Chicago Sun-Times: Steiner likely looking at his last chance

At the upcoming "No Way Out" PPV event, "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner has what may be his last chance at the WWE champ-ionship for the foreseeable future.

It will be his second chance at HHH and the "Raw" version of the world championship and--despite the fact that Steiner clearly was the better man in their first encounter at the "Royal Rumble"--possibly his last.

Some were worried if Steiner would be able to stay healthy enough to maintain his main-event status, and to this point he has proved those detractors wrong. As for his ability in the ring, though it took awhile to get the rust off, his match last week with Chris Jericho should be enough evidence that Steiner still can get it done.

The bottom line is that it could just be terrible timing for BPP, as he has come to prominence in the WWE just as some of the biggest names in the history of the business have come out of hibernation. The death blow for Steiner's shot at the gold is the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin, who is a bigger draw than HHH and should take the title not long after his return. If that were not a big enough hill to climb, the rumor mill is getting piping hot with talks of Goldberg getting very close to signing with the WWE.

Sounds like the company is looking to push stars to the "Raw" brand in the coming months, so the "Raw" title match at "No Way Out" is as big a match as Steiner will have for the rest of his career.

AROUND THE RING: I lost a very good friend last week when "Mr. Perfect" Curt Henning died in Florida. Despite the character he played on TV, Henning was one of the good guys and will be missed. ... Sounds like Torrie Wilson will be posing in the March edition of Playboy magazine. Wilson will be on the cover and should surpass the sales records set by Chyna and Sable. ... Thanks to Jim Ross, Stone Cold is coming back, and Eric Bischoff gets to keep his job. Ross may have pulled Bischoff out of the fire, but in all honesty, since Vince McMahon put Bischoff on probation, the "Raw" ratings have gone up consistently. Last week drew a very respectable 3.9 against what was supposed to be the finale of "Joe Millionaire" on Fox.

HOTLINE: I have more news on the passing of Curt Henning, as well as the latest on Sting and Bret Hart's negotiations with the WWE. All that and much more are on the hotline: (900) 990-SLAM ($2 per minute).