10 Greatest Things About WCW’s Final Year

8. Scott Steiner, Top Heel

Scott Steiner
WWE.com

At the start of the '90s, Scott Steiner was part of one of the greatest tag teams in the history of the wrestling business. But as the '90s rolled into the 2000s, Scotty became one of the top singles acts in the industry.

As a team, the Steiner Brothers were phenomenal. Even when paired together, though, there were times when it looked as if Scott was about to become a breakout singles star. If rumour and innuendo is to be believed, there was even talk of having Scott make his surprise WWF debut in the 1993 Royal Rumble match and win the whole thing.

Both Rick and Scott had the chance to be given strong singles pushes throughout the '90s, yet the pair so often shot down those suggestions in favour of remaining a tag team act. It was in 1998, however, that the split became official when Scott laid out Rick and joined the nWo.

From there, Scott dyed his hair, changed his gear, starting wearing a chainmail headpiece, and took on the glorious nicknames of Big Poppa Pump, the Big Bad Booty Daddy, and later Freakzilla.

By the time of 2000, Steiner was right up there as one of the best all-round heels in the game. Scott Steiner with a live mic was always a dangerously fun time, but Steiner could also still go in the ring and his Steiner Recliner finish established as a dominant submission. And as the cocky prick who could legitimately beat your ass for a work or a shoot, Scott Steiner was pitch-perfect.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.