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Post by cordless2016 on Dec 9, 2023 9:10:25 GMT -5
The match that was suppose to make Scott Steiner one of the next top young-stars and put him on the level of Sting and Luger turned out to be a bad and awkward match. I watched this one again recently and it reminded me of how much of a letdown this match was. Steiner not getting to show off his unique moves. Flair cutting him off at the usual baby-face comeback spots. Just a weird one all around that has caused a lot of discussion with fans and those within the business.
Some say it was a lack of chemistry. Some say Ric sabotaged the match to stick it to higher ups who were trying to push him out even back in ‘91. My opinion: probably a mixture of both, but it’s not hard to see why Scott held so much resentment towards Flair for years after this. Their match didn’t follow the typical “heel-Flair” match that had made so many stars look great before Scott.
What’s everyone else’s opinion on this one? Did Flair sabotage the match? Was it just a lack of chemistry? Or was it something else?
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Dec 9, 2023 11:27:40 GMT -5
I always thought Flair sabotaged it too.
I remember reading about this match in wrestling magazines and couldn't wait to eventually watch it. Years later when I did, I hated it. I enjoyed Lex Luger vs. Rick Steiner for the WCW Title at the November Clash way better than Scott Steiner vs. Ric Flair for the WCW Title at the January one.
I know Flair just won back the WCW Title off Sting, and War Games was coming up with both Flair and Steiner in the match, so why not make Steiner look strong going into that?? Flair knew he was still keeping the title, so what does it matter if Steiner looks dominate in the match??
I mean, if Flair can have great matches with Sting, Luger, Koloff, Dusty, Hawk and even have watchable matches with El Gigante, then he could have had one with Scott Steiner.
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Post by MKSavage on Dec 9, 2023 15:26:18 GMT -5
I don't know if it was sabotaged, or they just didn't have chemistry. It's also possible for two people to work well together most of the time, but then have an off night. I have heard that the match hurt Scott's chances of moving into the upper echelon of the company at the time. I think it was JR who said that the office looked at the match and blamed Scott, saying that if he couldn't have a great match with Flair, then could he have one with others. Has Scott or Ric ever talked about the match in shoot interviews?
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Post by The Brain on Dec 9, 2023 15:39:26 GMT -5
I remember reading Jim Herd was all in on giving Scott a big singles push hence this title match with Naitch.Now whether Ric sabotaged the match is up for debate but with his issues with Herd it wouldnt surprised me if he did outta spite
As for the match,the chemistry def wasnt there
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Post by cordless2016 on Dec 9, 2023 16:10:09 GMT -5
I don't know if it was sabotaged, or they just didn't have chemistry. It's also possible for two people to work well together most of the time, but then have an off night. I have heard that the match hurt Scott's chances of moving into the upper echelon of the company at the time. I think it was JR who said that the office looked at the match and blamed Scott, saying that if he couldn't have a great match with Flair, then could he have one with others. Has Scott or Ric ever talked about the match in shoot interviews? Scott has said for years that Flair purposely sabatoged the match due to Flair’s feud with Jim Herd. Herd was reportedly big on Steiner being one of their top stars alongside Sting and Luger. This match was seen by many as a “prove it” situation for Scott, and a failure due to what we got from him and Flair. It’s why years later Scott would burry Flair in random promos when they weren’t even feuding (‘99/00 timeframe). Flair claimed he never purposely sabatoged the match and it was just a poor outing. Others have commented on it as well. Arn Anderson obviously takes Ric’s side and feels Steiner blaming Flair has to do with Flair being a booker around that time. Others have taken Scott’s side. And some are in the middle. The below link is to Lance Storm’s blog where he has an interesting take on things. www.stormwrestling.com/102814.html
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Post by The Brain on Dec 9, 2023 16:18:04 GMT -5
IMO Scott was nowhere near this level of push during this time. He was a tag guy all the way. Just let em stick with that
Another ''what the hell was he thinking?'' in regards to Mr. Herd aka the clueless buffoon
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Dec 9, 2023 21:33:42 GMT -5
IMO Scott was nowhere near this level of push during this time. He was a tag guy all the way. Just let em stick with that Another ''what the hell was he thinking?'' in regards to Mr. Herd aka the clueless buffoon
I agree with you on not anywhere near the level of a push of that type of level, but I could see him being WCW TV Champion then - even while teaming with Rick - Hell, I could see Scott being a duel champion, TV and Tag Champion.
I know Scott had the TV Title reign in late September 1992 and into early October, but it was weird. He was heel on WCW World Wide, turning on Bagwell and beating him down, and then defeating Steamboat the following week in a cheating manner to win the TV Title, yet on WCW Saturday Night was acting as a baby face defending the TV Title. Just a random weird time.
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Post by ASR (therockisback) on Dec 10, 2023 1:32:51 GMT -5
I gotta rewatch this one tbh
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Post by JokerFC on Dec 10, 2023 18:51:42 GMT -5
I always felt Flair "downed tools" as we say here in Ireland and sandbagged the sh*t out of Scott to stick it to Herd. Steiner is an emotional dude and you can see that he is frustrated as f*ck and it isn't part of the show.
I think there's an episode of JRs podcast about this show & I wanna say(not 100%) he suspected something too.
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Post by JokerFC on Dec 10, 2023 19:01:18 GMT -5
I always thought Flair sabotaged it too. I remember reading about this match in wrestling magazines and couldn't wait to eventually watch it. Years later when I did, I hated it. I enjoyed Lex Luger vs. Rick Steiner for the WCW Title at the November Clash way better than Scott Steiner vs. Ric Flair for the WCW Title at the January one. I know Flair just won back the WCW Title off Sting, and War Games was coming up with both Flair and Steiner in the match, so why not make Steiner look strong going into that?? Flair knew he was still keeping the title, so what does it matter if Steiner looks dominate in the match?? I mean, if Flair can have great matches with Sting, Luger, Koloff, Dusty, Hawk and even have watchable matches with El Gigante, then he could have had one with Scott Steiner. Agreed Rick vs Luger was much better...Luger bumped hard for Rick.
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Post by K5 on Dec 10, 2023 22:42:52 GMT -5
it’s interesting because originally, years before, Rick was the pick as a guy who might go on to be NWA champ
I think while Ric didn’t do Scott any favours like he clearly did for Sting, Barry, etc - Scott just wasn’t ready for that position. dude can barely talk. and that’s coming from a guy who loves Steiner’s whole career
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Post by JokerFC on Dec 11, 2023 11:10:01 GMT -5
it’s interesting because originally, years before, Rick was the pick as a guy who might go on to be NWA champ I think while Ric didn’t do Scott any favours like he clearly did for Sting, Barry, etc - Scott just wasn’t ready for that position. dude can barely talk. and that’s coming from a guy who loves Steiner’s whole career I agree he wasn't ready...no argument there.
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juliang23
Jobber
Joined on: Dec 9, 2019 20:29:51 GMT -5
Posts: 37
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Post by juliang23 on Dec 15, 2023 23:32:58 GMT -5
I wish the strapped a rocket to Scotts ass.
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