hart.
Scott�s investments- �Scott�s still probably got his first paycheck from when he worked in Memphis.� He�s always saved his money so now he�s worth millions.
ECW- They did it because they needed to do something between their one appearance a month in Japan. Paul paid them decently to come work for him so they did it. He remembers the Dudleyz being good guys.
Returning to WCW- Their three-year deal with Japan ran out so they sat at home for six months. Rick finally talked Scott into looking for work again so they called Eric Bischoff and Sting about coming into WCW. Bischoff tried to lowball them but Scott told him �If you get more money, call us� and walked out. Flair called up Scott after that and told him �You guys will never work for this company again.� They ended up getting one more meeting with Bischoff where they worked out a deal for $2000 a show because they figured the office would decide they were worth big contracts in a few months, which ended up happening.
Was there competition for tag team spots? Yes and no, because the division was stacked with them, Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray), the Road Warriors, Sting and Lex Luger, etc but the Road Warriors were on their way out so the main feud was Rick and Scott vs. Harlem Heat for a long time.
Impressions of Hall and Nash coming to WCW in 1996- Nash was a friend of his so it was no problem. Hall was an idiot but he could deal with it. He just wanted the business to get better so he had no problem with them being brought in like they were.
Was Hogan any different at this time? No, he was the same as always.
Was there a glass ceiling limiting their push? Yes, and everyone knows it because WCW was limited when it came to people who knew what they were doing. The egos and the infighting between Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Bret Hart helped run things into the ground.
Did the inconsistency of the storylines annoy them? They put up with it because the nWo angle was making them money.
Ric Flair and Eric Bischoff�s confrontation- He thinks it was Flair�s past coming back to haunt him. �Ric Flair is like handling a five year old.�
Was Ted Dibiase being pushed aside by being their manager? Yes. He knew it wouldn�t last long so he went through with it.
How did the established WCW stars feel about the new guys coming in like they did? No one had problems with the nWo but there were problems with other new guys like Vampiro.
Was Bischoff harder to deal with later on? Yes, because he started getting stressed out and was effectively letting Hogan take control.
Thoughts on Bill Goldberg and his big initial push- He likes him a lot and feels that Goldberg paid his dues in a different way, by his success in college football and the NFL. He gives the example of Hogan only paying so many dues but being in the right place at the right time to get a huge push and help out the business. Goldberg was pretty much in the same position and there was nobody else ready at the time.
Did politics kill Goldberg�s push? Yes, between Hogan, Nash, Hall, Bret Hart, and others, �it was a shark tank� because of all the politics.
Everyone being offered a release if they wanted it- A few guys were singled out and asked if they wanted to leave. He respects Raven because he stood up for what he believed and took a release while Konnan and others backed down.
The split between himself and Scott- They had a sit-down in the locker room because they�d exhausted their feud with Harlem Heat because Stevie Ray was a great guy but a crappy wrestler and there was only so much that Booker T could do. On top of that, there weren�t a lot of other teams around at the time. When Scott got his hair cut and came back with it dyed blonde, no one recognized him.
Did he think Scott would get to be as big as he got? He didn�t have a clue about it. The only thing he has a problem with is when Vince Russo came in and gave Scott and a few other guys free reign to do what they wanted. The problem was that Scott didn�t find anything for him to do, which irked him a bit considering that he�d saved Scott�s ass several times. Those times included the one where Scott cut a shoot promo on Ric Flair and Rick had to pull strings with Bischoff to keep him around. He also thinks that Vince Russo was a plant from Vince McMahon to help destroy WCW from within and calls him one of the biggest cancers in the business. Everyone else in the business would use people they hated if they saw it would draw them money while Russo, on the other hand, had his crew of wrestlers he liked and he would shove them down everyone�s throats.
Was the feud between him and Scott abandoned too soon? No, it ran its course. No one in the office had a clue of what to do with it so he, Scott, and Buff Bagwell came up with ideas for it until they got sick of it.
Working the angle with Judy Bagwell- It was memorable for some people but he wouldn�t do it again if he had a choice.
Matches with Chris Benoit- He�s a good worker and liked wrestling him. He deserved what he gets and has done well for himself. He doesn�t have anything bad to say about him.
Did he stay in touch with Bischoff after Vince Russo came to power? Yes, but Bisch was stressed and had enough of the business at the time.
Was the locker room divided when Bischoff and Russo were co-booking the show? Yes. Everyone thought they�d get a chance although Russo kept subverting Bischoff and, eventually, got complete power for himself.
Did he ever meet with Kevin Sullivan or anyone else about something to do? Yeah, he worked with Sullivan on the Varsity Club angle that went nowhere for a few weeks. He thinks that Sullivan ran out of ideas long ago but is STILL better than Russo.
The Radicalz leaving the company- His view was if they thought they could get a better deal, they could leave. He knew Benoit would do well but figured Shane Douglas would go nowhere. He feels that if you run your mouth you better be able to follow through, which they did.
Bash at the Beach 2000- It was �more of Russo�s shit� because he had no respect for people in the business. It was a personal vendetta for Russo.
Responding to comments about him being lazy- They weren�t using him so why bust his ass and possibly get hurt?
Did he think Bischoff was going to buy WCW? Everyone was banking on it until the deal fell through right at the end of March. Bischoff let him in on Vince McMahon buying WCW and he knew nothing good could come from it. He knew there was no chance of him getting picked up and never did well in the WWF to begin with.
Was he stiff with Konnan towards the end of WCW? �I tried to beat the Hell out of him.� He�d hurt Lex Luger and a few other guys before that then screwed up some spots in their match, so he beat the crap out of him.
His feud with Booker T- He says that Booker went to the NAACP and complained about there being no black champion, so Turner gave in and let him win the title. He�s a good worker but a little overconfident.
Did he ever refuse to put someone over and, if so, why? One time was Hawk and Kinski in Japan, which was because they didn�t feel it was right. He put Benoit and Booker over a few times where he questioned it.
The final Nitro- Shane McMahon came in and said hi to everyone but, since the belt was off of him and the WWF had everything they planned to do laid out, Rick wasn�t on the show. He, Luger, and Bagwell left the show a few matches in.
Did he watch the Invasion angle? No, because he knew nothing good would happen because Vince wouldn�t put WCW�s guys over his own guys.
Hall, Nash, and Hogan in the WWF now- He thinks that Nash has a good appearance and can talk. Hall is useless. Hogan�s got a look but not much else. On top of that, you can only rehash the nWo so many times.
Who will survive out of the WCW talent in the WWF now? Shawn Stasiak won�t make it because �he�s a goof.� Chuck Palumbo is smart so he should be fine. He wants to see Johnny the Bull get a shot. Most of the rest of the young guys aren�t worth much.
Politics in WCW- He tried to stay away from him.
Could he be a major draw today? He could help and be a supporting character but he�s remembered as a tag wrestler and never taken seriously as a single. Given the right situation, anything could happen.
His recent New Japan tour- He was given a trial run and was told that everything went well. Chono and Nagata are about the only guys he knew who were still working there from his last run there.
Jimmy Hart�s promotion- He doesn�t care who�s running a new promotion because he wants to see an alternative to the WWF. �The business is at an all-time low.�
Did he lose his passion for the business? He�s not as excited as he used to be and he thinks that he lost a lot of that when Russo came into WCW.
Does he regret not having a program against the Road Warriors? Yes, and it�s because both Hawk and Animal had huge egos. �If they couldn�t beat you up and spit you out, they didn�t want to deal with you.�
Rick Steiner and Sting vs. Chavo Guerrero Sr. and Iceman King Parsons- Chavo and Iceman win when Sting hits a top-rope clothesline on Chavo, which is an automatic DQ in a Watts-run federation.
Is there anyone he wanted to work with but didn�t? With the exception of newer guys like The Rock, there isn�t really anyone.
How long would he like to work? Maybe another five years if Japan works out for him.
Who did he enjoy working with the most? Sting, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, the Samoans, the Nasty boys. and Doom were all good to work with. Vader, Konnan, and a few others were hard to work with Konnan in particular being called �worthless�.
Most creative guys he�s worked with- Hase, Sting, and his brother Scott.
Has anyone tried to doublecross him in the ring? Fujiwara tried to do it in Japan but failed. Everyone else knew better since they had heard of his amateur background.
What makes him the most angry about the business today? Young guys who have no respect for the business. The Japanese companies treat it as a sport and make the guys respect it before they wrestle. There�s also no respect for the older talent. He also says that most of the young guys will just do some moves and not have any psychology behind it, which is a big problem today. He says that at least when Vince McMahon wasn�t pushing guys who could wrestle in the 80s, he pushed genetic freaks who you would pass in the airport and think �MAN, that guy�s gotta be something.� Today, guys like Chris Jericho are getting pushed and he doesn�t think the ratings support the push they get, although he has no problems with Jericho personally.
How does he rate himself as a worker? He feels he�s in the upper-middle portion of workers because he had to learn ring psychology while working for Bill Watts, as opposed to guys who just go into a match with a list of spots written down.
Will Goldberg come back to wrestling? He thinks he has a few years left in him and that he�ll want to come back. He figures that he�ll wait out his contract, though, since it�s millions in free money. (Goldberg didn�t have to wait that long� AOL-Time Warner bought out 100% of his remaining contract a few months after this interview)
Is there anything he regrets? Not saving more money, but who doesn�t regret that? He doesn�t really have any others, though.
His future- He�s going back to Japan and is hoping to get a 2 or 3 year deal with them. He�s also hoping a new promotion starts in the US. He says he doesn�t want to end up like Flair or Hogan, who everyone looks at and thinks �Why are these people still here?�
The WWA- Andrew McManus and Bryan Adams of Kronik called him a few times, so he signed on for it. It was rough but he made some money. He feels that McManus needs some money and people who know what they�re doing in order to survive.
Matches:
The Steiner Brothers vs. Sting and Great Muta- This appears to be from the 1991 Rumble in the Rising Sun show at the Tokyo Dome. Muta�s in purple facepaint here and spits blue mist before the match. The finish comes as Scott Steiner hits a sidewalk slam on Sting, who turns it into a rollup for the three. Rick hit a belly-to-belly on Muta and was pinning him while Alfonso was counting Sting�s pin, so the Steiners are PISSED after the match. They still shake hands with both Muta and Sting, though.
The Varsity Club (Steiner and Mike Rotundo with Kevin Sullivan) vs. Ronnie Garvin and Jimmy Garvin with Precious- On the plus side, this isn�t late 1991 Jimmy Garvin, when he appeared to be working part-time as a Ron Jeremy lookalike. (I REALLY need to take a screenshot from Starrcade 1991 to support this.) The match ends in a schmoz as Kevin Sullivan forcibly Precious from ringside After the match, the Garvins find Precious cowering in the corner of a locker room. . I�d assume this is what set up the infamous Great American Bash 1988 �Tower of Doom� match involving these five men and several others including Dr. Death.
Rob Ricksteiner vs. Jake �The Snake� Roberts- This would be Rick wrestling under his real name in his early UWF days. Jake wins with a DDT.
Rick Steiner and Some Japanese Guy vs. Chris Benoit and Animal- Steiner�s team wins when his partner does a moonsault onto Benoit.
Rick Steiner vs. Some Japanese Guy- The Japanese guys wins when he reverses Steiner�s clothesline into a fireman�s carry and rolls him into a pin.
Rick and Scott promo- Scott explains Rick�s moron persona by talking about a car accident that Rick was in that makes him incapable of acting normally on his own.
Rick Steiner vs. Mike Rotundo for the TV title- Rotundo regains the TV title he lost to Steiner at Starrcade 88. Steiner had Rotundo in a sleeperhold then fell back onto the mat. Instead of counting Rotundo out from the sleeper, referee Teddy Long awards the title to Rotundo because Steiner�s shoulders were on the mat for a three count.
Thoughts: This was certainly better than I expected it to be. Steiner has more to say than you�d think considering the kind of gimmicks he had early in his career, where he didn�t say much of note. Recommended.
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