One of the biggest pops in the history of WWE at Madison Square Garden was when Triple H returned from his torn quadricep injury back in 2002. But a close second to that reaction was when Scott Steiner made his debut at Survivor Series in the same building later that year. Steiner came into WWE with a lot of hype, but ultimately didn't deliver. Triple H is a big reason for that. Triple H and Steiner began feuding with each other shortly after 'Big Poppa Pump' blew the roof off Madison Square Garden, and the two ended up having some of the worst matches in company history. On paper, Triple H seemed like the perfect opponent for Steiner. He was more than capable of carrying someone to a good match, which was the sort of opponent that Steiner needed at that point in his career. Prior to their matches Hunter had carried opponents far worse than Steiner to good matches, but he was unable to do the same with the 'Big Bad Booty Daddy'. As soon as the series was over Steiner dropped down the card like a stone, with his failure to dethrone Triple H as World Champion leaving him looking like a failure in the eyes of the fans. Following two pay-per-view title matches in January and February, he did not even feature on WrestleMania XIX the following month. WWE had failed to capitalise on Steiner's momentum coming into the company, with the defeats to Triple H (and his half-speed performances in the matches) effectively ending his usefulness as a main event star.
Aaron Sass is a professional writer living in Corvallis, Oregon. He has previously done work with The Inquisitr, Examiner, and The Portland Tribune, covering the NBA, professional wrestling, and mixed-martial-arts.
