15 Reasons Why Scott Steiner Is The Original Beast Of Wrestling
10. Dined With Death And Lived To Tell The Tale
If the list of scalps on Steiner’s record wasn’t already robust enough, Steiner even managed to add the Grim Reaper to that list in June of 2007, when he miraculously one-upped Death himself in Puerto Rico.
Making a routine house show appearance for TNA, Steiner was pitted against local talent and former TNA regular, Apolo, in a standard tag team contest also involving Jeff Jarrett and James Storm. During the match, Steiner sustained an errant side-kick to the throat by Apolo; which was initially brushed off as a run of the mill occupational mishap.
While “Big Poppa Pump” would go on to finish the match, the stiff shot would later have serious consequences; with Steiner coughing up blood that evening in his hotel room.
Soon enough, “Freakzilla” would find himself rushed to a nearby hospital (ironically the same hospital that Bruiser Brody had died in 19 years earlier), where he was diagnosed with a tracheal rupture – a tear to the windpipe – and given mere hours to live. Despite this fact, Steiner was sceptical of the diagnosis and initially contemplated leaving; reluctant to have surgery in the Puerto Rican facility. Luckily for Scotty (and his fans worldwide), doctor’s managed to persuade him to stay; ultimately saving his life as a result.
With the tracheal tear sustained in his chest region, Steiner was placed in a medically-induced coma and put out for two days; during which time the Caribbean doctors would repair the torn tissue by entering through the ribcage, slicing his lat muscle virtually in half. Once the trachea was repaired, doctors would spend a further two weeks draining fluid from his lungs, as a swollen and frustrated “Freakzilla” lay wounded.
Unable to fly home, Steiner was forced to return to the States via cruise ship a week later to avoid the change in air pressure at altitude that would have almost certainly caused his lungs to collapse. Despite the horrific injuries sustained in Puerto Rico, Steiner was back in the ring tagging with his brother just six weeks later, winning the UWF’s “Rock 'n' Roll Express Tag Team Tournament”.
Steiner - 1, Death - 0.