What happened to Richie Steamboat?

[EnglishControlWwe]

At the Royal Rumble Bo Dallas made his debut eliminating the Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett, then defeated him the next night on Raw. This got me thinking of the altercation between Wade and Ricky Steamboat on the January 7th edition of Raw. They definitely teased a feud between the two and many thought it would lead to the debut of Richie Steamboat. Therefore I pose to you three questions:

Do you think that the original plan was for Richie Steamboat to win the 8 man NXT tournament?
If so, why do you think Bo Dallas won instead?
Finally, do you think that the debut of Richie would've lead to a greater story, with him defending the honour of his father?

[kcoe24]

Yeah it seemed to set up for Richie to debut with his father in his corner. Maybe they are putting it off for Mania or something as Richie seems to be ready to come up anytime

I'm not sure if he is still hurt or not but Richie suffered a concussion a while back and i don't believe he has appeared on nxt since then. Like i said not sure if that is it but that could be a possible explanation or they are holding off for something better.

Not sure if he would really have to defend his father's honor as much as just have his father in his corner when he challenges Wade Barrett for the title.

[Jimmy Carter]

Richie debuting in Bo Dallas' place seems like a larger impact, immediately and in terms of building future feuds. Perhaps this minor holdup is the perfect opportunity to package Steamboat in a gimmick that will remind fans of his father's storied legacy. WWE will introduce him during Wrestlemania in some sort of flamboyant rainbow spandex with no mention of his NXT work or his father's name. Fans will nevertheless go wild for The Junior Dragon.

[THTRobtaylor]

The only thing they can really do with Richie is the polar opposite of what people expect. I think he will come in with Ricky and quickly turn on him - Dad was never a heel and thus Jr. goes heel right away to prove he "is his own man". Someone like Bray Wyatt would be ideal for this, as would Dolph Ziggler as a mentor... or perhaps Ricky Sr. is not doing so well?

Dallas got the not as he is perhaps closest to Rocky Maivia/Randy Orton/123 Kid in that vanilla bluechipper role... they get his "push and rejection" out the way now and then they can rebuild, much as they did with the others... I saw someone mention his "masochist" character... well they haven't mentioned it so far... so I am guessing they are going the Rocky route.

[Mr. HD]

I wish it was Richie Steamboat instead. He's a great young talent. Been following him since he was Seth Rollin's tag team partner.

At first, I thought the Wade Barrett/Ricky Steamboat thing was one of those backstage segments, but now that I look at it, it did set up Richie Steamboat's debut.

I guess they just prefer Bo Dallas at this point in time. Maybe they're holding off on Richie's debut.