That and Steve and Rachel were never seen as a supercouple by fans. The idea of him thinking he's still in love with Alice but being drawn to Rachel is compelling, but that wasn't really their history. I know Lemay said he played with a Steve/Rachel attraction more, and you could say Steve had some desire or fondness for Rachel, but she wasn't the woman who had been treated as his soulmate.
I do get that the opening was badly out of date by 1996, similar to the tour of Llanview opening in 1992. I will give JFP credit for actually using the cast in her opening, unlike that soft porn muzak opening Gottlieb brought to OLTL. However, I think the style of that opening has ended up seeming much more dated in the long run than the 87-96 version, which isn't really that far off from something of today with Instagram filters or other little tricks.