Scott Steiner’s Wild Claims About Hulk Hogan Were On Brand

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If one is a younger fan of pro wrestling, they may not be familiar with the legacy of one Scott Steiner beyond certain specifics, such as the fact that he is one half of one of the greatest tag teams in wrestling history alongside his brother, Rick, and that he won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship during the promotion’s dying days. Oh, and the fact that he may be one of the most insane wrestlers in history, and not because he was doing crazy moves beyond innovating the Frankensteiner/Hurricanrana. After he turned on his brother and joined the nWo in early 1998, Steiner didn’t just overhaul his appearance as much as he almost transformed into a different person. Gone was the long hair, the University of Michigan letter jacket and the traditional wrestling tights, replaced by chain mail, a goatee, a body that gave new meaning to the phrase “chemically induced,” and the nicknames “Big Bad Booty Daddy” and “Big Poppa Pump.”

With all of that came Steiner’s new attitude, one that would make him both one of the more entertaining pro wrestlers of the next few decades (see the “Steiner Math” promo) and one of the more controversial wrestlers of the next few decades. That’s because Steiner became fully uncaged and unafraid to speak his mind, in and out of the ring. The most notorious example of this came during an early 2000 episode of “WCW Nitro,” when an in-ring Steiner promo essentially turned into a shoot as he lashed out against WCW and his long-time co-worker (and future stablemate) Ric Flair. That was at least till a decade later, when Steiner topped himself thanks to an incident with another former co-worker, Hulk Hogan, that briefly left Steiner persona non grata in WWE.

The Heat Between Steiner And Hogan Went Back Years

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Having worked in WWE, WCW, and TNA at the same time over the course of their careers, including being stablemates in the nWo, Hogan and Steiner definitely went a ways back. But the interactions weren’t the most positive according to Steiner, who has since claimed Hogan was behind booking decisions in both WCW and TNA that Steiner feels sapped his momentum. All this pent up anger led to an explosion from Steiner prior to the 2015 Hall of Fame ceremony, where he came across Hogan’s then wife Jennifer and launched into an explosive tirade against Hogan for his actions. Steiner would later go on to claim that he was forced to call his lawyer over the incident, stating Hogan and his wife went to police and said Steiner had threatened them. Steiner also claimed WWE had banned him from the Hall of Fame ceremony, backed up by photos of Steiner found in a security room, as a result of the tirade, with “Big Poppa Pump” famously stating that WWE “took the word of a racist” over Steiner’s.Â

While the wounds have since healed between WWE and Steiner, enough so that he’s been on hand to watch matches featuring his nephew, Bron Breakker, Steiner’s resentment towards Hogan remained. In addition to those claims he made about the Hulkster, Steiner wasn’t afraid to call Hogan out as a racist, as well as referring to him as a “piece of garbage.” Even in the months leading into Hogan’s death earlier this year, Steiner continued to hold Hogan in low regard. But then again, what would you expect from an outspoken individual known as “Big Poppa Pump?” Steiner’s statements about Hogan may not have been the most tactful, but they were very much on brand for one of the more outspoken wrestlers the business has ever seen.

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