Grilling JR - Rick Steiner [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Robert Rechsteiner was born on March 9th, 1961 in Bay City, MI.

Steiner was an amateur wrestling standout at the University of Michigan, where he placed second at the Big Ten Championships in 1983 for the Wolverines, became an NCAA qualifier, and established the fastest pin record in the school's history at 15 seconds. At the 1983 NCAA tournament, Steiner wrestled against Tab Thacker of North Carolina State; Thacker went on to fame as a Hollywood actor.

After earning his bachelor's degree in education & 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.

He trained alongside Scott Nord (Nord the Barbarian, The Berzerker) 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.

When did you first meet Rob?

What was your initial impressions of him?

His wrestling character is the goofy, happy go lucky guy for the most part, the dog faced gremlin who barks and runs around the ring in circles. Is that similar who Rob is in real life, or is it totally different?

Did Rob ever talk to you about his training to be a wrestler?

After his training, 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.

His shoot last name, Rechsteiner sounds like Rick Steiner, so that's what he took for his wrestling name

How did Rob and Bill Watts get along? Watts always seemed to like amateur wrestlers and football players, so seems like Rob would've fit in good there

He rode a lot with Sting and the Ultimate Warrior

He's told a story where he 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 angered Watts because they were heels at the time.
Any memories of that?

He ended up forming a team with Sting and on April 12th, 1987 they defeated Chris Adams and Terry Taylor for the UWF Tag team titles. They would lose to the Lightning Express, Brad Armstrong and Tim Horner on May 17th

Rick has said that he and Sting did not want to lose the titles to them, do you recall that?

During 87, he also did a tour of Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling

In 88, JCP bought the UWF from Bill Watts. Rick has said he was kind of surprised that there wasn't some sort of invasion angle but he said

they were considered B-level and C-level wrestler compared to the Jim Crockett Promotions guys, and that was all Dusty’s booking

Do you know why Dusty decided to keep Rick?

Not long after Rick came in, he joined a group with Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotunda, known as the Varsity Club. It played off of Mike's amateur days at Syracuse University and Rick's at Michigan

Rick said it was Dusty's idea to create the group. Talk about your memories of the Varsity Club and how it came to be

It tarted a slow fan favorite turn for Steiner, as he began breaking rules less often and started to get sympathy from the fans because of how Kevin and Mike would treat him.

At Clash of the Champions 2 on June 8, 1988. Rick and Mike lost to Jimmy Garvin and Ronnie Garvin

Whose idea was it for the slow babyface turn for Rick and for it to be done in that way?

Rick has said that he felt the babyface turn was done too soon. Do you agree with that?

When Ted Turner bought the company from the Crocketts, Rick has said 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

Memories of that?

The rumor for years is that Dusty wanted Rick to beat Ric Flair for the World Title at Starrcade 88 in about 4 minutes. What's the real story on that?

Instead of that, Rick defeated his former stablemate, Mike Rotunda for the TV title at Starrcade 88

In early 89, Rick's brother Scott started accompanying Rick to the ring for his matches and soon after, they became a tag team.

Rick would lose the TV title back to Rotunda at the Chi-Town Rumble ppv on February 20th, 1989. What'd you think of Rick's TV title reign?

Scott was trained to be a pro by Dr Jerry Graham, Jr, in Toledo, Ohio. He also wrestled under his real name when he started in the WWA, which was based in Indianapolis. In August of 86, he won the WWA World Championship from The Great Wojo and lost it back to him in May of 87.

He also teamed with his trained, Dr. Jerry Graham, Jr to win the WWA Tag Team titles from Chris Carter and Mohammad Saad in October, and They lost the titles back to Carter and and Don Kent in December

From there, Scott moved on to the CWA in 1988 and teamed with Billy Joe Travis to win the CWA Tag Team Titles on 2 occasions. He then formed a team with Jeff Gundy and they would win the tag titles from Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden. Many years later in WCW, Fuller would be known as Col Robert Parker, and he would manage Jimmy Golden, who'd then be known as Bunkhouse Buck.

About bringing Scott to the NWA, Rick has said that 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.

What's your memories of all of that?

Not long after the Steiners formed their team, Missy Hyatt became their manager. Whose idea was that and what did you think of that pairing?

Not too long after that, we saw the debut of Nancy Sullivan in the NWA as Robin Green

She appeared as a fan of Rick's, wearing a Steiner T-shirt and large glasses. She would sit in the audience and would interact with Steiner whenever he appeared.

First, talk about how that happened. Whose idea was it and why was she picked for that spot?

Talk about their date, where you helped Rick get ready for it

When Rick opened the door, Nancy was there in a dress, with the look that she'd become known for as Woman. We then see a shot of you and Rick standing there, wide-eyed looking at her

At Clash of the Champions 8, The Steiners challenged the Freebirds for the tag team titles, but lost when Robin accidentally tripped Scott, he then was DDT'ed by Michael Hayes and pinned. This was the start of Nancy's heel turn

Was that always the plan from the start, for her to have the slow heel turn like this?

The heel turn would eventually take shape, with Robin transferring into Woman and bringing in the masked Butch Reed and Ron Simmons as the tag team known as Doom to feud with The Steiners

Talk about how that happened and why were they brought in wearing masks, and how did they feel about it

Sadly, Butch Reed passed away on February 5th. Talk about Butch

There's clips floating around online of both of the Steiners just demolishing the enhancement talent that they worked with on TV. Did they get a rep for being too stiff or anything of that nature?

About that, Rick has said, 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.

At Halloween Havoc 89, the first Halloween Havoc, the Steiners lost to Doom

However, just a few days later, on November 1, 1989, in Atlanta, the Steiners defeated the Freebirds for the NWA World Tag Team titles; the title change would air on the November 18th episode of World Championship Wrestling. They held the titles until May 19, 1990, when they were defeated by Doom at the Capital Combat ppv.

We covered Capital Combat in one of our earlier episodes if you'd like to listen to that

The Steiners defeated The Midnight Express for the US Tag Team titles on August 24, 1990 in East Rutherford, NJ. During their title reign

What did you think of the US tag team titles? Did you think a secondary tag team title was a good thing or was there just not enough teams at the time to make it seem very important?

At Halloween Havoc 1990, the Steiners defeated the Nasty Boys to retain the US tag team titles. Very stiff match. What's your memories of that one?

On February 18, 1991 (the title change aired on the March 9 episode of WCW Pro Wrestling), they won the World Tag Team Titles from The Freebirds. The Steiners then vacated the US Tag Team Championship on February 20, 1991. They were the second team ever to hold both the WCW World and United States Tag Team titles at once (The Midnight Express were the first team to do that in September 1988).

On March 21st, 1991 The Steiners won the IWGP World Tag Titles from Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki. So that made them the WCW and IWGP World Tag Team champions simultaneously

Talk about that and how the relationship between WCW and IWGP came to be

They'd have the WCW World tag team titles stripped from them on July 20th, 1991, after Scott was out with a bicep injury

There would be a tournament for the titles, where Rick teamed with Bill Kazmier. They defeated The Ringlords, One Man Gang and Executioner, before losing to Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko in the finals at the Clash of the Champions 16

Scott would eventually return to action and they'd lose the IWGP Tag titles to Hase and Keiji Mutoh, known to American fans as The Great Muta, on November 5th, 1991

On May 3rd, 1992 The Steiners would once again win the World Tag Team titles by beating Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton at a house show in Chicago.

Around this time, we saw the reappearance of the NWA on WCW TV. In fact, there would be a tournament for the NWA World Tag Team titles, which the WCW World Tag team champions the Steiners would be involved in.

Talk about how this partnership with the NWA happened at this time?

The first round of the tournament took place on TV. The Steiners beat Miguel Perez Jr and Ricky Santana

From there, they moved on to the quarterfinals, which took place at Beach Blast 1992 where they took on Steve Williams and Terry Gordy. Gordy and Williams won the match but not the WCW WTTs

Talk about Williams and Gordy coming in

6 days later on June 26th. The Steiners returned to Japan where they defeated the awesome team of Big Van Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow for the IWGP World Tag Team titles

That was definitely a dream match, you can find it on YouTube. Did you see that match?

So once again, The Steiners were the WCW and IWGP tag team champions at the same time, for the 2nd time in their careers

On July 5th, 1992, The Steiners lost the WCW World Tag Team titles to Steve Williams & Terry Gordy at a house show in Atlanta. Interestingly, this was the 3rd world tag team title change in a row that happened on a house show

The Steiners would lose the IWGP tag team titles to Scott Norton and Tony Halme (Ludvig Borga) on November 22nd, 1992

Rick would be injured around this time and on October 17th, Scott beat Ricky Steamboat for the World TV title

Around this time, we started seeing seeds planted for a Scott heel turn. He'd walk out on various partners and even wrestled somewhat as a heel in the match against Ricky. Was there plans to split the Steiners at this time and make Scott a heel?

That wouldn't happen because the Steiners would suddenly leave WCW. Rick said about it, 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.

What's your memories of the Steiners leaving WCW, does that sound like the full story?

Did you talk to them about their decision to leave?

Did anyone try to convince them to stay?

Did you know that they were immediately going to the WWF?

They got to the WWF a little before you did, did you keep in contact with them when they first got there?

When they came into the WWF, they played off their University of Michigan amateur careers. They wore the Michigan letter jackets, and came to the ring with Michigan's fight song, Victors. They also did the same thing in WCW with the jackets, and their amateur careers were often mentioned there, too.

The 1st Raw – January 11 – Manhattan Center – Steiners beat The Executioners

Royal Rumble 1993 – January 24 – Sacramento – Steiners beat The Beverly Brothers

Any memories of that match or the Beverly Brothers? Don't know when we'll talk about them again. Former AWA World Tag Team Champions, Wayne Bloom & Mike Enos

Do you think the Steiners fit into the WWF their first few months there?

This takes us to WrestleMania 9. April 4th 1993 – Ceaser's Palace – Steiners beat The Headshrinkers

This was your debut in the company, you were at ringside for this match, what's your memories of it?

Were the Steiners nervous before their first and what ended up being their only WrestleMania match together?

King of the Ring – June 13 – Dayton – Steiners & Smoking Gunns beat Money Inc and Headshrinkers

Seemed like a throw away match. Any memories of this one?

The next night on Raw, The Steiners beat Money Inc to win the tag team titles. They lost it back to Money Inc on a house show on June 16, then on June 19th in St Louis, The Steiners won them back from Money Inc, on another house show.

Why were all of these done like this?

What was the feelings on the Steiners at this time, to make them 2 time tag team champions in such a short time?

August 12 – Providence – Steiners beat Yokozuna & Bam Bam Bigelow to retain

Very interesting match. Should've been on Raw or a PPV?

Bam Bam & Yoko, what a team that could've been

August 23 – SummerSlam Spectacular - Poughkeepsie – Steel Cage – Steiners beat Money Inc to retain

SummerSlam 93 – August 30 – Auburn Hills – Steiners beat The Heavenly Bodies. Your brother, Tom and Jimmy Del Ray to retain

Raw – September 13 – Quebec Provience Rules – Quebecors beat The Steiners by DQ to win the tag team titles, when the Quebecors manager, Johnny Polo, the future Raven threw a hockey stick in the ring, Scott caught it and the ref saw him holding it, so he DQ'ed the Steiners

The titles could change hands by a DQ in a Quebec Provence rules match.

Why was the decision made to take the titles off of the Steiners here?

Was it done this way because the Steiners refused to job to them, or did you guys want to take the belts off of them, without making them look weak?

Talk about the Quebecors. Why were they put together, where did you find Pierre, why was Scott Levy put with them?

Was there heat between the two teams backstage?

Both Steiners have kind of said they didn't like working with the Quebecors. In fact, Scott said they were the shits, and Rick said it was a challenge working with them. Rick said he felt the matches didn't flow, and he said it was like pulling teeth working with them?

Survivor Series 1993 – It took place on November 24 – Boston

The Steiners were on the “All Americans” teaming with Lex Luger, & The Undertaker. They took on “ The Foreign Fanatics” Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, Crush & Jacques (of the Quebecors)

It was originally supposed to be Tatanka on the All Americans, but October 30th, Ludvig Borga pinned Tatanka with 1 finger after htiting him with a chair, and this ended Tatanka's 2 year undefeated streak. After the match, Yokozuna came in and he and Borga beat up Tatanka more. In storyline, the injures he suffered from this match, caused him to be taken out of the Survivor Series match.

Why was the decision made to take Tatanka out? And why was he undefeated for about 2 years

On the Survivor Series Showdown, which aired on November 21st, during an in-ring interview with Raymond Rougeau, The All Americans were joined by The Undertaker, who was announced as the new member of the team, replacing Tatanka.

Pretty famous image of Undertaker standing in the ring, opening his trench coat, and having the American flag inside of the jacket. Whose idea was that and to put Taker in the match at Survivor Series

Any other memories from the Survivor Series showdown? The main event was Yokozuna defending the World Title against Bret Hart. Bret won by DQ, when Owen interferred and attacked him

Also, Pierre from the Quebecors was supposed to be in this match, but he was also injured in storyline, so Crush took his place on the Survivor Series team, and became the only American member of the Forgien Fanatics.

In the match, neither Steiner brother eliminated anyone. Rick was eliminated by Borga. Scott was eliminated by Yokozuna. Luger was the eventual winner of the match, last eliminating Borga.

Here's an interesting match. The Steiners wrestle in New Japan, on December 13th. The Steiners defeated The Jurassic Powers, Hercules and Scott Norton.

How did this come about?

January 4th – The Steiners make another shot in NJPW – Steiners beat Hiroshi Hase and Keji Muto (Great Muta)

Here's a classic tag team match. January 11th – Dark Match - The Steiners vs Owen & Bret Hart. The match goes to a double countout after almost 25 minutes.

This was a classic match. Why was it a dark match? This could've been a ppv main event. This match is available on the WrestleFest 1994 VHS video.

Where did the idea come from to have them wrestle each other?

What was the reaction backstage to the match?

Royal Rumble 1994 – January 22 – Both Steiners were in the Rumble match. Scott entered at #1. He eliminated Samu before being eliminated by Diesel. Rick entered at #3 , didn't eliminate anyone, and was eliminated by Owen Hart

Did you guys ever talk about splitting the Steiners up, and having them feud with each other? You told the story about how you wanted Scott to win the Royal Rumble, did you guys see big singles star potential in him?

Scott said that at this Rumble, you guys wanted them to fight, but they turned that idea down. Any memories of that?

After the Rumble, The Steiners make some more shots for NJPW -

February 16 – Steiners beat Bobby Eaton & Mike Enos

February 17 – Steiners beat Jushin Thunder Liger & Power Warrior

On the May 7thSuperstars – IRS beat Scott to qualify for the King of the Ring.

The Steiners would leave the WWF not too long after this. What happened that caused them to leave?

Scott said that they got a better deal in Japan, and they wanted to get out of the WWF, so they took the Japan deal

Both Steiners have said a big reason they left was the money. Rick has said they were promised things that never happened.

Scott has said that they shouldn't of come to the WWF and they were miserable there. Did they ever express that, or did you ever hear stories of them being unhappy? Rick has said that he didn't feel they fit at the time.

How do you think the Steiners fit in during that year and a half or so in the WWF?

The Steiners are known for their ribbing. Any good rib stories from their time there?

Scott would return to the WWE in 2003, but you'd never again be in the same company with Rick. Did you ever talk to them about coming back for another run?

They went on to work in ECW for a few months in 1995, and then they went back to WCW in 1996. They'd win the tag team titles again, and eventually Scott would have that singles run, when he turned on Rick at SuperBrawl 8, in 1998 and he joined the NWO.

After the breakup, Rick would go on to win the Tag team titles with Buff Bagwell, but Buff turned on him in that match and Rick would name Kenny Kaos as his new partner. They had to forfeit the titles when Rick was injured.

Rick would eventually defeat Booker T to win the TV title at Slamboree 1999, and reunite with Scott during this time. Rick would eventually lose the TV Title to Chris Benoit.

In February 2000, Rick defeated Shane Douglas, to win the U.S. Title. He'd end up losing the U.S. Title to Booker T, at the Greed pay per view. Rick's contract was not picked up the WWF when they purchased WCW.

Do you think it's unfortunate that Rick probably isn't in the WWE Hall of Fame because of Scott's heat with the WWE?

2 part question -

Where do you rank the Steiners all time on the brothers tag team list?

Where do you rank the Steiners overall as a team?