The Quick Talkdown 11.04.06: Ricky Steamboat - The Golden Years (Part 3)
Posted by Phill Feltham on 11.04.2006
It's the 20th Edition of the Quick Talkdown.. and it's also our final installment of our Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat biography.
RICKY STEAMBOAT: THE GOLDEN YEARS (Part 3)
By Phill Feltham
With files from Wikipedia.org
It's been fun talking about one of my favorite wrestlers. Maybe I should do it more often. And in the 20th Installment of the Quick Talkdown, here is Part 3 of Ricky Steamboat's biography.
What makes Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat one of my favorite wrestlers is that he spent his entire career being a face. Okay, his matches were equally as entertaining, but we've never seen this karate chopping teddy bear's mean streak. As mentioned in the last article, he wanted to, but it just never happened.
Steamboat practically dropped off the planet during the Monday Night Wars and the WWE Attitude Era. It was only after that he resurfaced.
Ricky Steamboat started poking his fingers back into wrestling again in 2002. He refereed "Gauntlet for the Gold" match for the NWA World title and crown the first ever TNA X Division Champion. Steamboat also did some appearances for the Ring Of Honor. He had a run-in with current ECW superstar CM Punk over his arrogance. Steamboat later made CM Punk "see the light" so to speak. Steamboat became CM Punk's inspiration, but this wouldn't be to confined to CM Punk.
Ricky Steamboat is one of the many more than worthy superstars to ever not win the WWE World Title. The conclusion of his first NWA run that began in 1977 lasted eight years. His back and forth between WWE and WCW kept his name fresh and in the minds of many superstars.
I think in today's WWE television, Steamboat would have won the title due to the fact that the World title trades hands a lot more often than it did ten years ago. The last long reign was Hulk Hogan's four year reign in the 1980's.
Steamboat's wrestling style was smooth and refined with aerial execution. Many superstars have tried to mimic his style but all have failed. Of course, Steamboat's back injury pulled the curtain on such an illustrious career.
Ricky Steamboat's return to wrestling is only a blessing. Shawn Michaels would be smiling if he read those words. This is because so many of today's athletes find Ricky Steamboat an inspiration. Anyone who takes in his words are bound to learn a few things.
This is probably why the WWE brought him back as a Road Agent in 2005. He's there to not only do the job of an "agent" but to be an inspiration to all who's back there.
Ricky Steamboat's suggestion to the WWE that he have one more run with Ric Flair at WrestleMania 22 only proved that The Dragon is still very willing to contribute.
"I'd love to have one more go-around with Flair," Steamboat said in an interview with IGN.
"I think even right now, if they started it right now on WWE TV and simply issued a challenge, I think it would spark a lot of interest throughout the wrestling world, especially considering the types of matches we worked together in the past. I think people would tune in to see what kind of match we would be able to put on today."
Think about it this way. That legendary match has NEVER happened at a WrestleMania. Wrestling purists must have been angry as hell when the idea was nixed. Mr. Steamboat shared his own theories to IGN.
"I don't think Vince would ever give me the opportunity (to fight Ric Flair) because he and I had a falling out. It was a long, on-going thing. I was one of the rare guys who never wanted to sign a contract. My only problem with the contract was the word perpetuity. He wanted control of my name for perpetuity so even if I left WWF and went to WCW, he wanted control of my name. I just didn't think that was right."
Despite the Vince's and Ricky's bad blood, I'm faithful in the fact that I think that we will see a Flair/Steamboat match. While both competitors are in the same company, a match that never had much play to this WWE life timer as a child, can still happen now. Steamboat has been a referee at some WWE house shows which to me shows good signs.
We all talk about a Hulk Hogan Vs. Steve Austin bout. This would be legendary in itself. Couple that with a Ric Flair Vs. Ricky Steamboat bout and then you have revolutionary. That's it for me! See you next week!
