Steiners, WTF
By Scott Keith on 13 September 2019
What was the deal with the Steiners being so stiff and putting other wrestlers in peril. I remember seeing a match in Japan vs Benoit/Liger which was amazing but also scary as hell because Rick hit Benoit with an overhead German that nearly killed him. Why were they such assholes? They never seemed to lose clean, we’re booked as fan favorite babyfaces for years and yet every time they had a chance it looked like they tried to legit kill their opponents. When I was younger I assumed the Bagwell injury was an accident but looking back now, how dangerous were the Steiners back in their glory days?
The thing is, I wouldn't say they were "dangerous" as such, but they worked a lot in Japan where it was expected, if not encouraged, to beat the hell out of your opponents with wanton abandon sometimes because the culture is all about FIGHTING SPIRIT and all that. Like even the brutal Iizuka match features the kid getting mauled and then coming right back for more. And when they came back to WCW after their tours, they were pretty much the one over tag team in a division with, like, four different tag team titles (WCW, NWA, US, IWGP, Six-Man, etc.) and they never had to lose, so basically no one ever called them on it.