Rick Steiner

Robert Rechsteiner (b. March 9 1961, Bay City, Michigan), better known by his ring name, Rick Steiner, is an American professional wrestler.

Steiner is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation, both as a singles wrestler and one half of the tag team "The Steiner Brothers" with his younger brother, Scott.

Career
Robert Rechsteiner was an amateur wrestling standout at the University of Michigan, placing 4th at an NCAA Championship competition. While there, he was introduced to professional wrestling by George "The Animal" Steele, and entered the business immediately out of college. Taking the simpler stage name Rick Steiner, he spent time in the American Wrestling Association, Montreal promotion International Wrestling, and the Universal Wrestling Federation before going to work for the National Wrestling Alliance in 1988. He formed an early tag team with Sting and won the NWA Television Title from Mike Rotundo before his brother Scott turned pro. The two formed The Steiner Brothers, one of the most dominating tag teams of their time. The team proved they were for real by defeating the Freebirds for the NWA World Tag Team Championship in November, 1989.

The pair continued to dominate in the NWA (and later World Championship Wrestling (WCW), as NWA superterritory Jim Crockett Promotions came to be known), winning multiple championships and making occasional trips to New Japan Pro Wrestling. The two jumped to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), WCW's biggest competitor, in December, 1992 after then WCW-head Bill Watts lowballed them on a contract extension and then gave them the option for an early release from their present contracts. They found success there as well, winning the WWF Tag Team Championship from Money Incorporated (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster)) in June 1993.

The Steiners left the WWF later that year, however. "We left with a bitter taste in our mouth", Steiner said in an interview with the Michigan Daily. "Vince McMahon said a lot of things, but never followed through with them".

The Steiners spent time in Japan and working for Extreme Championship Wrestling before returning to WCW in 1996. There they found renewed championship success, winning the Tag Team Championship once again from Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) in July.

In 1998, the Steiner Brothers disbanded when Scott turned heel and joined the notorious New World Order (nWo) stable. Rick and Scott feuded for several months afterward. Scott gained newfound singles success in the nWo as "Big Poppa Pump", but Rick languished in the singles ranks, often disappearing and reappearing in storylines after absences of several months.

He did, however, have notable feuds with Chris Benoit, Sting, and Booker T over the WCW Television Title. When WCW was purchased by Vince McMahon, Steiner was a member of Ric Flair's heel group The Magnificent Seven with his brother Scott. Other members of this group were Road Warrior Animal, Lex Luger, Buff Bagwell and Jeff Jarrett.

Since WCW's demise, Steiner has been seen in TNA and independent promotions, and continues to wrestle often. He also wrestled in Japan for Pro Wrestling NOAH in late 2004 and early 2005.

In mid 2005, Steiner began selling real estate, a common career choice for retired and semi-retired wrestlers. He is also a member of the Cherokee County school system board of education. However, he was disqualified from entering the primary for the 2006 term, due to the fact he used the Steiner name, rather than his legal name. Steiner could have run for reelection had he presented a petition calling for this with 4500 signatures, however he was unable to do so. Consequentially, Steiner will run unopposed as a write-in candidate in November 2006.

Steiner continued to wrestle in local venues and made several appearances with former fellow WCW superstar Buff Bagwell around the southeast.

Rick Steiner returned to TNA on the May 4 2006 episode of TNA iMPACT! as a possible partner for Sting at TNA Sacrifice 2006. He made a second appearance on May 11, 2006 in a similar role. It was also penciled for a One-Time-Only Steiner Brothers reunion at Bound for Glory 2006, but because of a contract dispute with Scott, it didn't happen.

Finishing and signature moves

 * Steiner Bulldog (Diving bulldog)
 * Steiner Driver (Death Valley driver)
 * Steiner-Line (Knock-out clothesline)

Managers

 * Ted DiBiase
 * Ric Flair
 * Eddie Gilbert
 * Robin Green
 * Missy Hyatt
 * Kevin Sullivan

Nicknames

 * "The Dog-Faced Gremlin"

Quotes

 * "If you want some, come get some. If you don't like me, bite me."

Championships and accomplishments

 * National Wrestling Alliance
 * 1-time NWA World Television Champion
 * 1-time NWA World Tag Team Champion (with Scott Steiner)
 * 2-time NWA United States Tag Team Champion (1-time with Eddie Gilbert, 1-time with Scott Steiner)
 * 1-time NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion
 * 1990 NWA Pat O'Connor Memorial Tag Team Tournament winner (with Scott Steiner)


 * New Japan Pro Wrestling
 * 2-time IWGP World Tag Team Champion (with Scott Steiner)


 * Pro Wrestling America
 * 1-time PWA Tag Team Champion (with Scott Steiner)


 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * PWI ranked him # 88 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.
 * PWI ranked him # 2 of the best tag teams of the PWI Years (with Scott Steiner).
 * PWI Tag Team of the Year Award (1990, with Scott Steiner; 1993, with Scott Steiner)
 * PWI Match of the Year (1991, with Scott Steiner, versus Sting and Lex Luger)


 * Southern Championship Wrestling
 * 1-time SCW Heavyweight Champion


 * Universal Wrestling Federation
 * 1-time UWF Tag Team Champion (with Sting)


 * World Championship Wrestling
 * 2-time WCW World Television Champion
 * 6-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (5-time with Scott Steiner, 1-time alone / with Kenny Kaos)
 * 1-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion


 * World League Wrestling
 * 2-time WLW Heavyweight Champion


 * World Wrestling Federation
 * 2-time WWF World Tag Team Champion (with Scott Steiner)


 * Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 * 1986 Most Improved Wrestler
 * 1990 Tag Team of the Year (with Scott Steiner)
 * 1991 Match of the Year (with Scott Steiner, versus Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki)