One-half of the Steiner brothers reveals the interesting story about how he got his start in pro-wrestling.
One of the many experienced wrestlers in the business, George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Famer, Rick Steiner, was interviewed last month by Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald at the Paradise City Comic Con in Miami. Rick Steiner would open up about the legacy of the Steiner brothers and would also go over other topics.
Not all professional wrestlers discovered their the love for the business at an early age. Some like Rick Steiner, had other passions and had not considered the professional style of wrestling until the opportunity presented itself. Rick Steiner was introduced to the pro-wrestling business by WWE Hall Of Famer, George "The Animal" Steele.
[Once he graduated from Michigan State University] "I got a teachers certificate and I taught school for a little while, just wasn’t making a lot of money. Went back to Michigan, ran some of the wrestling amateur camps and…. I was at….. I went to a Bo Schembechler football, kind of an inspiration thing that he put on for all the statewide football coaches. Well, George "The Animal" Steele was there. He and the coach at the time, Steve Fraser, he and Fraser were good friends. Steve Fraser was an Olympic champion. So we went over to go talk to him and he says: “Hey you oughta get into wrestling” and I said 'I ain’t doing that, there ain’t no way.' Short story, I taught school for a couple more months, didn’t make any money, called him up, he sent my resume to Vern Gagne and here I am."
Not too long after Rick got into the business, he would begin teaming with his brother all around the world. The duo would capture tag-team gold across in various promotions such as: WCW, NWA, NJPW, PCW, PWA and the WWE. The legacy of the Steiners as a team is sitting comfortably with some of the other great teams in the history of the sport. Rick Steiner would go on to reflect on the legacy that he and Scott established and how that legacy was able to flourish.
"Well, the first thing is being able to have my brother and have him as a partner; knowing he’s got your back and knowing his style, [and] knowing my style and then, I think its timing, just the way that the business was at that time and everything." He added. "WCW was coming up. Turner was paying big money. The nWo thing was coming together, so I think there’s a lot of things that played into that, but also, I think its my brother’s and my style. It was…. we always took everything to that gray of you never knew how hard I was really hitting him. That “man it looked like it hurt”, so I think we prided ourselves on just, you know, taking it to that limit, and then we’re always trying to come up with new things to do. Different, crazy, stuff to do because in this business, I think the crazier, the wild[er] you are and out of control, I think the better off and more people rememberer you and you just make a statement."
Rick and Scott were also known to be two guys who did not take any crap from anyone. Steiner was asked about a possible run in the MMA if the sport was as popular back then, as it is now.
"You know what? Having the attitude that my brother and I had, you never know you know. Its always you want to be the best at something and when it first started coming out, a lot of the wrestlers were, you know, really good, being successful at the MMA stuff. So, you never know… possibly could’ve, but then, that would’ve taken away from my professional career so maybe that wouldn’t have ended up…. So it worked out for the best."
If you are going to use any of the quotes above, please credit Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald, with an H/T to Fightful.com for the transcriptions.
