All language subtitles for Biography WWE Legends s04e12 The Steiner Brothers.eng

- Yeah, it's a great feeling.

Never thought it'd happen,

but finally, you know,
we made it.

[soft music]

- Yeah, it's good to be back.

Never thought I would.

♪

- You feel like
all you've done

now meant something.

♪

- My brother and I
wrestled a lot of great teams.

- Been all over the world.

But when you get to do it
with your brother--

he was always there.

He always had my back.

♪

[crowd yelling]
- There's never been

a tag team
in the sport of wrestling

as dominant
as the Steiner Brothers.

[dramatic music]

- It's hard to overestimate
how good those guys were.

- They were the real deal.

They could both go.

- The way they manhandle
people is amazing.

I've never seen
a team like this.

♪

- They were always feared
collegiate wrestlers.

- My brother and me are at
the top of the food chain.

- In terms of having
each other's back,

I don't think you could
find two people tighter.

But Scott was always
a shorter fuse.

Scott could be dangerous
if you pushed him too far.

Scott got physical backstage.

- I'm not one
to hide my emotions.

I'll tell you
how I feel about you,

and if you don't like it,

I don't give a [bleep].

♪

- He had a short fuse,
but so did Robbie.

- Rick did not mind
showing his dominance.

- He's amateur wrestler.
He could handle himself.

I was amateur.
Handle myself.

- It was a blessing
to have my brother with me.

- But this business
can be rough.

You know, every time
something goes wrong,

I worry about my brother.

- Like, are you
freaking kidding me?

You just tore your trachea,
almost died.

I'm just gonna have
to accept the fact that

this is what makes him happy.

- They always had
a respectful understanding

between each other.

Those two brothers
had it worked out.

- Those guys are as tight
as two brothers could be.

Yeah. [laughs]

Never really wanted
to piss them off too much.

- Bow down to the greatest
tag team that ever lived.

♪

- Rob was born
March 9th in 1961

in Bay City, Michigan.

Scott was born
July 29th in '62.

16 months' difference
between the two.

They were very busy,
and they were boys,

but they learned early
that there are rules.

- My dad was a strict marine.

He made us toe the line.

He was very strict with us.

When we talked to him,
had to look him in the eye,

or he'd whack ya.

- He kept us in line.

Well, the thing is,
my brother and I,

we always used to fight
growing up.

And I think, at one point,
my dad had enough,

and so he said,
"You guys want to fight?"

Well, he taped our mouths shut
with duct tape

and then put a belt around us.

And then we had
to stare each other.

- It's good to have rules.

And you abide by 'em,
or there's consequences.

And we trained the kids
that way.

And we told 'em the Lord
was first in our family

and you gotta go with it.

- Their mother instilled
in them--my Aunt Babe

would always push those guys
to excel, to do their best.

So they wanted to win
all the time.

- My brother and I
wrestled each other

growing up all the time.

We used to get
four carpets together,

'cause we couldn't afford
a mat,

and wrestle on that.

I wasn't gonna let
my younger little brother

take me down or even anything.

- You know, being two years
older is a big difference.

I mean, I could get him
every once in a while,

cheap shot him.

It was fun, man.

We're real close.

My brother played football
and wrestled in high school,

and I did the same.

So I did what he did.

My junior year,
I was undefeated.

That was when I won
the state championship.

- In recruiting Scotty,
traveled to his home

and talked to he
and his mom and dad.

And they were all saying how
Rob was a good wrestler too.

And so that kind of planted
the seed for us to

go ahead
and look into Rob also.

♪

- Oh, man.

College life was the best,
man.

- My brother and I got away
from that strict household.

We went wild.

I mean, we were
a couple kids off the farm.

- Yeah, them guys were nuts.
They were absolutely nuts.

- I don't know how much
I should say, but I mean,

we were taking cars and...

- They took this guy's car
and then got it down through

the tunnel and put it
right on the block M

on the 50-yard line in the
Michigan football stadium.

- They were a little crazy.

They had a big dog.

It was on a chain,

and the chain was leashed
just so

it could get to the sidewalk.

- People would be walking,
and they didn't know

how far that leash went.

And they would jump on the car.

- They scared the hell
out of students.

- Scott and Rob
would be sitting there

just crying laughing.

- Just having fun.

We're bored.
- Nobody messed with them.

But they were
good-natured guys.

But you didn't wanna cross 'em,
'cause you crossed one,

you had two Rechsteiners
you had to deal with.

They were probably
two of the closest brothers

I think I've been around
probably in my entire life.

- Scott always looked up
to Rob, and then, you know,

Rob would basically
always look after Scott.

- We were tight.

You gotta trust
somebody, right?

- We lived together.

We practiced together.

We ate together.

- They both worked hard
in wrestling,

and they were pretty good.

Scotty, he was
an all-American.

And Rob, I think he if had
stayed completely healthy,

could have been.

- I enjoyed it, you know,

and in my senior year,
got hurt.

I tore my meniscus.

- And that really bothered him.

And at the time,
I said to him, "You know,

"there's a reason for it.

You know, don't dwell on it."

Rick wanted to be a teacher.

- I graduated '84
from Michigan,

and then I had a science
of education degree.

I was gonna teach school,

and I substitute taught
for a little bit.

I made $23 a day.

I knew right away
I wasn't gonna

make it in life with that.

So I called my coach,
Steve Fraser.

I went back there.

We had the summer camps
that we did for Michigan.

And Steve let me
be involved in that

and made some money doing that.

Steve introduces me
to George "The Animal" Steele.

He knows Verne Gagne
in the AWA in Minnesota.

About two weeks later,
I give him my résumé,

sent it to Verne.

And about a week later,
I was in my car,

driving out to Minneapolis
to go see this school.

It was tough going through it.

- Not like amateur wrestling.

Do not worry about
the point system,

because there isn't
any point system.

- I thought because I was a
amateur, it was gonna be easy.

It wasn't easy,
but there was a lot of guys

that helped me out a lot

getting started
in the business.

- Introducing now,
in the corner to my right,

from Ann Arbor, Michigan,
weighing 265 pounds,

Rob Rechsteiner.

- I remember it, 'cause we
were actually at a sports bar

in Ann Arbor with my buddies.

He came on the big screen,
and it was pretty cool.

- And he knows his way
around a ring.

You can tell that.

- So for him
to start wrestling,

they just basically
got the ball rolling.

That's when I decided
to do pro wrestling.

♪

I never really had a plan,
man.

I knew I wanted
to keep on training,

and wrestling was
the best way to do that.

♪

We had Michigan
wrestling camps,

and one of the instructors
was actually The Great Wojo.

And he was a wrestler
for Dick the Bruiser

around Ohio,
Indiana, Michigan area.

And then it just so happened
that when I graduated,

they asked me to come down,

asked me if I want to do it,
and I said, "Yeah."

'Cause they already--you know,
of course they knew

my brother was in already,
so yeah.

Started with Dick the Bruiser,

legendary
professional wrestler.

And my first match
was against Great Wojo.

- The Great Wojo
has been upset

by a virtual unknown
making his debut in the WWA.

We have a new champion,
Scott Rechsteiner.

- You could drive six,
seven hours to make 20 bucks.

Sometimes the only
gratification you get

is when you're in the ring,

because that's a lot of time
to spend on the road

for such little money.

But it was always
the driving force of--

tagging with my brother
was something

I always wanted to do.

- I worked with the AWA
in Minneapolis,

and then Verne sent me
to Montreal.

I wrestled there for about
a year with Tom Zenk,

and then we went back
to Minnesota.

And then Jack Lanza
sent me down to Bill Watts

down at Mid-South.

- Rob Rechsteiner.

Now what he obviously prefers
to be called is Rick Steiner.

- They said, "Stein,
we can't pronounce your name."

So one day, he came back,
and they go,

"Why don't you just
split your name up?

Just go as Rick Steiner."

I say, "Okay."

So from that day on,
I was Rick Steiner.

- Rick Steiner,
a powerful young man

with a lot of potential.

- When I first met
Rick Steiner,

he was there
working for Watts.

He was green,
he made mistakes,

but he worked hard.

He always worked hard.

- Good move.

- He's a stallion.

- Tulsa was one of the towns
we worked in,

and I met this girl
at the gym named Jayme,

and she was very inquisitive
about Rick Steiner.

- So I was like, "Hook me up."
[laughs]

"If you know him,
hook me up."

Didn't know
that he was a wrestler.

And I just liked
the way he looked.

- Went out,
and rest is history.

She gave me
three beautiful boys.

Best thing that's ever
happened in my life.

- We dated about three years.

We had gone from
Universal Wrestling Federation,

which was Mid-South Sports.

They sold to Crockett.

We moved to North Carolina,

and then Turner bought it.

And we ended up
moving to Georgia.

In '87 is when we moved here,

and we just kinda stayed.

- So I didn't get married
till I was working for Turner.

So it made it a lot easier,
'cause

we were able to stay
around the Atlanta area more,

doing TVs and stuff.

But every chance I got,

if we were
in driving distance,

you know, four or five hours,

once we were done with
the show, I was in my car,

and I was driving home.

I wanted to be here.

If I'm gonna have kids
and have boys,

I wanna make sure
I'm here to raise them.

And so I made
every effort I could

to be here
to take care of 'em.

♪

And I think within six months
of me being in with Turner

and in the WCW,
my brother came in.

I knew he was in the business
and what he was doing,

but we never really stayed
in contact,

you know, close contact
like we used to.

I just went off and was
involved and engrossed

in what I was doing.

- Your new World Television
Champion, Rick Steiner.

- But, you know,
being my brother,

I wanted to get him in

to be a part of this company.

And it would be great
for him and I to tag together.

- Rick Steiner,
the singles wrestler,

was compelling.

There was something there
for Rick Steiner.

But Rick Steiner when
teamed with Scott Steiner

went to a completely
different level.

- It took me 2 1/2 years
to get to the NWA,

where we finally hooked up.

Felt great.

- They love this kid,
Rick Steiner.

Boy, what a superstar
he has become.

And I really feel like
that his brother

has unlimited potential.

- It was great.

I wouldn't want to do it with
anybody else but my brother.

I don't know how it gets
any better than that.

- Wait a minute.
What's going on here?

Two brothers are wrestling,
and then they form a tag team.

And I was like, "Wow, okay,
this is pretty cool."

You know, kinda, like,
gave me and my brother

a little inspiration there.

- They're some of the most
exciting wrestlers ever,

and they have literally
burst on the scene.

- They come in
from athletes all their lives,

and amateur backgrounds.

Then there's
a natural bond there.

They're brothers.

So you know the camaraderie
is gonna be there.

- It gave us
a decided advantage.

- Two, three!

- Yeah!

New tag team champions
have been crowned.

The Steiners have won it.

[cheers and applause]

- It was a great feeling,

winning that first title
with my brother.

[cheers and applause]

- That was my goal, to be
the best tag team in the world.

We didn't train
all these years for nothing.

We got these belts now,
and we're gonna keep 'em.

- He was always striving
to be better

and come up with stuff
that nobody else did.

- Scotty possessed
an ability to do something

that anybody that size

was not doing at the time,

like the Frankensteiner
at the time.

- That's
the most beautiful move

in professional wrestling
today.

- He pushed me
to not accept this

but to accept we can do better;
we can do more.

So he was
a good influence for me.

- Seeing Rick and Scott Steiner
together

and finding out that they
were really brothers

added this whole new dynamic

to the mix that you knew,
watching wrestling,

you were watching characters.

But when you find out
the Steiner Brothers

are really brothers,

have really been together
all their lives,

it makes it seem
like this team,

these guys are the real deal.

- Comes down to believability,

and nobody was more believable
than those guys.

Rick was so strong

that he would do things like,

he would just get you
in a position--

I'm not talking about
in the ring.

I'm talking about backstage.

[dramatic music]

- Back then in the day,
you walked in the locker room,

and you didn't say a word.

You walked in the locker room,
you sat down on a bench,

and you were respectful of all
those other guys in that room.

And that's what I did.

I remember Michael Hayes
come in the room one time.

He grabbed ahold of me,
and I just--

[laughs]
I went into that shoot mode,

and I freaking took him down,
put him on his back, and held.

And then Buddy Roberts
come over,

and I grabbed him too.

- Was having his way with me,

and, you know,
when we finally--

he let me loose,
and I called him a gremlin.

- That's when
that "Gremlin" movie,

where you pour water
on these animals

and they turn into gremlin--
crazy gremlins.

And so Michael Hayes
gave me that gremlin.

And that dog-faced thing,
Kevin Sullivan gave me that.

I don't know how or why.

But stuck from then on.

- It's like the dog pound.

They're barking
for the Dog-Faced Gremlin.

- Rick did not mind showing
his dominance,

especially, like,
in the case of taking down

Lex Luger
in a three-piece suit.

- Rick decided to go
amateur wrestling on me

in front of all the boys
before the matches.

He rode me
for, like, a half hour.

Hurt my shoulder, my arm.

I was trying
to get outta stuff.

He had me in all
his wrestling holds.

I was so mad at him.

- Luger was one of the primo
talents at the time.

You could have got fired
for that easily,

but, you know,
"Ah, Steiner's Steiner."

And--[laughs]

And they became
really good friends.

- A lot of times, that was
part of their indoctrination.

They'd play around with you
like they're wrestling.

Then they'd take you down.

You'd try to get up,
and they'd take you down again.

And I guess I passed the test,
'cause Rick after that

jumped in the car
with Stinger and I,

and I guess he thought
I was okay.

♪

We traveled
in the car together.

We hung out together
and ate together.

So we were like
our own family,

us four guys on the road.

- Once the Steiners started
to get established--

and, you know, they had
some pretty good friends

that had some stroke
in Sting and Lex Luger--

then, you know, they kind of
let down their hair.

They got more accepted
by the boys.

- That was like college
times ten,

'cause you had
so much freedom.

You know, you were basically
on the road

with no supervision.

It was a free-for-all, man.

- They're mischievous kids
in, like, a grown man's body,

which makes them a lot of fun.

- The Steiners would do
some crazy stuff.

Like, they duct-taped people
in the dressing room.

- I'm watching
the Steiner Brothers,

and they're torturing
this referee.

I looked over, and he's
taped up with gaff tape

like a mummy.

- Duct-taping
The Nasty Boys' feet

and arms behind their back,

stripping 'em down,
and throwing 'em out

into the crowded arena.

- None of the ribs were
that serious or vindictive.

It was just young, dumb,
and just trying to have fun.

They know not to mess with me
'cause of my brother.

Having a brother along for
the ride was the best thing.

Never had to worry
about each other's back.

- Him and I never fought.

I mean, we'd have words,

but that was probably
the extent of it.

I mean, and we were with each
other all the time, you know,

morning, noon, and night.

- Lot of good times
on the road, man.

Lot of good times.

- Those guys were known
for pranks.

I saw a lot of guys get pissed,

but then again,
nobody would do anything,

because you got
two legitimate wrestlers

that could really
tie you up like a pretzel.

And there's nothing
that you could do about it

other than go cry
to the boss,

and that's not gonna help
a whole lot.

- I don't think firing them
or suspending them

really ever crossed anybody's
mind except maybe Watts'.

- Bill Watts came
and took over WCW.

Bill knew the inmates were
kind of running the asylum

and something
had to be done immediately

to stop that
to get progress going.

- Bill Watts is in charge,

and my brother and Bill
did not get along.

- Yeah, it got pretty heated
at one time.

- Bill had a kid
that was in the business,

and he showed a lot
of favoritism towards that boy

over some of the older
experienced guys.

- It pissed me off, so I
let him know I was pissed.

- Scotty didn't like that,
didn't put up with it,

and he stood up to Bill.

Bill didn't like that.

I just don't think
there is a chance

of reconciling any of that
with Bill and my brother.

- Yeah, I wasn't gonna
take no [bleep] from him.

- It was a personal thing
between him and my brother.

You know, he's told me,
"I'd give you a contract,

but I'm not gonna give
your brother a contract."

And I told him,
"Well, I'm not leaving my--

you know, I'm not
gonna leave my brother."

And my brother had been
talking to Vince and WWE,

and he was receptive
for us coming up there,

and it was
a great opportunity,

and so we went.

- Steiner Brothers
Rick and Scott pouring it on

here in the World Wrestling
Entertainment.

Climbing the ladder of success

by leaps and bounds,
I might add.

[exciting music]

- Technically,
in the ring as a team,

they were really good.

I enjoyed them.

They were legit.

- The Steiner Brothers
are the champions.

- Well, we were tag team
champions, but...

we wanted more.

[dramatic music]

You know, I took Vince's word.

We had a handshake.

He promised us
we'd make more money

than we ever had in our life.

♪

We didn't make as much, so...

we asked to leave.

And he let us go.

- We were in WWE for probably
about two years.

At that point,
another company,

a Japanese company, offered us
some really good money

to come up there
and less travel.

And so we ended up leaving WWE
and going to Japan.

[cheers and applause]

- They went over there,
and they rocked Japan.

- Steiner Brothers!
[cheers and applause]

- I remember going to Japan
and guys over there

trying to take advantage.

I know these guys
will test you

to see how good you are.

It was really good having
my brother with me there.

He's amateur wrestler.
He could handle himself.

I was amateur.
Handle myself.

[cheers and applause]

- Steiner Brothers to this day
are still legendary in Japan.

- It was great.

We were wrestling
in front of 75,000 people

in the Tokyo Dome,

winning world titles
over there.

Japan was hot, man,
and we thrived.

- We were there
for about a year.

I wanted to get back into WCW,
'cause they were still rolling,

and, you know,
we were only doing,

you know, one day a month,
two days a month.

So I called up,
and it just so happened

WCW was working a deal
with Japan

and so worked out
a deal with WCW

and were able to come back.

- When we came back to WCW,
it was like coming home.

And then shortly after that
was when the NWO was formed:

Kevin Nash, Scott Hall,
and Hulk Hogan.

And from then on, man,
it just took off.

- Look at this crowd.

They're all on their feet.

WCW each and every week,

the number one most-watched
wrestling program

on planet Earth.

And it keeps getting hotter
and hotter and hotter.

- It was the best time.

♪

It was nothing like
I've ever seen before.

Wrestling was hot.

- I managed them
for a while in the WCW.

Fans' reaction was good,
very good.

- At that time
when you'd be doing it

and you're in a moment,
it's like,

"Wow, this is never gonna end."

- They are the best tag team
in our sport, bar none.

- "This is great, man.

This'll go on till I'm old."

- Six times they have held
the WCW World Tag Team titles.

- I always thought
we'd be a tag team

till the end of the business.

I never thought
we'd split up.

- There has never been
a tag team

in the sport of wrestling

as dominant
as the Steiner Brothers.

- It got to a point,

there wasn't a lot
of tag teams left

that we hadn't wrestled.

I know Mr. Bischoff,
who was running the company

at that time, thought,
"You know, let's try

"and see if we can split
'em up and see if it works

"and see if, you know,

we can do some singles
with you guys."

- We'd played it out.

There was not much else to do
with the Steiner Brothers.

- 'Cause at that time,
we had wrestled

everybody in WCW,

and there was really
no more hills to climb.

- There is kind of a ceiling
for most tag teams

in wrestling
only in the sense

that most of the time,

the main event
of the big shows

are not gonna be
the tag team championship.

They're gonna be the singles
world championship match.

And I think, as you watch
the Steiner Brothers,

as much as people love them
as a team,

just the dynamic
of who Rick and Scott were,

people started to get a little
hungry to see them separate.

- Whoa.
What did I just see?

- He double ax handled
his own brother.

- What in the world
did I just see?

- You gotta be kidding.

- My oldest son,
he did not understand it

when Scotty turned.

♪

He was highly upset.

- Can you imagine
the Steiners' family

at home watching this?

Can you imagine this?

- And they just both
came over

and sat him down
and talked to him

and just said,
"Look, this is our job.

"We're not mad at each other.

"We still love each other.

"And, you know,
it's nothing like that,

"and it's not gonna change.

"I'm not gonna stop
coming over here to hang out.

It's just work."

- I didn't like it
when they made 'em split.

Didn't have to be,
but they wanted it

to see what would happen,
but it didn't divide the boys.

- You know, I just wanted
the best for my brother.

It was his turn to take the
next step and do his thing,

and he was ready for it.

And I was included
in a lot of top things.

And I mean, it was okay.

Really nothing I could change
or do about it.

Was I happy? I mean, I was--
I was fine with it.

I was making money.

Always probably
could have did more.

But, you know,
you're kind of at the mercy

of the people in charge.

- He had to deal
with politics also.

He was probably a little
more passive than I was.

And in some cases,
they took advantage of him.

They push and push
to see how much they can push

until you push back, and...

unfortunately, it didn't
take much to push me.

♪

My attitude was changing.

I wasn't the same fresh-faced
kid outta college anymore.

And I was kind of hardened
by the politics of wrestling.

So I was ready.

- Watching Scott Steiner

break away and become
a solo star was mind-blowing.

It was incredible.

Scott completely
reinvented himself.

[cheers and applause]

- Nasty Boys?
- Yeah.

- Boom!
- He was heavy.

- [laughs]
I bet he was.

- As much as I appreciated
the cheers of the fans and--

who always were supportive
of the Steiner Brothers,

I just felt that it was time.

I knew I had to change.

I wasn't the guy wearing
a Michigan jacket anymore,

and I wanted to take,

you know, a 180-degree turn

and go the opposite.

I went and bleached my hair.

I showed up, and, like, a lot
of people didn't recognize me.

- It's Scott Steiner.
Look at his head.

- That's Scott Steiner?
- That's Scott Steiner?

[crowd yelling]

- You wouldn't know
it was him.

It was one of the almost
unbelievable transitions ever.

- That's where it's at, Daddy.

- As time went on, he just got
bigger and bigger and bigger.

- There's no plausible way
you could have watched

Scott Steiner's body
change on television

and not thought
something was going on

beyond him being in the gym.

- How did you feel about it

when you would come out
an entrance

and you'd see steroid signs
in the crowd?

- You can make all
the accusations you want.

I've never failed a drug test,
so...

take that information
and do what you want with it.

[dramatic music]

When I made that transition

from the Steiner Brothers
to Big Poppa Pump,

I wanted to get in the best
shape I possibly could.

so a lot of strict diet.

I'm a genetic freak.

Once you are leaner, you're
naturally gonna look bigger.

I'm gonna make you understand
that size does matter

and I'm the genetic freak.

- When he got into
that Big Poppa Pump routine,

he's kind of got it down.

His mic skills
went up exponentially.

- You see, all my hoochies
have a space to fill.

And they all tell me
I'm the big thrill.

I was single
through most of my career,

so I always had a good time,

and I never had any thoughts
of getting married.

When you're in wrestling
and you see all the divorces,

the hardships
that are on your family--

and I never wanted
that for myself.

It was just for the fact
that I didn't want to miss,

you know, my kids
growing up and stuff.

- And then he met Christa.

She's probably been
the best thing in his life

he's ever had.

I believe she's an angel.

- Scott and I actually met
at the gym.

I was like,
"Oh, he's got a cute smile."

So we went out, and then
we kind of just clicked.

[dramatic music]

- I mean, she was
the best person I ever met.

- He was so sweet to me
all the time.

- I met her in 1998, and then
we got married in 2000.

♪

- Scott was such
a different person at home.

And when he would be at work,
he'd be so intense.

It kind of made me nervous.

So, like, I'd rather
just stay outside of it.

♪

- There's a difference
between me at home

and then me on the road
at the arena.

I took my job serious.

You know, the booking
committee wanted me

to do something that was bad,
I'd let 'em know

that I thought it was bad,

and I'm not one
to hide my emotions.

You know, I'll tell you
how I feel about you,

and if you don't like it,

I don't give a [bleep].

- He developed a bad attitude,
and...

he always thought
people were out to get him,

and he kinda got
a little crazy back then.

- Think you have
an anger problem?

♪

- Maybe. You know, you just
gotta know when to approach me

and when not to approach me.

You know, I've always had
a wild hair up my ass,

you know, since I was
a little kid.

You know, nothing's changed.

It's that, you know,
don't push me,

and, you know,
I won't push you.

That's all.

♪

- I don't knock him for it
at all,

because when you're
dealing with the system,

sometimes you gotta
make some noise.

You gotta shake
some feathers, man,

and especially
when you're good,

especially when you're talent.

When you're talent,
you know you can leave,

and they know you can leave.

- Hulk Hogan
worrying about a spot.

Well, he can have his spot,

his bald spot.
- Wow.

- I think Scott certainly
had a chip on his shoulder.

He knew, "I have
the pedigree for this."

Incredibly athletic
in the ring.

"I have a physique
like no one else."

Scott Steiner was so desperate
to be the guy, or so it seemed.

- He really had some animosity
against a lot of these guys

that were on the top,

just because everybody
was reaching for that

and wanted to be on top,

and my brother did too,

and he had to fight for it,
and he did.

- It's over.

- Scott Steiner is the new
world heavyweight champion.

♪

- That was validation
that hard work pays off.

♪

I was very proud of it.

♪

It was very satisfying.

I won the belt on my terms,
and, you know,

I can look myself
in the mirror

in the mornings and at night

and, you know,
think I did it the right way.

I didn't have
to kiss anybody's ass.

My athletic ability
brought me to the top.

♪

- You know, it was great.
He was happy.

I was happy for him.

[cheers and applause]

I never felt like I was
in my brother's shadow.

Never had a problem with it,
never was jealous of it.

He was doing his thing,
and I was doing mine.

- Rick Steiner
is the United States

heavyweight champion.

- Everything was
going great at WCW.

Everybody was making money.

It was like a dream
come true, you know,

being in that business.

♪

We were just riding a high.

- I had been a champion
for six, seven, eight months,

and all of a sudden,
when WCW closed,

my legs were cut
from under me.

- They ended up
selling it to WWE.

We were all, like, in shock.

- We are stunned.
We are floored.

The very last telecast
of "WCW Monday Nitro."

- For that last night,

my foot was paralyzed.

I wasn't supposed to be there.

- couple months
after I won the title,

I woke up,

and my foot
was totally paralyzed.

I mean, it just flopped there.

It happened during the night,
which was the weirdest thing.

There's nothing like
looking at your foot

and you can't
do nothing with it.

[dramatic music]

And all the doctors
are explaining to me, like,

"You know,
when you damage a nerve,

it will come back."

♪

Unfortunately, I waited.

Just never came back.

♪

- He used to take
trainers tape,

wrapped it around his shoe

and around the back
of his ankle and calf

to hold his toe back
so it didn't drop

and get in the ring
and wrestle.

♪

- For that last night,

when WCW was taken over
by the WWE,

I wasn't supposed to be there.

My doctor wouldn't
give me clearance, but...

I showed up anyways
and did what I had to do

to do the right thing.

- We've got a new
world heavyweight champion

on this very last
"Monday Nitro."

- When WCW closed,

it was shocking.

♪

- You're like, "Holy cow,

is this really happening?"

And you don't really--

you know, and then I had a year
on my contract,

so, you know,
I had a year to get everything

in order and everything
for, you know,

that final check to come in.

And so I decided
to go to Japan.

My oldest called me.

I was on the bus.

He was about ten years old,
and he asked me,

"Are you gonna come
watch me this Saturday

at a football game?"

And I said, "Son, I'm in Japan.
I won't be able to be home."

He goes, "Don't you like
watching me play football, Dad?

"You never come.

You never come to my games."

And I sat there,
and that just stuck in my brain

for the rest of the tour.

And that was the last tour
I went over to Japan for.

I came back and reactivated
my real estate license,

and I stayed home
from then on.

I mean, if you're a dad,
I couldn't think about myself.

And had to think about them,
and so I just never went back.

[cheers and applause]

My brother, he told me
he was gonna go up to WWE.

♪

- My foot was still paralyzed.

We still went forward.

At that time,
I had to wear a brace,

and I taped my ankle up
over the brace

to where it was almost a cast.

♪

That's how I wrestled.

It was tough.

- I remember that first match
he had with Hunter.

On his entrance,
he was coming into the ring,

and he goes to get up on the
second rope, and he slipped.

And, you know, something
like that gets in your head.

It's not good.

♪

And then from then on,
it just--

♪

I don't think it ever
clicked for him

the way that he wanted it to

or the way
that we wanted it to.

♪

- I ended up lasting, I think,

a year, year and a half.

♪

As soon as I left there,

a week later, I had, like,
three major surgeries,

one to fix my ankle.

I got a lot of home time
with my boys,

and it was great.

- He played with the kids
every day.

And it wasn't until the kids
got into, like, kindergarten

and they'd have playdates

and Scott would be like,
"Well, where are they?"

I'm like, "Oh, they're
at a playdate."

"Well, why didn't they
come over here?"

Like, he had nothing to do.

So I think that's why
he went back to work,

'cause his boys wanted to play
with kids their own age.

[laughs]

- I went back
to full-time wrestling.

Went to TNA for, you know,
two reasons:

'cause my boys,
they love wrestling,

and, two, I wanted
to prove, you know,

that what I did in the WWE
was an abomination,

was something
I wasn't proud of.

♪

I mean, even though my foot
still wasn't 100%,

I could still move around.

♪

Being in TNA was a great time.

And then unfortunately,

I almost died in Puerto Rico
in a wrestling match.

♪

- Scott was in
a tag team match

in San Juan, Puerto Rico,
for TNA.

And Scott got kicked
in the throat

towards the end of the match.

- Got kicked in the throat,
which tore my trachea.

And if I would've just
tore my trachea

up here,

I would've just had
a tracheotomy.

It would've been easy.

But unfortunately,
it tore in my chest.

So they had to go
through my rib cage,

open it up,
went through my lung.

- And he made it through.

His wife was able to fly down
the next morning.

♪

- He was really swollen,

so he was, like, wide.

♪

They went through his side,

and they basically
filleted his back.

And then they put
a chest tube in the side,

so he was swollen.

But I was like,
"Oh, he looks"--

you know,
he seemed good.

And the doctor
happened to be in there.

And the first thing
he said to him was,

"How much downtime is this?"

And I thought, "I'm done.

"I'm not worrying
about you anymore.

"Like, are you
freaking kidding me?

"Like, I just--

"you just tore your trachea,
almost died.

"I'm just gonna have
to accept the fact

that this
is what makes him happy."

♪

When you do something
that you love to do

and that's sort of your
identity that, you know,

not doing that was never,
like, really an option for him.

- This business
can be rough on the body,

and it is rough on the body.

And every time something
goes wrong, you know,

I worry about my brother.

♪

- I was wrestling again
in two, three months.

♪

There's nothing like going out
in front of a live crowd.

There's nothing like going out
in front of a live crowd.

♪

It's like an addiction.
It's adrenaline.

I mean, I loved wrestling.

♪

[dramatic music]

- When WCW went and closed,

next step for me
was doing real estate.

I had gotten
my real estate license

probably back in mid-'90s.

I was buying houses
with Curt Hennig

and Rick Rude and Boss Man.

We had a little company,
and we were buying

houses and flipping them.

I reactivated my license
and then started

selling real estate again.

And it worked out great.

♪

And I was able to focus all
my concentration on my boys.

♪

You know, I look back, and,
you know, my dad's passed now,

but I just learned
so much character.

I learned a lot from my dad.

- He was a good dad.

He still is.

He was strict,
no doubt about it.

And he just made 'em
toe the line

and made 'em be respectful.

He loves his boys.

- I get to do all the things
a dad does with his son.

And I was able to do that.

And they were of the age
that I could do that with 'em

and we could make
some memories.

- He was around a lot.

He was a part of our
athletics and sports,

and he was a part
of our school.

- I've been on the school
board now for 16 years.

I just like being involved
with what's going on.

- He's very much involved
in our sports.

He loved to watch me play.

Football was the focus
for me for four years,

but my dream was to be
WWE superstar.

I talked to my dad.
He said, "All right."

So I came down for a tryout.

♪

- Work your ass off.

Good luck to everyone.

- I'm here to be a student.

I wanna learn,
and both my dad and uncle

are both excited for me.
They're happy.

Boom!

- It just seemed like
the natural thing

for him to do it, and...

he's doing well with it.

- Well, Breakker,
an aspiring NXT superstar,

certainly wants to stand out.

And he wants to make
an immediate impact.

- He has the potential
to be better than both of us.

[bell ringing]

- The new NXT champion,
Bron Breakker.

- It was so cool, man, to
do it in front of my father,

because he had never
seen me work live.

- It's a great feeling
to see your son be successful.

It's great to see him
carry out a legacy

that you did for a while.

- I was ecstatic.

It was a dream come true.

♪

- It's so ironic
that it's the kid

and his success

that got the family
back in good graces

with WWE.

- The news has broken
this morning.

Rick and Scott Steiner...

- Finally taking
their rightful place

as members
of the WWE Hall of Fame.

Congratulations.

- For a while there, never
thought it would get here.

- I think Scott definitely
did not like the WWE

and definitely let everybody
know about it prior to this.

- When I left WWE, you know,
there was frustration, anger.

You know, I was pissed off.

♪

- I saw on social media,

they were gonna hand
Scotty Steiner a hot mic

at the WWE Hall of Fame.

You're like,
"I'm gonna watch this."

♪

- You know,
giving me a live mic,

sometimes it could go good.

Sometimes it could
go off the rails.

♪

A lot of people
actually thought

that me having a live mic
was a dangerous thing.

But I mean, I never
had those thoughts,

because I wasn't gonna
do anything to hurt Bronson.

The years go by way too fast,

and you wonder,
"Where did all the time go?"

So have fun.

[cheers and applause]

- I mean,
I came in peace, you know?

Water under the bridge.

- One person I wanna thank,

I wanna thank my brother.

[cheers and applause]

He always set
the standard high.

You know,
he's kept me on a pace

to be the best I could be.

I probably wouldn't be here
if it wasn't for him.

So I thank my brother,
and I thank you all you people

out there for supporting us.

Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo!

crowd: Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo!

- I mean, it was just
like a dream come true.

Made a great partnership,

and I think that's part
of our success

is just being around my brother
pretty much my whole life.

We never really separated.

And we still aren't.

We live a mile apart
from each other.

Oh, you were actually
nice to somebody.

Lookit, you're shaking
a kid's hands.

- Look at that mullet.
[laughter]

Look at the size of those arms.

- What arm?

- See that vein right there?
- No, I don't see it.

- Bigger than your whole arm.
- Yeah. You hope.

Everything we did,
we did it together.

I think it was a blessing
to have my brother with me.

- Didn't your motorcycle stall?

- No. Mine didn't stall.
You stalled yours.

♪

- I look back on those days.

I wouldn't wanna do it with
anybody else but my brother.

- Perhaps the most awesome
brother combination

to ever compete
in the sport of wrestling.

I don't know
of any two brothers

that have the opportunity
to really create a dynasty

that these two kids have.

- Just amazing what they've
done with their lives.

But they worked hard
to get where they were,

and it wasn't handed to them.

- They were cutting-edge.

- They wrestled on top
with everybody

and always gave you
an unbelievable match.

- We worked hard.
We came here to be the best.

- One of the greatest
tag teams of all time

and then to turn around
and have that kind of run

as an individual.

- Nobody had more fun than I
did in professional wrestling.

I had a great time
from day one.

- It was an awesome feeling

having my brother
as a partner

and having him be a part
of the business together.

- My brother would be the only
one I'd want by my side.

♪

- My brother's great.

Couldn't have done
any of it without him.

♪

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