WWE Hall Of Famer Scott Steiner Shares Inspiration Behind Big Poppa Pump

Veteran star Scott Steiner has revealed that backstage frustrations in WCW led to him developing the Big Poppa Pump gimmick, which helped establish himself as a singles star. 

Steiner transitioned to the Big Poppa Pump character in 1998 in WCW, after turning on his brother Rick Steiner, in turn transitioning to become a singles wrestler. During his recent interaction with Chris Van Vliet on "Insight," the WWE Hall of Famer detailed how he landed up on the gimmick.

"Well, it first started like it was two different personalities. When I first came out of college, I was a college kid, happy-go-lucky. But when you're in wrestling for a while, things change. Setbacks, people keep you down, politics, you get p*ssed off. So at that point, when I turned into Big Poppa Pump, I was very pissed off and people could just kind of tell that in my interviews because I was tired of the bullsh*t of professional wrestling, things that happened behind closed doors. You don't really know what's going on," said Steiner. 

The former WCW World Heavyweight Champion stated that he was clued in on the goings-on backstage in pro wrestling, but older stars often kept details away from the younger stars in the promotion.

"Luckily, I had some guys in the back doors that told me what was going on most of the time, but a lot of times I didn't know. That was a real thing back then the older guys keeping the younger guys down," he added. 

Steiner altered his appearance following the change in gimmick, dyeing his hair blond and also wearing chainmail headgear, which became an important part of his gimmick in the years to come. He also transformed his physique, looking way more muscular than before. All of these changes helped him rise through the ranks in WCW, where he went on to win his one and only world title in the promotion two years after becoming Big Poppa Pump.