Big, poppa's back: Scott Steiner looks to pump up the action in WWE

AS THE OMINOUS SOUND OF police sirens reverbrerated throughout Madison Square Garden, the sold-out crowd rose to its feet to get a look at the freakish physique of Scott Steiner.

After having his arrival in WWE teased for several weeks on television in early November, "Big Poppa Pump" was in the house, walking down the aisle at the Survivor Series and entering the ring to do what he does best: annihilate anyone that dares to cross his path.

On that night, the unfortunate bystanders in the ring happened to be Christopher Nowinski and Matt Hardy. who may have been victims of circumstance, but they were victims nonetheless.

Steiner then reminded fans why he is known for being as dangerous with his mouth on live television as he is with his fists in the ring. "Give me the [expletive deleted] mike," he screamed.

Less than two minutes into his WWE comeback, he already had dropped his first "f-bomb."

That intensity and "loose cannon" quality are two of the reasons why fans find Steiner so fascinating. You never know what he's going to say or do; whether he's playing a role or is truly out of control.

The aura of rage and unpredictability that Steiner creates could be just what WWE needs to regain the attitude and edginess the company once had in abundance. The former WCW champion also provides a much-needed fresh--although familiar--face to the main-event mix, and he is equally effective as a heel or a badass babyface.

"I'm just going to go out there and do what I do best," Steiner told the federation's Web site WWE.com shortly before his debut. For some reason, people follow controversely and like what I have to say."

The question is, what took the "man with the largest arms in the world" so long to come to WWE?

When WWE bought WCW in March 2001, Steiner was one of several WCW stars who had high-priced contracts with AOL Time Warner that WWE was unwilling to pick up. Rather than trying to get a buyout of his contract and taking a pay cut to go to WWE, Steiner sat home and got paid for eight months.

His deal expired in November of 2001, and while there was some interest from WWE, there also were concerns, the biggest of which were about Steiner's health--specifically his surgically-repaired back and the nerve damage in his foot. Officials in WWE reportedly had doubts as to whether Steiner's body would hold up to the company's demanding schedule and in-ring style.

In the meantime, Steiner, who had a previous stint in WWE with his tag-team partner and brother, Rick, in 1993, worked on some of the World Wrestling All-Stars international tours, although his mobility in the ring was clearly limited. According to backstage reports, Steiner was in a lot of pain.

After a year of rumors and speculation among fans and the wrestling media concerning Steiner's situation with WWE, he finally signed with the company in October 2002. With the addition of Steiner, WWE now has every former WCW main-event wrestler that it coveted under contract except two: Goldberg, who is either playing really hard to get or just doesn't want to work for WWE, and Sting, who has no interest in returning full-time to wrestling.

According to Steiner, his physical condition isn't an issue. "I've overcome all of my injuries," he said on WWE.com. "It makes you stronger; it builds character."

It was Steiner's character, however, that reportedly made some WWE officials wary of adding him to the roster. He had a notorious reputation in WCW for being unprofessional, difficult to work with, and sometimes violent backstage.

A couple years ago it was reported that Steiner had a physical altercation backstage with WCW agent Terry Taylor, who now works in a similar capacity for WWE. Steiner also scuffled in the back with Diamond Dallas Page after Page confronted Steiner about burying him in an unscripted promo on WCW television.

Going into business for himself, the industry term for deviating from the script, was nothing new for Steiner. He once went on a rant about Torrie Wilson's acne that had nothing to do with the story line. In perhaps his most infamous incident, Steiner cut an unscripted, profanity-laced promo on "Nitro" in which he buried Ric Flair, saying that Flair was the reason people were changing the channel to "Raw."

In WCW, such actions were rarely punished, although Steiner was reprimanded for his diatribe against Flair. The punishment? He was suspended for a few weeks--with pay.

WWE is not likely to be as tolerant of such behavior, although Steiner rejected the suggestion that he is a cancer in the locker room in an interview on the company's Web site. "That's a rumor or a label that people try to put on me," he said. "But I always keep to myself. I don't bother anybody; nobody bothers me."

Despite his protests, Steiner seemed to have difficulty staying out of trouble even away from the arena. In 1998, he was charged with threatening a Department of Transportation worker and hitting him with his Ford F-250 pick-up. Steiner pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and making terroristic threats, and a Cherokee County (Ga.) judge ordered him to spend 10 days in the county jail, pay $25,000 in fines, fees, and restitution, and stay on probation for seven years.

Steiner's publicized brushes with the law and backstage conflicts only served to give credibility to his volatile heel persona in WCW. With Steiner, the fans truly believed that he could snap and go off on someone for real at any moment.

And unlike almost every other wrestling star on the current scene, Steiner refuses to ever break character in magazine or Web site interviews or acknowledge that the business is a work.

"What happened outside the ring proved that what was going on in wrestling wasn't an act," Steiner told WCW Magazine in 2001. "It wasn't a character that was conjured up by someone in the back. I think the fans realize it is real with me."

As far as his professionalism is concerned, Steiner apparently passed his first test with WWE back on March 26, 2001, during the final episode of "Nitro."

WWE, which had just purchased WCW, knew they probably weren't going to be able to bring in Steiner for a while because of his large contract, so they asked him to lose the WCW world title to Booker T. Although Steiner was suffering from his painful foot injury and could have said he was too hurt to wrestle, he did the clean job for Booker T without complaint.

In the four months prior to that night, Steiner had been a dominant world champion, defeating the likes of Kevin Nash, Sid Vicious, Page, and Booker T. After ruling tag-team wrestling in this country and Japan for nearly a decade with his brother, Steiner finally had been given an opportunity to realize his potential as a main-event singles wrestler.

Unfortunately for Steiner, WCW was in disarray, and although no one wrestler could have turned things around, his title run cannot be characterized as a success from a business standpoint because television ratings, pay-per-view buy rates, and attendance continued to fall.

Now in WWE, Steiner has the chance to become a bigger star than he's ever been and a difference-maker in a company that is trying to get back on track. Triple H, the Rock, Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, and the Undertaker immediately come to mind as potential opponents for Steiner. And if "Stone Cold" Steve Austin ever returns, an Austin-Steiner feud could be a box-office bonanza.

Time, however, is not on Steiner's side. Age and injuries have taken a toll on the 40-year-old, who, although still a competent worker, is a shell of what he was in the ring a decade ago. WWE will likely get right to the money matches with Steiner rather than give him a slow build.

And that probably sits well with Steiner, who has been vocal in the past about his disdain for wrestlers who hang around well past their prime, and his insistence that he will not become one of them.

"These old guys like Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan need to realize that no one has ever beaten Father Time, so what makes them think they can?" Steiner told WCW Magazine in 2000. "If you see me wrestling at age 45, and I look like hell, please shoot me, because that means I'm senile anyway.

"I always said that I'll be like a shooting star. I'm going to come in, be fast, burn out, and be buried face up with my hoochies on top."

Where's Rick?

NOW THAT SCOTT STEINER HAS MADE his way into WWE, will his older brother Rick soon be joining him?

Although anything is possible in wrestling, WWE appears to have little interest in the "Dog-Faced Gremlin." Rick Steiner is 41, and, with the exception of major stars such as Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Kevin Nash, WWE prefers to fill out its roster with a younger crop of wrestlers.

Since the Steiner brothers disbanded their legendary tag team nearly five years ago, Scott has gone on to be a main-event player, while Rick's career has floundered.

Things probably would have turned out much differently for Rick had the Eric Bischoffled Fusient group been successful in buying WCW. Bischoff and Rick are friends, and judging by the way Rick was pushed during the final months of WCW, the elder Steiner figured to be positioned near the top in the new company.

Whether or not that would have been a good idea is debatable, Rick's six-week reign as WCW U.S. champion early in 2001 did not get over with fans, who seemed to want a younger, fresher face in that spot.

Rick continues to wrestle on World Wrestling All-Star international tours and in Japan, where he still is regarded as a big star because of his past tag-team success there with Scott.

A sporadic wrestling schedule should leave Rick with plenty of time to pursue his other passion, hunting. And while Rick is busy hunting game, Scott will likely have "the Game," among others, in his crosshairs.--KE

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