On Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 5:37 PM EST
The Miami Herald has an interview up with TNA's Scott Steiner where he talks about the Main Event Mafia storyline, moving to singles wrestling, traveling around the world and the usual jabs at Triple H and Ric Flair. Here are some highlights.
On the "Main Event Mafia" and comparison to the nWo:
"I was part of the nWo also, but even that wasn't a collection of all the world champions. There's five world champions [in the Main Event Mafia]. I'm talking about WWE, WWF, WCW world champions. So we're all legit before we formed the group, and we all formed the group out of respect for each other and respect for this business. With us, we're all established stars. We've had 15-20-year careers, and the people are buying into it. You can't re-write history, and you can't forget about history. We've all had world championship type careers. So people can relate to us."
On moving from tag team wrestling to singles wrestling:
"The championships, tag team and individual, came at different points. When I became a singles wrestlers, I changed my look, and it was just a reflection of how I had evolved as an individual."
On traveling around the world with wrestling:
"I've traveled all over the world, but I have to say my favorite place to go is Australia. That is the country that's most comparable to the United States -- food wise; their coast is like Florida; they speak the same language and eat the same kind of food. When you go to England, the food is brutal, so greasy. It doesn't taste good. If you go to Japan, sushi is great. If you go outside Tokyo and don't know somebody who knows. Luckily we had a referee, a good friend, who would take us to all the good restaurants. Once you go out of the big city, it wasn't that good. North Korea, that food was brutal. That's some of the worst stuff I've ever eaten. That was an experience itself because it's still Communist."
On Ric Flair:
"Ric Flair would rather wrestle in front of 200 people and have the belt than wrestle in front of 200,000 people and not have the belt. He's a piece of ^%$#."
On Triple H:
"Triple H, the same thing. He wouldn't even be in this business, if he wasn't &^%$#@! the boss's daughter. I think everybody realizes that. He's viewed that way, and he's under the protection of the McMahons so nobody beats him up. Trust me, people wanted to beat him up."
On what he saw during his time with WWE:
"When I was up there, it was ridiculous. Flair was kissing Triple H's %$# so bad, carrying his bags to buildings. Now Triple H can't stand Ric Flair. To each his own. There's a reason why Flair's not there anymore. It's not because he's retired. Flair's a piece of ^%$#. I've been able to read people real good throughout my life. I knew Flair was a piece of ^%$#, and Triple H was a piece of ^%$#. It didn't take long to figure out. No matter what happens outside the ring, I've always given 100 percent. Some guys aren't like that. Some guys actually believe they're winning a world title. It's a joke. It's entertainment."
To read the full interview, click here.