The Steiner Brothers were not just one of the greatest tag teams of their generation, but of all time. Many fans today consider them ahead of their time and in terms of style and the bumps they took, that is certainly correct.
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Rick and Scott began teaming together in Jim Crockett Promotions/the NWA in 1989 and would tour the world, holding titles in the NWA, WCW, WWE, and Japan. While they portrayed relatively straight-laced babyfaces on television (although Rick did portray an oddball), their backstage antics and especially their ribs are the stuff of legends and HR nightmares. So let us look at some examples of backstage stories about the Steiner Brothers.
10 Rick And His Handgun
What will become obvious very quickly in these stories is that the Steiner Brothers had a twisted sense of humor. One example was brought up by Jim Cornette years ago on one of his podcasts. Cornette said that he and the Midnight Express had gone to a convenience store after a show in Amarillo when the Steiners walked in. Rick was apparently wielding a large handgun and just toying around with it. After the Midnight Express and their manager were back on the highway, they saw the Steiners' car in the rearview mirror, swerving onto the embankment between highway and service road, with Rick leaning out the window and firing his gun into the air like a madman.
9 Tying Up Kevin Sullivan's Son
This story was told by Mr. Hughes on an interview with WSI: Kevin Sullivan once brought his son to a Center Stage taping in Atlanta. Before the show, Kevin's son was playing with some of the wrestlers in the ring when the Steiner Brothers joined in.
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They took some of the wrist tape they would use for their matches and began tying up Sullivan's son. Things apparently got out of hand a bit and Sullivan's son began to cry. Mr. Hughes said he asked the Steiners who told him that everything was fine and they were all just having fun. After the kid continued to cry, Hughes stepped in and finally untied Sullivan's son.
8 Gluing Sunglasses On Mr. Hughes
Mr. Hughes was also the victim of one of the famous Steiner ribs. Hughes and the Steiners were on a plane when the narcoleptic Hughes fell asleep. The Steiners used the opportunity to superglue Hughes' famous sunglasses to his head. When Hughes woke up, he tried to take the glasses off but was unable to. He then realized that the Steiners, who had been sitting close to him, were now in different seats. Hughes put two and two together and the three eventually shared a good laugh.
7 Sometimes Tough To Work With
Many wrestlers have said over the years that the Steiners were incredibly strong and tough - so much so that other wrestlers didn't want to get on their bad side. A phrase that is often used when it comes to their in-ring ability is that they would suplex people and 'whether they [the opponents] wanted to go or not, they were going.' Especially when it came to enhancement talent, the Steiners were notorious for taking liberties and roughing them up. Some wrestlers, however, enjoyed the rough edge of the Steiners. Brian Knobbs, for example, said that the Nasties loved working with the Steiners because they had similar approaches and loved to work stiff.
6 Thought About Leaving The WWE By September 1993
Jim Cornette owned SMW and, in October 1993, he wanted to bring the Steiner Brothers in for a SMW vs WWE Tag Team Champions match against the Heavenly Bodies. While he got the Steiner Brothers, he didn't get them as tag team champions as the WWE decided to switch the titles to the Quebecers.
RELATED: The 10 Best Tag Team Matches Of The Steiner Brothers
According to Cornette, the Steiners had told him that they weren't going to be in the WWE much longer as soon as they had agreed to come to SMW for the matches against the Bodies, so there was likely already tension between the Steiners and the WWE as early as September 1993. Bruce Prichard also confirmed on his podcast that the Steiners were never really happy in the WWE.
5 Their Pitbull Was Also A Good Worker
Instead of bringing the WWE tag team titles to SMW, the Steiners brought their pitbull Arnold. Looking big and mean, Arnold was actually a sweetheart, according to Jim Cornette. He was also apparently a really good worker as the Steiners had trained Arnold how to work-bite meaning that Arnold would chew done just enough to look legit but without hurting the victim. Needless to say, during their four-night stint in SMW, Arnold chewed on Cornette quite a few times without hurting the manager.
4 Drugging The New Japan Office
Bruce Prichard recalled a Steiner Brothers rib while in the WWE. Around the Royal Rumble 1994, representatives of New Japan came to the WWE as two of their stars - the Great Kabuki and Genichiro Tenryu - were going to appear at a few shows. While in catering, the Steiner Brothers and fellow pro-ribber Curt Hennig ground up Halcion and put it into one coffee pot. They informed all their American colleagues about it but not the Japanese contingent. Needless to say, there were soon Japanese officials sleeping or on the verge of sleep everywhere in catering.
3 The Steiner Driving Prank
Aside from tying people up or drugging them, the Steiners were also well-known for a very dangerous rib. In their WCW days, the Steiners would often travel with Sting and/or Lex Luger. When they spotted a fellow-wrestler's car, they would instruct Sting to pull up to it on the highway and try to match their speed. One of the brothers - apparently mostly Rick - would then lower his window and lean out the car while trying to open the other car's driver-side door. Thankfully, nobody was ever killed.
2 Successful After Their Careers
As crazy as the Steiners were during their active days, the two brothers seemed to have mellowed out a bit. Rick Steiner is currently serving on the Cherokee County School District Board of Education, while Scott operated a Shoney's restaurant from 2016 until 2020. They both also tour the convention circuit where Rick was involved in an incident with transgender wrestler Gisele Shaw earlier this year.
1 Tormenting A Referee
Eric Bischoff once recalled the first time he saw the Steiner Brothers. Eric said that, the first time he walked into the WCW locker room, he saw the Steiner Brothers. They had duct-taped a referee from head to toe, including tape over his mouth. His arms were tied to his sides and his legs were tied together as well. A scene like this would (rightfully) cause an uproar in today's environment, even in wrestling - which goes to show how much even the wrestling business has grown up and cleaned up since the early 1990s.
