What happened to Scott Steiner and Undertaker's chest?

There’s something seriously wrong with Scott Steiner’s chest

WWE fans have been speculating about the large dent on Scott Steiner’s chest, that has been becoming increasingly noticeable as of late. It’s essential to note that he suffered a major injury back in 2007, at a TNA house show in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

A kick from co-performer Apolo struck him in the throat and injured his trachea, an accident that showed its effects a few hours later when ‘Big Poppa Pump’ was rushed to the local hospital after he experienced severe shortness of breath.

He underwent a neck-surgery following the incident, during which a few complications forced the doctors to cut through his chest in order to rectify his breathing.

The physical disorder that Scott Steiner has is known as ‘muscular atrophy’ in medical terms, which involves the partial or complete degeneration of a given muscle or muscular group.

Here’s an illustration of his earlier years as compared to how his pectoral-definition looks today-

Scott Steiner’s chest has changed drastically since his injury

His pectoral muscles have never been the same since the aforementioned surgery.

One of the most popular pro wrestlers of his time, WCW legend ‘Big Poppa Pump’ Scott Steiner went through a rough phase in his career after suffering a serious injury in a tag-team match that featured him teaming up with Robert Roode against Jeff Jarrett and Apolo.

Several fans and pro-wrestling experts alike are questioning the appearance of the disturbing ‘gap’ in Steiner’s chest that’s also been observed in a few other veteran performers such as Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kofi Kingston and Ric Flair, among others.

Here’s an image comparison of Kofi Kingston:

Kofi in his early years as compared to his recent appearance to the right

Now, it’s essential to note that the degeneration of cells in the pectoralis muscles is not uncommon among professional bodybuilders and athletes. However, one has to differentiate between the levels of said degeneration, so to speak.

The sheer severity of the degree of atrophy in Scott Steiner’s pectorals is extremely concerning especially when you consider the fact that the physical changes to his torso are a direct result of nerve damage that he incurred after complications in his neck surgery.  

As a matter of fact, when one compares Steiner’s chest deformity to a few other wrestlers such as Kofi Kingston, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker and Ric Flair - people exhibiting signs of the same disorder - one can notice a difference in the degree to which the pectoral muscles are separated.

Y2J’s chest muscles seem to have undergone drastic changes over the years

Although the aforementioned performers do display a certain extent of abnormal pectoral-separation, it is nowhere near as intense as that of Steiner.  

Now, I absolutely do not claim to be a medical professional, but speaking as a fan, one can’t help but wonder if the nerve damage caused by wrestling is the cause of this visually disturbing disorder.

As a matter of fact, several years of strenuous physical activity - something that’s run-of-the-mill in the pro-wrestling business - does lead to intramuscular edema and muscular atrophy of the pectoralis major.  

For those of you biology geeks wondering about the ‘edema’, you guessed it right. An edema is the abnormal accumulation of liquid in the interstitium, located beneath the skin and in the cavities of the body that can cause severe pain.

Even ‘The Nature Boy’ isn’t immune to this deformity

That in turn, brings us to yet another point of the excessive use of painkiller by pro wrestlers, which in fact, would prove to be detrimental in a case like Scott Steiner’s, since the painkillers would render his body unable to detect the abnormality caused by his apparent edema and muscular atrophy.

In simple words, Scott Steiner’s chest deformity is an alarming issue and although he may have learnt to live with it, one can’t help but show concern towards the health and well-being of the WCW legend.

The muscular atrophy is attributed to the nerve damage in the performers’ bodies that accumulates over the years, owing to the brutal nature of this sport.

Constant bumps in the ring add up over the years causing micro-damage to the tissues of one’s body, which in turn leads to the degradation of bodily cells in specific areas - damage that’s at times, irreparable.  

The aforementioned ‘nerve damage’ is apparently an important reason behind the huge gap between Steiner’s pectoral muscles. The WCW legend seems to be healthy as of now, in spite of the glaring physical deformity in his upper torso.

‘The Deadman’ is also exhibiting similar signs of muscular deformity

He’s routinely seen pumping iron at the gym, whilst still being active most recently with GFW (Global Force Wrestling), a Nashville-based promotion co-founded by Jeff Jarrett. 

The fact that Steiner and several other big names in the industry including younger stars like Kingston are exhibiting obvious signs of muscular atrophy serves to remind us once again how demanding this sport can be.

That said, with top organisations like the WWE taking every possible measure in order to ensure top-notch medical and rehab facilities for its wrestlers, hopefully, we can get to the bottom of this issue and find some answers to what seems to be a new problem in the sports-entertainment business. 

Here’s wishing Big Poppa Pump and the others, the best of luck and best of health in the future.

Credits: Nick's Strength and Power

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