Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat: Worthy or Not?

[TheOneBigWill]

Richard Henry Blood (born February 28, 1953 in West Point, New York). better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is a former American professional wrestler who became one of the most well-known professional wrestlers of the late 1980s and early '90s. He's currently working as a road agent. He was well-known among wrestling fans as being one of the few wrestlers who stayed a babyface throughout his lengthy career. He is best known for his work with American Wrestling Association (AWA), National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

In 1985, Steamboat was offered a contract by Vince McMahon and he joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Shortly after his debut, Steamboat was given the gimmick of a babyface nicknamed "The Dragon"; Steamboat's jacket-and-trunks attire was replaced by 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.

On the November 22, 1986 edition of Superstars, Steamboat got a shot at the Intercontinental Championship against Randy Savage. Steamboat lost the match by count-out but after the match, Savage continued to assault him and injured Steamboat's larynx, beginning an angle between the two. On the January 3, 1987 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Steamboat returned from his injury and prevented Savage from attacking George Steele like he had done to Steamboat two months prior. At WrestleMania III, Steamboat was booked to defeat Savage for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, in a match considered to be one of the best in Wrestlemania History. 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 because of its superb wrestling, excellent in-ring storytelling, and non-stop action.

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. The decision was made by WWF management to punish Steamboat by stripping him of the title. After a successful title defense against Hercules on the May 2 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, he dropped the belt to The Honky Tonk Man on the June 13 edition of Superstars; his son was born later that month.

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 billed simply as "The Dragon" and now 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. Indeed, on some WWF telecasts, Randy Savage (who had begun doing color commentary) acted as if Steamboat was some newcomer whom he had never heard of, ignoring his colorful past with Steamboat and the fact that he and Steamboat had brought the house down at Wrestlemania III. 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, where he, "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, and the "Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich defeated The Warlord and Power and Glory (Paul Roma and Hercules) in a six-man tag team match. Shortly thereafter, he again left the WWF.

On the November 19 edition of Clash of the Champions, Steamboat returned to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as the surprise tag team partner of Dustin Rhodes, substituting for an injured Barry Windham. Steamboat and Rhodes defeated the Enforcers (Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko) to win his first WCW World Tag Team Championship under the WCW banner. They lost the titles to Arn Anderson and his new partner Bobby Eaton at a live event in January 1992. Steamboat began feuding with the Dangerous Alliance at this point. He unsuccessfully challenged Dangerous Alliance member WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Rick Rude for the title at SuperBrawl II. Their rivalry culminated in an Iron Man Challenge at Beach Blast 1992, which Steamboat won.

On the September 2, 1992 edition of Clash of the Champions, Steamboat defeated "Stunning" Steve Austin to win his first WCW World Television Championship under the WCW banner. He lost the title to Scott Steiner at a television taping on September 29. He however, won both his first NWA World Tag Team Championship (unrecognized by NWA) and his second WCW World Tag Team Championship with Shane Douglas (NWA and WCW titles were unified) on the November 18 edition of Clash of the Champions by defeating Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes. On the March 27, 1993 edition of Power Hour, they lost the NWA and WCW titles to the Hollywood Blonds (Brian Pillman and Steve Austin). On the August 18 edition of Clash of the Champions, he defeated Paul Orndorff to win his second and final WCW World Television Championship. A month later, at Fall Brawl, Steamboat's TV title reign was ended when he lost to Lord Steven Regal. At Starrcade, the two faced in a rematch for the title which resulted in a time-limit draw.

He would also have one last feud over the WCW World Heavyweight Championship with longtime rival Ric Flair, which culminated in a match at Spring Stampede where the title was briefly held up due to both men's shoulders being pinned at the same time. On the April 24 edition of Saturday Night, Flair would defeat Steamboat to reclaim possession of the title. Their final singles match was on Main Event in July which ended on a disqualification when Steve Austin interfered. Steamboat and Flair's last encounter was in a tag team match on the July 31 edition of Saturday Night where Steamboat teamed with Sting against Ric Flair and Steve Austin.
He feuded with US Champion "Stunning" Steve Austin at the moment and earned a US title shot at Bash at the Beach but lost. On the August 28 edition of Clash of the Champions, he got a rematch against Austin where Steamboat hurt his back, but managed to pin Austin for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. However, he had to give up the belt due to the injury at Fall Brawl.

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 (TNA), 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 where he refereed the first defense of the ROH Pure Wrestling Championship. In 2004, he engaged in a series of confrontations with CM Punk over Punk's arrogance in matches Steamboat refereed and then became CM Punk's inspiration to become the better person Steamboat knew he could be. The latter part of 2004 saw Steamboat feud with Mick Foley over which style of wrestling was superior, pure wrestling or hardcore wrestling. The two of them had many confontations and managed teams to face one another, but never had a match against each other. Steamboat's last ROH appearance was at Final Battle 2004 where he and Foley finally made peace.

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. His list of accomplishments and Championships (according to Wiki) are as follows:

Maple Leaf Wrestling
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (1 time)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI Match of the Year (1987) vs. Macho Man Randy Savage at WrestleMania III
Match of the Year (1989) vs. Ric Flair at WrestleWar
PWI Rookie of the Year (1977)
PWI Stanley Weston Award (1995)
PWI Tag Team of the Year (1978) with Paul Jones
PWI ranked him # 7 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1991.
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
(Class of 2002)

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling | World Championship Wresling
NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Paul Jones (3) and Jay Youngblood (1)
NWA Television Championship (2 times)
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (1 time)
NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (6 times) - with Paul Jones (1) and Jay Youngblood (5)
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
WCW World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Dustin Rhodes (1) and Shane Douglas (1)
WCW World Television Championship (2 times)

World Wrestling Federation
WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
Tag Team of the Year (1983) with Jay Youngblood
Match of the Year (1987) vs. Randy Savage at WrestleMania III
Match of the Year (1989) vs. Ric Flair at WrestleWar
5 Star Match: (February 20, 1989) vs. Ric Flair at Chi-Town Rumble
5 Star Match: (April 2, 1989) vs. Ric Flair at Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin' Cagjun
5 Star Match: (May 7, 1989) vs. Ric Flair at WrestleWar
5 Star Match: (May 17, 1992) with Sting, Nikita Koloff, Barry Windham, & Dustin Rhodes vs. Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, & Larry Zbyszko at WrestleWar 1992
Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat: I may be in a rough category here, but outside of his classic WrestleMania III match-up with Randy Savage, I didn't even know Ricky Steamboat as anyone important. While I did understand who he was while feuding with Ric Flair, I honestly never looked at him in the proper way I now believe he should've been noticed in.

After reviewing his career in the W.W.F., and of course assuming wiki's background is correct, I honestly feel for the guy who in the end seemingly lost what later and apparently became the longest Intercontinental Championship reign in W.W.F. history, to the Honky Tonk Man. That's a typical for a whole other thread though.

In asking whether he should be inducted into the Hall of Fame or not, I truly believe the real question lies within does the company forgive him and let the past rest? In 2005, as it states, they introduced him as a Legend dispite not being apart of the Hall of Fame, so does this mean that's as close as he'll get? Personally, I'm going to say he deserves to be in every other Hall of Fame, but the W.W.E. why? Because outside of one match, and apparently because they wanted to bury him.. he didn't do anything note-worthy. What are your thoughts and opinons on Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat being a Hall of Fame inductee? Worthy or Not?

 

[klunderbunker]

I'm with Will again and just barely say no. He had a match and a great feud. Other than that he didn't really do a lot other than have one of the sweetest costumes of all time. Steamboat broke a good amount of molds, but aside from WM 3 he never had a big moment. Aside from the short build up to WM 3 and the 6 months with Flair, what else did he ever do that's HOF worthy? As far as I can recall, nothing. Other than that he was just off to the side for the rest of his career. Should be required viewing for all fans, but not HOF worthy to me.

 

[NSL]

I'm going to have to agree with the experts here, and say NO.

You can never say enough about his match with Savage, but besides that, there just isn't much to go on. Being the answer to the trivia question "Who did Honky Tonk beat to start the longest reign?" is not worthy of a Hall of Fame spot. He'll always be loved by the fans, and no one can say he wasn't a great face, but he didn't do enough to be enshrined.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

If this thread is about the "Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame," then I say yes.

But, the thread is about the WWE Hall of Fame, so I say "No."

Steamboat put on a classic at Wrestlemania 3, sure thing. But his opponent in that match was Randy Savage, who went on to win 2 WWF Titles and participate in arguably 4 or 5 of the greatest feuds in wrestling history. After the Savage match, Steamboat fizzled out in the WWF.

One thing I will give Steamboat - as I mentioned in a prior thread, being an undersized guy who is mentioned as someone who's had one of the 5 greatest matches in wrestling history opened the door for the Shawn Michaels', Chris Jerichos and Rey Mysterios of the world to be legit contenders in the WWF/E. Steamboat proved that the smaller wrestler could get over on the big stage.

But as Skip Bayless always says, "It's not the Hall of Very Good, it's the HALL OF FAME," and Steamboat is not a WWE Hall of Famer.

 

[Slyfox696]

As I said before, I see people trying to designate a difference between "WWE Hall of Fame" and "Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame". And again, I say this. If the WWE just cared about WWE guys, then how did Dusty Rhodes, Nick Bockwinkel, Ric Flair, Harley Race, etc. get into the WWE Hall of Fame? It doesn't matter their accomplishments in the WWE, just their accomplishments to wrestling.

And, with that as the backdrop, OF COURSE, Steamboat belongs in the Hall of Fame. Anyone saying otherwise probably thinks Owen Hart belongs in the Hall of Fame, and thus really shouldn't have an opinion. Steamboat was one of, if not the, greatest TRUE babyfaces of all time. Ricky Steamboat was the epitome of the babyface. Well mannered, quiet, respectful, and never broke the rules. He never made excuses. And the fans LOVED him. Ricky Steamboat was almost godlike. When Randy Savage hit Steamboat across the neck with the ring bell, people were literally crying because they cared that much about Ricky. And, I'm sure most people know my opinions on Ric Flair, but their Clash of Champions and Wrestlewar matches are simply phenomenal.

Steamboat won virtually every title there is to win the NWA, is a former IC champion (back in a time where that meant you were the second best wrestler on the roster), and has great body of quality work.

How anyone can vote to keep Steamboat out of the Hall of Fame is beyond me.

 

[Big Sexy]

He is without a doubt a Hall of Famer. Just because it's called the WWE Hall of Fame doesn't mean that only you're WWE work is taken into consideration. If that were true then Harley Race wouldn't be in, Dusty Rhodes wouldn't be in, and even Ric Flair probably wouldn't be in. Ricky Steamboat had some of the best matches in wrestling history with Ric Flair, not to mention his amazing Wrestlemania match with Randy Savage. He is a former NWA Heavyweight Champion and a former WWE IC champion. Steamboat is one of the most influential and underrated performers in wrestling history.

 

[Shocky]

I'd say no. Growing up, Ricky Steamboat was just someone I didn't care about. While I appreciate the body of work, if I go back and take myself now, an adult that is capable of paying to watch wrestlers work, would I pay to watch a pay per view headlined by Ricky the Dragon Steamboat. The Answer, is a big fat no.

Yes, he had an outstanding tag team with Jay Youngblood, and even Shane Douglas. Yes he won the NWA championship which resulted in one of the more forgettable title reigns of all time from Ric Flair, and yes, he had a good feud for the IC title with Savage, but he's still incredibly bland. You can be a great baby face, without being so vanilla. Ricky Steamboat is simply too vanilla for my taste.

 

[Slyfox696]

but he's still incredibly bland. You can be a great baby face, without being so vanilla. Ricky Steamboat is simply too vanilla for my taste.

So? That was part of his appeal.

You talk about wrestling now as an adult. But that's completely unfair as your adult wrestling viewing has been shaped incredibly by the actions of the last 10-15 years, and what faces should be. Back when Steamboat was working, it was okay to play that character. Hell, fans WANTED that character. They wanted the shy, humble, good guy to take down the bad guy. Just because his character doesnt' appeal to you as an adult 20 years after Steamboat's heyday, doesn't change that his character very well could have appealed to you in the time that Steamboat worked. One of the biggest draws to the Steamboat vs. Flair feud WAS the fact that Steamboat was the quiet, well-mannered good guy, and Flair was the extravagant and brash bad guy. That was one of the biggest draws to the feud.

I think it is completely unfair to rate down a guy for playing a character that doesn't appeal now, but had mass appeal 20 years ago.

 

[Shocky]

But the character twenty years ago when I was watching it all in the proper context very rarely, if any, did anything for me as a 6 to 10 year old fan. In fact, the only time I ever vaguely remember steamboat was when he came out dressed as a dragon and blew fire into the crowd. That was what, five to seven years after what would have been considered his WWE prime?
I enjoy him now more then I did when I was younger, but I still don't know, now or then, if I would buy a pay per view with Ricky Steamboat as the headliner.

 

[agentmichaelscarn]

Without a doubt he deserves to be in. As pointed out before he was the IC champion when it truly was treated as the 2nd biggest title in the sport and won it at arguably the biggest wrestling show ever, he had one of the best Wrestlemania matches if not matches period of all time. According to a few wrestlers it was a match that really inspired them. Even though Ill admit I dont know a whole lot about the NWA or any of his other work his matches with Flair and his feud with Flair was regarded as many as one of the best of all time and he was also the World champ there. He is also regarded by many of his peers as one of the best workers of all time. So when you break it down he definitely should be a shoe in in my book.

 

[butsecks]

WOW! so i come on here, and many ppl say no he is not worthy? his match against randy savage, and ric flair are still remembered today as some of the best matches in wrestling history. hes a former nwa world and tag team champion, a former intercontinental champion, u.s heavyweight champion, a great babyface. c'mon, wasn't steamboat the man that inspired chris jericho to be a wrestler?. HALL OF FAME WORTHY. no debate.

 

[PiperUndertakerStoneCold]

Simply put, Ricky Steamboat was far ahead of his time in ring skills, in an age where half of the federation only punched and kicked. He knew how to make his matches suspenseful and was just plain fun to watch. While not known for his work on the mic, he wasn't bad at it either when given the opportunity. His recent work on RAW as an almost 60 year old adds to his credentials, since the moves were better than many guys in their primes. Steamboat gets in by a landslide!