Richie Steamboat

[d_henderson1810]

Keep in mind that I don't get NXT in my area, and have had trouble finding any news online.

I was interested to know if Richie Steamboat, the son of HoFer Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is on NXT. And if so, :-

-When do you think he will debut on "Raw" or "Smackdown"?
-Why are people like Bo Dallas being brought up and not Steamboat jr?
-Do you think he will come up as Ricky's son, or will they rename him and pretend that he isn't? (I hope they don't deny his heritage).
-Have you seen any of his matches, if so, what do you think?
-Do you think they will have Ricky "The Dragon" appear in his corner as his manager, to get his son over?
-If you seen him, do you think he will go further than his father, and win the WWE or World Title at some stage, or is he more suited to IC or U.S. Title?

 

[Adam Rush]

Steamboat's hurt badly, I believe, to where it's career-threatening. That's honestly all I can say.

 

[#heel420]

Very talented young man. He's truly his father's son. Last I heard he was out indefinitely with a severely injured back, but is expected to make a 100% recovery. So, It's hard to say when he'll come back. I would say he returns to action after the start of the new year, if not sooner.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

Yeah, the kid is talented. He is one guy that I'd love to see them KEEP as Richie Steamboat. There is money in this kid, but I would say the one is in him as a HEEL.

He busted up his back pretty badly late last year, and it was said to be 'career threatening', but honestly, anytime there is a back or neck involved, you have to be cautious. I believe it was a slipped disc or cracked vertebrae, but I might be wrong.

Now, as for his future, I think it's predictable, but I'd have him come in with the support of his Dad, cut through some mid card action, but then, get tired of being in his Dad's shadow, and turn on him with a huge beat down. I'd line him up with Heyman going back to Ricky's feuds with the Dangerous Alliance in WCW. Then he gets pushed to the moon with a feud with Punk, re-writing history a bit where he claims to have gained respect for Ricky in ROH, and Richie goes over. The eventual face turn would be when he wins the World title and brings his Dad out to Heyman's chagrin, leading to another Heyman guy beating him down to create the new feud.

 

[d_henderson1810]

Yeah, the kid is talented. He is one guy that I'd love to see them KEEP as Richie Steamboat. There is money in this kid, but I would say the one is in him as a HEEL.

He busted up his back pretty badly late last year, and it was said to be 'career threatening', but honestly, anytime there is a back or neck involved, you have to be cautious. I believe it was a slipped disc or cracked vertebrae, but I might be wrong.

Now, as for his future, I think it's predictable, but I'd have him come in with the support of his Dad, cut through some mid card action, but then, get tired of being in his Dad's shadow, and turn on him with a huge beat down. I'd line him up with Heyman going back to Ricky's feuds with the Dangerous Alliance in WCW. Then he gets pushed to the moon with a feud with Punk, re-writing history a bit where he claims to have gained respect for Ricky in ROH, and Richie goes over. The eventual face turn would be when he wins the World title and brings his Dad out to Heyman's chagrin, leading to another Heyman guy beating him down to create the new feud.

I would love to see this ultimately lead to a Ricky Steamboat v Richie Steamboat Father v Son match at WM.

Imagine, the son turning down his legendary father, who did everything for his son, and gave up the IC title to see his son be born. Apparently, Ricky has always been supportive of his son, and they are best friends. So, this feud, interspersed with family pictures of father and son, would be a great build-up, and have that Ricky refuses to wrestle his son, until he is forced to.

They could have an awesome match against each other at Wrestlemania one year.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

-When do you think he will debut on "Raw" or "Smackdown"?

As others have mentioned, Steamboat has been out of action for several months with a severe back injury. I'm not sure exactly what the injury is but a little snippet I found reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter says that the injury is genuinely severe enough to be career threatening. About 6 weeks or so ago, I read that he was scheduled to undergo surgery soon. I don't know exactly when but even if the surgery is successful, he'll still be out recovering and undergoing rehab for many months. So, the future of his career as a pro wrestler is up in the air.

-Why are people like Bo Dallas being brought up and not Steamboat jr?

Well, Bo Dallas wasn't on the main roster for very long. It was plainly obvious to anyone to saw him that he wasn't remotely ready for it, so he was sent back to NXT. Right now, Dallas is the reigning NXT Champion. Unless he has made some dramatic improvement, he won't be back on the main roster anytime soon.

-Do you think he will come up as Ricky's son, or will they rename him and pretend that he isn't? (I hope they don't deny his heritage).

If he ever makes it to the main roster, I have little doubt that WWE will play up the fact that he's a 2nd generation wrestler. They've done it with Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, Jr. & Cody Rhodes; so I don't see why they wouldn't do it with Steamboat.

-If you seen him, do you think he will go further than his father, and win the WWE or World Title at some stage, or is he more suited to IC or U.S. Title?

Eh, it's impossible to say at this point in time. It's one thing to be a big fish in the little pond that's NXT, but it's another thing on the main WWE roster. His father is one of the best in-ring pro wrestlers of all time. Ricky Steamboat had some truly all time classic matches. However, Steamboat's problem stemmed from the fact that...well the guy had zero personality or charisma quite frankly. During his brief run as NWA World Heavyweight Champion and his classic series of matches with Ric Flair back in 1989, it was obvious that he simply didn't have what it took to be a long term main event champion. I'm not dissing Steamboat, but compared to wrestlers like Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan & Sting; Steamboat was beyond dull when it came to charisma and personality. Unless Richie is unable to overcome that particular burden, then I doubt he'll make it further than the mid-card if he makes it to the main roster. If he can't make a connection with fans to the point in which they truly want to invest in him, then it he'll never be a main eventer.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

The problem with the Father vs Son match is that I don't see Ricky ever getting in the ring again. After his, I believe, aneurysm a couple of years back after his short run, I don't know that he'll be chomping at the bit to get back in the ring.

I think the history of the family could be such a huge dramatic story point. From Richie being the reason that he had to drop the IC title, easily explained as preoccupation, to Richie coming to the ring with Ricky at Chi Town Rumble when he beat Flair, to Ricky being there for Richie's 'first' match, there is a lot there to use without Ricky getting in the ring for a match.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The injury is legit serious, and the irony isn't lost on me - Ricky too was taken out by his back...

The problem Richie has is two-fold - he almost HAS to be heel. That's kinda the legacy his dad has left him - no one is gonna buy like Father Like Son for very long. But to do that he has to have time to grow into a heel character - like Bray Wyatt has done - and that's very hard to do off screen.

Sure the "heartbreaking" turn on Ricky could make him - but it could also break him... Now what if Ricky too went heel as his manager, using the fans "One more match" chants against them, he did it, had them chanting "holy shit" and then nearly died... none of those fans wrote him or wished him well etc... So now he is gonna protect his son as he did before, only this time - Richie is man enough to deal with it himself but we have protection (introduce a bodyguard for them). Cue tweets from Jericho (by then the IC champ) saying how disgusted he is that Ricky has turned that way and tarnished his legacy for nothing - that sets up the "Mania classic" that makes Richie IC champ and sets him up...

Ricky was the cautionary tale that Austin is blatantly following - he was told to get out, did so but was tempted back and however good the matches - something went wrong, there were life changing consequences...

If of course Richie never wrestled again that would be very sad, but he's never going to have the size to be convincing if his style is compromised by the injury... If that's the case WWE needs to either find something else for him or he needs to look to plan b for a career... at his age it ain't worth the risks...

 

[HillBillyJim]

I would love to see this ultimately lead to a Ricky Steamboat v Richie Steamboat Father v Son match at WM.

Imagine, the son turning down his legendary father, who did everything for his son, and gave up the IC title to see his son be born. Apparently, Ricky has always been supportive of his son, and they are best friends. So, this feud, interspersed with family pictures of father and son, would be a great build-up, and have that Ricky refuses to wrestle his son, until he is forced to.

They could have an awesome match against each other at Wrestlemania one year.

I dunno Ricky is getting up there age wise. Don't get me wrong I would be awesome [Sort of a star wars feel] but I cant see it happening.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I dunno Ricky is getting up there age wise. Don't get me wrong I would be awesome [Sort of a star wars feel] but I cant see it happening.

But the two matches he has had since, WM25 and Backlash against Jericho were very good for a man of 57 at the time. The crowd said that he still "had it" and at least he isn't embarrassing himself in matches like Ric Flair.