| Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat |
| Ricky Steamboat Height: 5'10" Weight: 235 lbs. Real name: Richard Blood Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina (billed from Honolulu, Hawaii) Pro debut: 1976 (Mid Atlantic region) Finishing move: Flying Crossbody, Double Chickenwing Other aliases: Richard Blood, Sam Steamboat, Jr., Rick Steamboat Career highlights: NWA World Heavyweight Champion, NWA World Tag Team Champion (7), NWA United States Heavyweight Champion (2), NWA United States Heavyweight Champion (Toronto Version), NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion (2), NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champion (3), NWA Mid-Atlantic TV Champion, NWA World TV Champion, WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, WCW World Tag Team Champion (2), WCW World Television Champion (2), WWE Intercontinental Champion Trained by: Verne Gagne, The Iron Sheik Ricky debuted in 1976 in the American Wrestling Association and became one of the greatest professional wrestlers of the 1980s and early 90s. He took the name Sam Steamboat, Jr. from older Hawaiian wrestler Sam Steamboat, to whom he is not actually related, and also wrestled for a time under his real given name before settling on the name Ricky Steamboat (or, alternatively, Rick Steamboat), by which he would be known for the remainder of his career. He went from the AWA to Championship Wrestling from Florida, then to Georgia Championship Wrestling. In 1977, he entered the National Wrestling Alliance-sanctioned Jim Crockett Promotions (which ran under the concurrent brand names "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" and "Wide World Wrestling" [later "World Wide Wrestling"], as well as airing syndicated TV programs under those respective names), where he would remain for the next eight years of his career. Steamboat, who had been brought in as part of a talent exchange (a trade that sent Steamboat to Mid-Atlantic and One Man Gang to Georgia) by JCP booker George Scott on the recommendation of Wahoo McDaniel, was initially billed as a protege of Wahoo, and barely spoke above whispers in interviews. In the ring, he was a spectacular performer who showed Bruce Lee-like fire, and quickly became one of the territory's most popular performers. Matching him with his brash young counterpart, Ric Flair, was a natural fit. Steamboat stepped up to the plate during an interview on the syndicated Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling when Flair, the then-Mid-Atlantic television champion, began goading the youngster. Steamboat knocked Flair out with a backhand chop to set up a match between the two. Steamboat's star making performance came when he pinned Flair after a double thrust off the top rope to win the Mid-Atlantic TV title at WRAL studios in Raleigh, North Carolina. Over the next eight years in JCP, Steamboat would go on to capture the United States Championship three times and the World Tag Team championship six times (once with Paul Jones and five times with Jay Youngblood). He also held the Mid-Atlantic heavyweight singles crown and wore the Mid-Atlantic tag straps four times (twice with Paul Jones, once with Dino Bravo, and once with Jay Youngblood). He also won the TV title a second time (which by that point had changed its name changed to the NWA Television Championship). Fans in the Mid-Atlantic territory to this day talk about classic Steamboat moments: The day Flair dragged his face around the television studio to scar his face and Steamboat's retaliating the following week by ripping Flair's expensive suit to shreds; Steamboat being turned on by his longtime tag team partner Paul Jones at the end of a two-ring battle royal; Steamboat and Youngblood painting yellow streaks down the backs of Paul Jones and Baron Von Raschke in order to embarrass them into defending the World tag team title against them; Steamboat and Youngblood's amazing (and top drawing) feud with Sgt. Slaughter and Don Kernodle; Steamboat and Youngblood being turned on by their friends Jack & Jerry Brisco; Steamboat in a shocking (and surprisingly emotional) feud against former mentor Wahoo McDaniel; and his last great series in the territory, feuding with Tully Blanchard over the NWA TV title. After having creative differences with JCP booker Dusty Rhodes, Steamboat, who, along with Flair had been the face of the Crockett-owned promotion for nearly a decade, accepted an offer from Vince McMahon and jumped to the World Wrestling Federation in 1985. Shortly after his debut in 1985, the WWF repackaged Steamboat with the nickname "The Dragon", also replacing Steamboat's jacket-and-trunks attire by having him wear a keikogi and long tights. His father was white, and Steamboat's mother is Japanese-American, hence his Asian features which were crucial for his "Dragon" gimmick. Steamboat kept the nickname and gimmick for the remainder of his career. In his first three-year WWF stint, Steamboat feuded with Don Muraco, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and the "Macho Man" Randy Savage. At WrestleMania III on March 29, 1987, Savage and Steamboat competed in what many wrestlers consider the best match in WWF history, in which Steamboat captured the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Savage, paying off an injury angle where Savage crushed Steamboat's larynx several months prior. The highly influential match was considered an instant classic by both fans and critics and was named 1987's Match of the Year by both Pro Wrestling Illustrated and the Wrestling Observer. Several weeks after winning the Intercontinental Championship, Steamboat asked WWF owner Vince McMahon for some time off to be with his wife Bonnie, who was expecting the birth of their first son Richard, Jr. This did not sit well with WWF management as he had been molded to become a long-term Intercontinental Champion. He lost the belt to the Honky Tonk Man on June 2, 1987; his son was born later that month. Ricky came back in time for the first annual Survivor Series in November 1987. However, management was still bitter over his impromptu sabbatical from his first WWF run, and he was not pushed or given any meaningful feuds (Steamboat himself has implied in interviews that he was being punished for 'one-upping' the Hogan-Andre main event at WrestleMania III). His last major WWF appearance was at WrestleMania IV in March 1988. Shortly thereafter, he announced his retirement. Ricky Steamboat made a triumphant comeback in January 1989 and returned to the NWA (specifically, NWA affiliate World Championship Wrestling) where he had a noted series of matches with "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. He ended up capturing the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Flair in February. Aside from several rematches with Flair, he was also the last NWA World champion to defend the belt in All Japan Pro Wrestling in a match against Tiger Mask II (Mitsuharu Misawa). He lost it back to Flair in May. After losing the NWA title, Ricky again ventured into semi-retirement in late 1989. Ricky did return briefly to the WWF in the summer of 1991 wearing a dragon man costume and blowing fire before his matches. He was not promoted as a major star, as it seemed that there was still some bitterness from his first run with the company. Theories also suggest that since he had won the NWA title (the WWF's main competitor at the time), he was purposely buried to give the impression that he won the title in a smaller, less competitive league than the WWF. The highlight of that run was at SummerSlam 1991, where he wrestled in a six-man tag team match with the "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith and The Texas Tornado. Shortly therafter, he again left the WWF. In November 1991, Steamboat made a surprise return to World Championship Wrestling as the mystery tag partner of Dustin Rhodes, replacing an injured Barry Windham. He captured the WCW World Tag Team Championship with Rhodes in his first night back and would later capture the "unified WCW/NWA World Tag Team Titles with Shane Douglas. He also captured the Television & United States Heavyweight Championships. While feuding with "Stunning" Steve Austin in 1994, Ricky Steamboat took a bad bump off the top turnbuckle and severely injured his back. He managed to pin Austin to win the United States title but had to give up the belt due to the injury. Steamboat was fired by WCW President Eric Bischoff via Federal Express package (while injured), thus ending a nearly two decade relationship with the Crockett/Turner wrestling organization. He retired for good in September 1994. Steamboat played an important role in the genesis of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he was the referee of the first Gauntlet for the Gold for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. He was also the referee for the four-way double-elimination match to crown the first holder of the TNA X Division Championship. He has also made appearances for Ring of Honor, first clashing with CM Punk over Punk's arrogance in matches Steamboat refereed and then becoming CM Punk's inspiration to become the better person Steamboat knew he could be. In early 2005, Steamboat returned to World Wrestling Entertainment as a road agent and was introduced as a WWE Legend at WWE Homecoming in October 2005. In early 2006, Ricky Steamboat told WWE management that he would like to come out of retirement at WrestleMania 22 and work a match with Ric Flair, but the idea was nixed. Ricky Steamboat has been the special referee in main event matches between John Cena, Triple H and/or Edge in WWE house shows. In 2006 at the RAW SummerSlam Tour in Australia he was a referee for a match between Cena and Edge for the WWE Championship. Richard Blood's ex-wife, Bonnie, obtained the rights to the name "Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat" in their divorce settlement. |
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