Good ole’ JR recently sat down for another episode of the Grilling JR podcast, along with Conrad Thompson. During the podcast, Jim and Conrad spoke about a match between Ric Flair and Rick Steiner, and Ross shared his thoughts on the booking of the contest, which took place at Starrcade ‘88. When speaking about the way it all went down, Ross elaborated on the subject, saying:
“Yeah, I didn’t believe it. Was Dusty that big of a fan of Rick Steiner, or that big of an enemy to the Nature Boy? So, it was shocking to hear that because there was no buildup to a program where you’d have a blowoff in a cage. All it was, it was a match. But yeah, there was some discussion about it. I never took it as seriously as some did because it just seemed to me to be implausible. I couldn’t wrap my arms around it. Ric needed to be rebuilt. He had been booked down, and his perception had been harmed I thought……he was devalued in my view. Would Rick Steiner had been a good champion at some point in time? I think so, but it was not time. It’s again going back to too much, too soon. He needed more seasoning and more time to get over. You don’t beat the world champion in a cold match, and that’s kind of what it was.”
The former WWE commentator, as well as current AEW commentary member, also gave his thoughts on The Steiner Brothers leaving WCW in ‘92. When speaking about the duo leaving, and the after math of the move, JR mentioned:
“I remember Cowboy [Bill Watts] had issues communicating with Scott Steiner to the point that I think they were gonna have a meeting. He [Watts] mentioned to me that he’s got his gun with him. Jesus Christ, Bill. Saddle your horse, leave the gun at home. Obviously, he perceived Scott as being very volatile and dangerous for a guy Cowboy’s age. What do you do? You get an equalizer to protect yourself. So, Bill’s lack of ability or motivation to make peace with Scott was unsuccessful. When Bill told Rick, ‘I’m not gonna sign your brother back,’ that made the decision to leave WCW for WWE that much easier for the Steiners. His little brother not getting renewed, however you wanna look at it, did not sit well with big brother. That facilitated their exit much easier and more quickly. It was a blow. They had earned a national and global reputation as being as good a tag team as there was. You don’t replace a team like the Steiners without hurting your roster.”
Ross, who has been in the wrestling world since 1974, continued to talk about The Steiner Brothers. Jim shared his opinion of where the duo, who are real-life brothers, ranked amongst other teams consisting of blood brothers. Ross explained that “no list would be complete without the Steiners”, telling Conrad:
“They’re on the list. It’s hard to say. I’m partial to the Briscos. We mentioned Owen and Bret, and you can’t have a list of brothers without mentioning Owen and Bret. But there were a lot of really good brother tag teams. But there would be no list that would be complete or believable without the Steiners.”
Do you have any memories of The Steiner Brothers? Make them known in the comments section!
(H/T and transcribed by 411Mania)
