Exactly how much does Ricky Steamboat really have?

[TheLoneWolf]

After the Jericho vs. Legends match at Mania earlier this month, I read a bunch of reports that said Steamboat looked really good and that the fans at one point chanted, "You still got it". Now, I'm watching RAW, and he's getting another match at Backlash and more chants. Don't get me wrong, I looooooooove Ricky Steamboat, but at his age, can he really carry a good match with Y2J? I'm not trying to doubt him or his ability, I'm just being curious. Thoughts?

 

[Slyfox696]

Steamboat can still work his style of offense, and can still do some of the moves from the top rope. And, I'm sure he's in pretty good cardio shape.

The thing I wonder about is how his body will take the abuse of selling. I imagine that the majority of Jericho's offense will be low impact, and won't require many bumps on Steamboats part, mostly things where he can fall as he needs.

I think if they go 8-10 minutes, it can be a fairly entertaining bout.

 

[Fuel The Fire]

ok to me it seems like steamboat can wrestle better then 70 percent of what is on the wrestler now and thats just my opionion out there and im sure he can pull out his own weight in a match and for all the younger viewers this is a real treat for all you people

 

[supersayian]

i agree fuel the young people will get to witness something great here. Steamboat still has it and will prove it Sunday at Backlash. i think these two can go a good strong 15 to 20 minutes. if Steamboat can stay in good shape he will do fine.

 

[MikeKillam]

Did you watch the Mania match? Or the match the next night on Raw? It's clear that the Dragon still has it. He outperformed everybody involved in both of those matches, and with Jericho as his opponent, I'm watching this PPV just to see Dragon in "one more match."

 

[finneycom1]

Well,
I think the "Dragon" does still have enough to at least wrestle on a part-time basis. Everybody does remember the last 5 or so years with "The Nature Boy?" Like someone said in an earlier post, Steamboat is more entertaining than half of the roster now. As long as he hangs 'em up when it's time to hang 'em up.

Probably gonna catch some flak for this one but, Steamboat has more in ring charisma and is overall more entertaining than Nash and Steiner, PERIOD!! I wanted to point that out b/c half of the people on here praise TNA.

With 20+ years experience of watching wrestling, I enjoyed Steamboat's comeback couple of matches. It took me back a little bit. Besides, it's all about entertainment and as long as he entertains me and the rest of the world, I say, "LET HIM FIGHT, LET HIM FIGHT!!"

 

[BIGJUICYNIPPLES]

im also happy to see him wrestle one more match but to say he out performed people on raw and people at wrestlemania is going overboard, in the raw match he had botches but it wasnt unexpected for a guy his age, i know most of us are glad to see him wrestle again but please dont go over the top for an average performence, tho for a man his age it's a great performence

 

[rowdy ruben]

compared to hot rod nd snuka of corse he still gots it. hes like finly old but can still go. he should not return to wwe tv but become a trainer at fcw. thats why young talent can be as good as he is nd respect the business more

 

[shazam]

I think that him wrestling is great. From the two matches I saw I think that he can do atleast this one more match at Backlash. For what you should expect from someone his age he is great. You should expect a few mistakes in his match(es), but you know the good moves that he pulls off are going to outshine any mistakes that may happen.

I'm really enjoying seeing him do one little run.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

The thing everyone needs to realize is, it's not fully Steamboat that's making himself (alone) look good. Chris Jericho has always had the uncanny ability to make his opponent's look greater than they are.

I seem to recall Hulk Hogan returning in 2002, and Jericho had a match against Hogan on Smackdown.. it was one of Hogan's best matches from his return since the W.C.W era. Flash back a bit further, you have match-ups like Jericho/The Rock, Jericho/Austin.. and Jericho truly allowed both of them to showcase more technical skill. Sure, Austin had it in him.. but Jericho helped him bring it out.

So, off all that.. Steamboat doesn't still have it all by himself. He still has it, through Chris Jericho's ability to help shine on the positive and ignore the negative. I believe their match Sunday will be good, and help Steamboat once again look amazing.. but beyond Sunday, there is ZERO reason why Steamboat should continue wrestling barring one-off's at like Cyber Sunday in some type of "pick a legend to wrestle" match.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

As much as I am going to enjoy to watch The Dragon v.s. Y2J at Backlash... I feel like this match up should of happened at Mania. Seriously, Snuka & Piper werent in the best of shape for the match. They provided rest time for the Steamboat & "test" him out to see if could deliver in that type of match.

If anything Steamboat should have been "tested" in the RR, screw Jericho over (assuming he was in the RR) & to fuel his hate for the legends. This would have saved Mickey Rourke some criticism & gained a couple extra points for their mania match.

Anywayz, im babbling. Steamboat still has it, but only the perfect pairing, timing & environment will really make the Dragon shine. However, if Steamboat wants to secure his legacy to the modern fan who never knew the Dragon before this happened, he should leave this match as his last with the WWE on TV.

 

[Wrestling_No-logicX]

A simple answer is he still has the heart the ability to fly high and he has the fans on his side. I'm sure this match will be a good one...

 

[suleman09]

Ricky Steamboat vs Chris Jericho is going to be a match where Steamboat is passing the torch to Jericho basically but steamboat will still win for the publicity.

i think ricky has about a good 15 match in him. after 15 minutes he will start to lose it.
but they can put on a good 15 minute match im sure

 

[InfoWarlord]

Steamboat still looks better in the ring than Flair did the last 10 years of his career and we were all willing to watch Flair. He looks better than Larry Zbyszko did during his last run in TNA. He may even have as much left in the tank as Sting. I think Steamboat deserves a proper send off like Ric Flair had. One last run.

 

[thomasj316]

wow. first let me say this, when i was watching wrestlemania. i was thinking to myself that ok steamboat is not gonna be in the match long cause if memory serves me correct and it usually does, he has a bad back and that his last match was against steve austin. so i guess u can imagine my amazement when steamboat slingshoted to the outside on jericho or when he jumped off the top with ease. so does he have a lot to give? yes, but once in a while. i dont wanna see him wrestle week in and week out. even if his body can survive the punishment which is not likely but then again hbk has been wrestling the past 7yrs with a broken back. everytime he gets in the ring u just kinda go crazy cause u cant believe ur gna see ricky steamboat wrestle so if he wrestled every week u lose that nostaglia and excitement. but u cant deny that he can still go. what i would to see is him do some stuff with the young guys, kinda teach them how to wrestle a match. teach them that its not all abt high spots and that the little things u do in a match goes a long way to telling a story. my dream match is to see ricky steamboat vs hbk. whatcha think abt that?

 

[CKO]

compared to all the other legends that have graced the squared circle lately, i'd have to say the dragon is in the best shape. i can say that i was very excited to see him in the ring, at first i was afraid he was going to be like the rest...but then he blew my mind away at wrestlemania. that will stick with me for a long time. great memory.

the next night on raw, he did it again. and he will do it again at backlash. he still has it, infact he has more to offer than half the roster right now. the dragon still has the heart, determination and the love for this business.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Steamboat isn't in his prime, of course, but he's still in pretty good condition. He might not be quite as fast as he once was, but he can still put on an entertaining and competitive match. As to just how much he actually has in the tank, that's up in the air. Whatever limitations he might have would probably be more visible if he were to start wrestling on a regular or semi-regular basis. Although, I wouldn't hold my breath on that happening.

 

[thebigbadfox]

Here is my problem with this storyline/ one last match for The Dragon. I love him and definately love seeing him back in the ring let me say first. But really he does look good and Jericho (the best heel right now in the biz) is definately carrying him in the ring. But is he going to win? Noway WWE ruins what momentum they have with Jericho by having him cleanly job to Ricky. It wouldn't be believable. Jericho would need to loose by cheating or Ricky would have to cheat to win. So if there is no chance for Ricky to win a match then why have the storyline unless they are using this to build something else that we do not know about yet... ie someone coming to Ricky's aide and starting a fued there.... Could see a midcarder ready for a push coming to his aide... Morrison, MVP, Kennedy are a few that comes to mind. Having soemone else help and have Ricky tutor them would give the midcarder a major rub and also get them into a prgram with a maineventer like Jericho.

 

[The Roid Rage]

What does Steamboat have left??? Let him show you. So far from what I have seen, plenty. Noting that Jericho is carrying him is irrelevant, it is 50/50 in the ring, one complements the other. It takes both men working to make any spot look right. What Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat showed all of us at Wrestlemania and then on Raw is that a persons will, determination, and in-ring knowledge of how to work a match are the last things to go on a great wrestler. Is he in the same shape he was years and years ago, obviously not, but, one thing is for sure, his physical ability at his age is not lacking either. Some said that Jericho was "obviously" carrying him, I beg to differ, I don't think Jericho had to do much at all as far as execution , timing, and accuracy goes. Yes Jericho did have to take bumps and sell but if that means he carried Steamboat than everyone is carrying everyone. I was vastly impressed at the ability that Ricky Steamboat displayed and really couldn't believe what I was seeing. Piper, Snuka, Flair, all the older guys generally look like shit, not the case with Steamboat. There is one guy out of all the old schooler's though that I think can still go to the extreme and would tire out most of the young guys but none of us will ever see or know. Randy "Macho Man" Savage "Poffo". Seeing Steamboat do as he did got my curiosity going and made me think, what would Mach' do in the ring today. He is in better shape than any of the legends including Hogan, Warrior, Flair, and anyone else you care to name. With that being said he is in better shape than a lot of the younger roster as well. Look him up on youtube, it's crazy this guy is still jacked and in amazing shape, hasn't aged too bad either.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

The thing about Steamboat is that he's always had the uncanny ability to have a good match at any age. Look at the great matches he's had with Flair, Savage, Austin, etc. The reason he had those matches were because of his dance partners.

Jericho's no different. Jericho and Steamboat will have a great match because of a collaborative effort on their part. Steamboat can still fly on occasion and Jericho's just plain awesome in the ring. Steamboat has as much as the partner he has. In this case, he's got a lot left in the tank. Expect this match to surprise you on how good it is.

 

[HitFan]

Could this possibly (PLEASE I HOPE), be a setup for Jr's debut?

 

[bxbigshow]

"Jericho would need to loose by cheating or Ricky would have to cheat to win."

Ricky wouldn't need to cheat to win. Most of his memorable wins came via 'surprise' rollup pin. He can still win the match and hold Jericho's momentum.

Ricky takes a pounding, gets a little offense in, Jericho eye pokes/cheap shot takes an advantage, beats Rickey mercilessly, Ricky tries to comeback, they trade signatures, Jericho goes for the Walls...small package win for Steamboat.

Y2J can then go ape and beat him like a dog after the match, setting up for a mid-card save. OR handshake...start the face turn. Hell do it like the HBK Mania match, handshake/sucker punch.