Background: Scott Steiner made his WWE return two months prior, immediately setting his sights on Triple H and the World Heavyweight title that he once wore. Triple H unhappily accepted Steiner’s challenge for the “Royal Rumble” event.
Royal Rumble
Boston, MA
January 19, 2003
Triple H vs. Scott Steiner
The New England crowd was behind Triple H before the bell rang for the first time. Steiner wanted to show that he should be the one cheered by beating down the champ with chops and forearms. Steiner had the crowd going when he pressed Triple H over his head before slamming him. Yep, “Big Poppa Pump” was beating H like a government mule (J.R.™). Steiner had Trips beaten so bad that he went for the Steiner Recliner. Thankfully for Triple H, Flair was there to save H. Steiner whipped Trips into the turnbuckles, only to run into a boot to the jaw. Scotty’s head whipped back in a sickening fashion. From that point on, Steiner was completely out of it. The champ tried to beat Steiner on his feet, but Scott’s legs would give away before H could do anything. And when Steiner tried to get something going, his body just wasn’t allowing it. It was a painful sight to see as Steiner’s face twisted in anguish as he held H for a slam.
The fans saw Steiner’s pain and attacked it, booing the challenger no matter what he did. It didn’t help Steiner’s case as he did a row of belly-to-belly suplexes because he couldn’t visibly do anything else. And when Steiner tried to butterfly suplex the champ, Scotty’s legs went out from under him, causing him to nearly drop Triple H on his head. The action spilled to the floor, leading to Steiner using the World title belt to rip H’s forehead open. Helmsley, seeing his title reign flying away, tried to make a run for it. But the challenger caught him, beating him into the ring. Triple H was desperate to get disqualified, pitching referee Earl Hebner to the floor. When Earl refused to give Triple H the chance to cheat his way out of keeping the title, H grabbed his infamous sledgehammer; driving it into Steiner’s abdomen to lose the match by disqualification.
Winner: Scott Steiner (18:14)
Is It A Classic: This is one of those matches where it’s a classic for all the wrong reasons – being so bad it’s actually entertaining. Steiner was in no shape to have the caliber of match befitting a main event star during that time, and Triple H’s growing frustration just further made the flow even more inconsistent. It’s not one of the worst matches in wrestling history, but definitely one of the worst in 2003 involving two highly acclaimed grapplers.
