10 Reasons Why Scott Steiner Is The Most Unappreciated Pro Wrestler Ever

9. ...More So Than You'd Think

Steiner, incredibly, also invented the 450 splash which 2 Cold Scorpio later adopted to carve himself out as one of the most dynamic and cutting edge performers of the 1990s.

Seen in the above video, wrestling under his real name of Scott Rechsteiner, it's not hard to fathom why he never added it to his repertoire permanently. He undershoots his trajectory, and would have missed the intended target even if he had not scrambled out of harm's way. But, as inauspicious as the move was, he owns the patent to it.

His name was curiously missing when WWE acknowledged the history of cruiserweight wrestling when reinstalling the division last year - but he copyrighted Tony Nese's hits like a heavyweight, moves like a cruiserweight act when the Premier Athlete was still in Pampers.

Beyond the moves he innovated, Steiner used his considerable NCAA pedigree to inform the believable amateur leanings of his professional style. Even before he unleashed the terrifying lunatic within on national television in the late nineties, his work was immersive. He made suspension of disbelief easy because he was as powerful and intense as he was technically-minded.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!