Scott Steiner on returning to Impact Wrestling, hall of fames, continues shooting on Hunter and Stephanie, more
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Scott Steiner Transcription
Ring Rust Radio: Many fans were genuinely surprised to see you return to Impact Wrestling following your controversial exit from the company in 2012. What was the signing process like this time and how has the company treated you thus far since coming back?
Scott Steiner: I get paid to beat people up, which is the greatest job in the world. I legally can punch someone in the face and not get arrested for it, which most human beings can’t do. Nowadays a lawyer calls you up and you get slammed with a civil suit so it really is the best job in the world. People pay me to punch someone in the face. Josh called me up, asked me if I want to punch someone in the face and I said, “Yea pay me and it’s on,” and that’s basically how it went down.
Ring Rust Radio: Having been gone from Impact Wrestling for so many years, what were some of the things you saw from afar that impressed you and ultimately convinced you to return for Slammiversary?
Scott Steiner: When I left nothing impressed me; that’s why I left. The change of management which was a problem because Dixie Carter is an idiot and then she brought in these other idiots like Hulk Hogan. I was just like damn; I got to get the hell out of here. I watched them from afar and their pockets kept getting run down and then thank God, someone else bought it, ran her out and now the right guy is back in charge being Jeff Jarrett. That’s basically who I started with before when Jeff started Impact Wrestling. I definitely wanted to come back and work for the organization again.
Ring Rust Radio: When you were approached to return, was there any discussion of a potential Hall of Fame induction and what would it mean to you to enter a Hall of Fame in the future?
Scott Steiner: I am already in a couple Hall of Fames like the Michigan Hall of Fame and the Dan Gable Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame so my accolades speak for themselves. Let’s just say I’m not losing any sleep over any Hall of Fame induction. The one Hall of Fame that I refuse to go in is the WWE Hall of Fame because do you know where it’s at? Where is it? Do you have an address? It’s a bunch of bulls**t. If they called me up, I wouldn’t go because there’s no address; you can’t go see it, so, where is it? What do you think they do with that Ric Flair statue, the one he was jumping up and down over? Where do you think that statue is at right now? If you had to guess right now where do you think it’s at? I say it’s in Triple H’s bedroom. Let me ask you this, do you think they made a statue of Macho Man? If they made a statue of Macho Man where did you think it would be? It would be in Stephanie’s bedroom. It’s a freaking joke. If you can have a Hall of Fame, at least have an address. That’s the only Hall of Fame I laugh at. Come on man, give me a break.
Ring Rust Radio: As one of the most popular stars in wrestling history, would you be interested in working more matches for Impact Wrestling or even working behind the scenes as a producer for the company?
Scott Steiner: As far as wrestling again, it all depends. Believe it or not I wake up every morning in a good mood, but at some point, somebody is going to me off. Someone pisses me off at Impact Wrestling, and then shit is on. Whether that leads to another match or not, who knows? Piss me off and something is going to happen.
Ring Rust Radio: Over the course of your career you’ve enjoyed a ton of success both as a singles wrestler and as a tag team wrestler with your brother Rick. Looking back at your career, what phase of it have you enjoyed most between being on your own and being part of the Steiner Brothers?
Scott Steiner: If you break it down, it really is like two different careers. I came from the University of Michigan and I teamed with my brother wearing University of Michigan varsity jackets. That’s all I wanted to do was prove that we were the toughest tag team in wrestling, which we did. At that phase, I was really s different guy back then. I looked at the world through rose-colored glasses and thought everything was good. But after you been in the business for a while, you get jaded and see a lot of bulls**t so you start to get pissed off. At that point when I went to singles wrestling, we had beaten everybody and there were no more mountains for us to climb so it was time for change. I needed a different outlet and different goals. So, when I went to singles, at that point I could snap at any time and mentally I was tired of the politics of wrestling, the backstabbing and all the candy asses that do sh*t behind closed doors. I thought that came out in my character because it was really happening. It was just a bunch a sh*t. I can’t really say I’m more proud as a singles or tag team because we had the world tag team titles with my brother on numerous occasions and I was a world champion as a singles so they were both satisfying in their own way.
Ring Rust Radio: You’re infamous for your mic work and fans hang on every word you say. What did you do to get that point where you’re so comfortable on the mic and why do you think other wrestlers have a difficult time adjusting to that aspect of the business?
Scott Steiner: I think why the fans could relate to me is because when I went out there, you could tell I was telling the truth. You could tell I wasn’t bullsh*tting and I was putting it on the line and if people don’t like it, then do something about it. A lot of my frustrations were with management and a lot of my frustrations were with candy asses in wrestling like guys who weren’t tough, but try to come across as such. People could really tell how I came out and in the way, I spoke my mind, I was to the point, direct and really no bullshit. I think that’s why the people related to what I was saying. As far as nowadays, I feel sorry for guys, especially with what they do in the WWE. They are cookie cutters. You got 20 or 30 idiot writers with the two biggest idiots being Stephanie McMahon and Hunter McMahon. I say Hunter McMahon because I can’t tell which one is the bigger douche, her or him. I’ll give him her last name because he’s a man without a backbone. So, got those two and the 30 writers trying to write for all these guys and they all got the same mindset trying to make all these characters. When I came up, it was Macho Man and all these other guys and you had to come up with your own stuff. If you didn’t come up with your own stuff, you weren’t getting over. If you can’t relate to the crowd, can’t make people hate you, can’t make people like you, you didn’t have a job. Now it’s like do this, do this, do this, and everything is way too staged. It’s hard to watch, it really is. I feel bad for the fans because they are cheating the fans and that’s what happens when you don’t have competition. Look at the WWE, their ratings are just horrific. I don’t know what to say or what they will do. Go buy another company so you can bury some other guys? They are a bunch of assholes. When you got competition, it makes people think outside the box. When the ratings are down you got to reach to a higher level and come up with different ideas. Nowadays you can put crap out there and if it doesn’t work, who cares? What else are they going to watch? That’s their mindset and it’s just disgusting.