Rick Steiner was known during his wrestling career for his rugged style, but had his own list of the toughest men in wrestling, topped by a familiar name.
Steiner, during a recent interview with Hannibal TV, shared an anecdote from a night in St. Louis, when he, Haku, Curt Hennig, and Rick Rude got into a bar fight.
"Back in the day I could give you a handful. You got Haku -- I've been in LA and some of those cities, I've been in St. Louis, and that thing he does it really works," Steiner said. "We were sitting in a bar, me and Curt Hennig, St. Louis and these Marines come in and they were drinking and by the end of the night one of them comes over and says 'What are you guys hanging out with --' [Haku]. He thought he was black. I said 'He ain't black and if I was you I wouldn't.' He said 'Well we're Marines and we'll do whatever the hell we want.' And I said 'Not tonight, it's gonna be a bad night if you guys do something to him.'
"It just kept going worst downhill, downhill, and finally a couple went over and started messing with Haku and it was freaking kick, kick, and up in the throat. Then four or five of them were laying and the rest of them were looking, it was me, Curt, and Rude, and Rude took a couple guys out and it was over before it even got started."
Steiner listed a few other wrestlers that make his "toughest men" list.
"I would say Haku, you got Hawk, Dr. Death, even Bart Gunn," Steiner said. "He was a lefty, heavy hand man, he knocked some guys out cold."
Steiner still wrestles sporadically on the independent circuit but also has a thriving real estate career and holds a seat on the Board of Education in Cherokee County, Ga.
