Interesting Facts about Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat

Interesting Facts about Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat

March 20, 2023

By Ryan Porzl

Professional wrestling has had it's share of all time greats and one of those all-time greats, especially when it comes to in-ring skills, is Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat. From the 1970s to the 1990s, few were Steamboat's equal as he was the perfect babyface who you could never hate and was part of some of the greatest matches of all time. You have a hard time picking a classic match from that era that did not involve Ricky Steamboat. This past February, Steamboat celebrated a big birthday as the Dragon turned 70. To honor him, I decided to do another interesting fact article, this time, on him. Some stuff you may know while others you may not.

Note: I don't own the pictures. I found them online.

Sammy Steamboat

His famous last name came from wrestler Sammy Steamboat- Ricky wouldn't be the first wrestler to use the "Steamboat" surname as the name would first be used by a wrestler named Sammy Steamboat. A native of Hawaii, Sammy was born in 1934 and turned pro in the 1950s after being trained by wrestling legends Lou Thesz and Lord James Blears. Sammy competed for around twenty years where he achieved his biggest success in the Hawaiian based 50th State Big Time Wrestling promotion where he captured numerous championships. He also competed in the California based World Wrestling Associates as well as several NWA territories including Championship Wrestling from Florida, Jim Crockett Promotions, Georgia Championship Wrestling, and Western States Wrestling, mostly as a tag team partner to legendary wrestler and promoter Eddie Graham. Speaking of Graham, it was when Ricky was working for him in CWF where he got his surname. Ricky's real name is Richard Blood and he largely competed under the name "Dick Blood". However, while Graham thought the name was good for a heel wrestler, he didn't think it fit with a babyface which Steamboat was a perfect fit for. Due to his resemblance to Sammy, Graham gave Ricky the Steamboat surname with the brief story being he was either Sammy's son or nephew and the rest is history. Shortly after Ricky began using the name, Sammy would retire from wrestling in the late 1970s. He eventually passed away in 2006.

 

Vic Steamboat and Richie Steamboat

His younger brother and son both were wrestlers- While Ricky was not related to Sammy, he did have relatives who did enter the squared circle in his younger brother Vic and his son Richie. Vic was born in 1960 and turned pro in 1986 where he competed for CWF and World Class but wasn't able to make a splash. During the 1990s, he spent time in smaller northeast promotions such as International World Class Championship Wrestling (not the same as World Class) and Century Wrestling Alliance/NWA Cold Front/NWA New England where he captured his share of titles all the while making two appearances in the WWF in 1991 as "Jesse Bolt" and in WCW in 1996. He eventually retired by 1999. Richie was born in 1987 which many hardcore know as it was his birth and Ricky requesting time off that changed the course of Ricky's WWF career forever. After participating in amateur wrestling from an early age, Richie turned pro in 2008 and became a journeyman as he worked the American independent circuit as well for Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan, All Star Wrestling in England, and World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico. From 2009-2013, he worked for the WWE in their Florida Championship Wrestling and NXT developmental territories all the while becoming a triple crown champion in FCW by winning the Florida Heavyweight Championship, the Jack Brisco 15 Championship, and the FCW Tag Team Championship with Seth Rollins. Unfortunately, in a case of "like father, like son", Richie would suffer a severe back injury in late 2013 which, along with surgery, forced him into retirement.

First wrestler to have an Intercontinental Championship reign that lasted less than 100 days. Was also the shortest reign from 1987-1992- As can be the case with these facts articles, not everything is a highlight and this is an example of that. By now, many know the story of Steamboat's Intercontinental Championship from the build to the match to the legendary match at Wrestlemania III to the aftermath. In case you're not familiar with the aftermath, the story goes that Steamboat was in line for a long title reign but when he wife was due to have their son in the summer of 1987, Steamboat reportedly requested time off. While this wouldn't be an issue nowadays, back then, it was looked down upon as wrestlers rarely got time off unless it was for an injury that prevented them from working. Steamboat would be granted the time off but his title reign was cut short as he dropped the championship to the Honky Tonk Man on June 2, 1987 during a Superstars of Wrestling taping (shown June 13th). Sadly, the title loss marked two lackluster records. First was, at 65 days, Steamboat's Intercontinental Championship run was the first to last less than 100 days. Second was it was the shortest reign in the history of the championship and it would hold that record for nearly five years until January 1992 when the Mountie held the belt for two days.

Made his WWF debut in 1980- It's always amazing when you read about pre-1984 WWE shows, especially those in MSG, as you may find an easter egg and realize someone appeared in WWE or in Steamboat's case, appeared for WWE before anyone remembers. Most fans are aware of Steamboat's WWE but as it turns out, his arrival in 1985 was not the first time the Dragon competed for the World Wrestling Federation. In actuality, Steamboat made his WWF debut five years earlier when he made a special appearance during a WWF show in Madison Square Garden back on April 21, 1980 when he teamed with Jay Youngblood in their legendary tag team to take on Bulldog Brower and Tor Kamata. Steamboat and Youngblood emerged victorious in 15:11 after Youngblood pinned Brower.

Wrestled his whole career as a babyface- This one is very well known but I figured I bring it up anyway. Steamboat wrestled full time for eighteen years between 1976 and 1994 along with his occasional returned in 2009, 2010, and 2022. However, despite the fact he competed for so long, Steamboat never worked heel at any point during his career. Throughout his Hall of Fame career, Steamboat was the babyface and it's not surprising why. Like Tito Santana, who also spent his whole career as a babyface, Steamboat was the perfect babyface. He was too likable to boo and he had that never say die spirit you can't help but get behind. Reportedly, Steamboat did lobby on at least one occasion to be a heel back in 1991 during his second WWF run but Pat Patterson shot it down thinking Steamboat just wouldn't work in the role.

Wrestled the first match in the history of Survivor Series and Royal Rumble- The Survivor Series and Royal Rumble events have things in common. Both are part of the "big four" of the WWE along with Wrestlemania and Summerslam. Another thing was they were put together to go against a Jim Crockett Promotions event. Steamboat would make history at these events as he would take part in the first matches of these famous events. At the inaugural Survivor Series in 1987, Steamboat took part in the opening match where he teamed with "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Jake "the Snake" Roberts, Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake, and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan to take on the Honky Tonk Man, "Outlaw" Ron Bass, "Dangerous" Danny Davis, Hercules, and "King" Harley Race. In the end, Steamboat, Savage, and Roberts would be the survivors for their team. Two months later, Steamboat would make history again when he competed in the first match in Royal Rumble history when he took on his future WCW rival "Ravishing" Rick Rude with Steamboat winning that match by disqualification.

Made appearances for Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor but didn't wrestle in either- When WCW and ECW both went under in 2001, it left a massive void on the American wrestling scene. In 2002, two promotions form in order to give fans an option from the WWE and they would be NWA-TNA (Impact Wrestling) and Ring of Honor. In the early years of both promotions, the Dragon would make special appearances for both, likely to add some credibility. Steamboat would first surface in Impact during their first shows in June 2002 in several guest referee gigs. He first served as the referee for the Gauntlet for the Gold to crown the first NWA World Heavyweight Champion under the Impact banner and then returned to ref the double elimination four way between AJ Styles, Jerry Lynn, Low Ki, and Psicosis to crown the inaugural TNA X Division Champion. In 2004, Steamboat then made appearances for Ring of Honor. He first appeared as a special referee for a match between AJ Styles and CM Punk to crown the inaugural ROH Pure Champion. From there, Steamboat spent 2004 having confrontations with Punk which eventually resulted in Punk turning babyface with Steamboat becoming his inspiration to be a better person he was capable of being. By the end of 2004, he then had a few confrontations with Mick Foley over whether pure wrestling or hardcore wrestling was the superior style with the two eventually burying the hatchet. Because this was during Steamboat's retirement, neither the Punk nor Foley confrontations led to matches.

His Intercontinental Title reign is the only non-JCP/NWA/WCW title reign of his career- When you look at Ricky Steamboat's career, he's held his share of prestigious championships. He's been a world heavyweight champion, a television champion, a united states champion, a world tag team champion, a mid-atlantic champion, and a mid-atlantic tag team champion. However, when you look closely at Steamboat's trophy case, 99.9% of the championships have something in common which is they were championships from Jim Crockett Promotions/National Wrestling Alliance/World Championship Wrestling. Despite competing in promotions such as the AWA, CWF, New Japan, All Japan, and South Atlantic Pro Wrestling, Steamboat never captured a title in any of these promotions. In fact, Steamboat's only non-NWA/WCW title reign was his one and only WWF Intercontinental Championship reign in 1987.

As of 2023, is the last NWA World Heavyweight Champion to defend the championship in All Japan Pro Wrestling- All Japan Pro Wrestling is one of wrestling's greatest promotions. Founded in 1972 by the legendary Shohei "Giant" Baba and the sons of "The Father of Japanese Wrestling" Rikidozan in Yoshihiro and Mitsuo Momota, the promotion has become known for the legends that have come through and the legendary matches, tournaments, and shows it produced. They mostly became legendary for their shows during the 1990s and the famous matches that came from them. Early in All Japan's history, they became a member of the NWA umbrella and as a result, saw them have access to top NWA wrestlers while Baba was able to enjoy three brief reigns with the NWA World Championship. By 1989, the NWA was largely fallen apart due the rise of the WWF and the last of the NWA (Jim Crockett Promotions) would be bought by Ted Turner. By this point, the relationship between the NWA and All Japan was also fallen apart but before the two parties split, All Japan was able to book one final NWA World Heavyweight Championship match. On March 8, 1989, Steamboat traveled to All Japan to defend the NWA World Championship against fellow legend Mitusharu Misawa, who was still the second incarnation of Tiger Mask. This was Steamboat's first title defense since his championship victory over Ric Flair at Chi-Town Rumble on February 20th. In the end, Steamboat retained in 13:47. Shortly after this match, the NWA and All Japan parted ways thus making this the final NWA Championship match in All Japan. As of 2023, both All Japan and NWA are still around but haven't worked together or revived their past relationship since.

Has won all his WCW titles on Clash of the Champions specials- From 1988-1997, the Clash of the Champions were specials that aired on TBS several times per year. In some ways, they were to NWA/WCW what Saturday Night's Main Event was to the WWF. The event would also be big for the career and trophy case of Ricky Steamboat. When Steamboat returned in 1991, the NWA became WCW and for the last three years of his full time career, Steamboat would see some of his biggest successes as he won all five of his WCW titles (as well as one NWA World Tag Team Championship) at Clash of the Champions specials. 

Clash XVII (November 19,1991)- Won the WCW World Tag Team Championship with Dustin Rhodes from Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko

Clash XX (September 2, 1992)- Won the WCW World Television Championship from Steve Austin

Clash XXI (November 18, 1992)- Won the NWA & WCW World Tag Team Championship with Shane Douglas from Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham

Clash XXIV (August 18, 1993)- Won the WCW World Television Championship from Paul Orndorff

Clash XXVIII (August 24, 1994)- Won the WCW United States Championship from Steve Austin

Has the longest gap between NWA/WCW Television Championship reigns- One of the most prestigious championships in NWA/WCW history was the World Television Championship. From 1974-2000, the championship was held by a who's who in the business and one of the names to hold the belt was none other than Ricky Steamboat. Steamboat would ultimately hold the championship on four occasions during three of it's incarnations NWA Mid-Atlantic TV, NWA TV, and WCW World TV (the NWA World TV was the only incarnation he didn't hold). In fact, Steamboat first TV Championship was won in 1977 and his last in 1993. Having held the belt as much as he did and the gaps between reigns, it probably doesn't come as a surprise that the Dragon has the longest gap between TV Title reigns. His second reign ended on October 24, 1979 when he vacated it after winning the World Tag Team Championship with Jay Youngblood. Afterwards, Steamboat wouldn't hold the championship again for nearly 13 years as his third TV Title reign began on September 2, 1992 when he defeated "Stunning" Steve Austin for the championship. The 13 year gap between Steamboat's second and third reigns would mark the longest gap for a wrestler to hold the belt during it's 26 year history.

Went undefeated at Clash of the Champions and Saturday Night's Main Event- One of Shawn Michaels' nicknames has been "Mr. Wrestlemania" and there have been people who have had similar nicknames. Steamboat can join the club as he could be referred to as "Mr. TV Special" because he's competed in many Clash of the Champions and Saturday Night's Main Event specials while having many big moments of his career. Along with the history making moments, he's also gone undefeated in both specials. He went 11-0 in Clash specials while going 6-0, 1 No Contest on SNME specials.

SNME I (May 11, 1985)- Teamed with Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham to beat the Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, and George Steele

SNME III (November 2, 1985)- Beat Mr. Fuji in a "Kung Fu Challenge"

SNME IV (January 4, 1986)- Teamed with Junkyard Dog to beat Mr. Fuji and Magnificent Muraco

SNME VI (May 3, 1986)- Went a no contest with Jake Roberts

SNME VII (October 4, 1986)- Beat Jake Roberts

SNME X (March 14, 1987)- Beat the Iron Sheik

SNME XI (May 2, 1987)- Beat Hercules

Clash V (February 15, 1989)- Beat Bob Bradley

Clash VI (April 2, 1989)- Beat Ric Flair in a Two-out-of-Three Falls match

Clash VII (June 14, 1989)- Beat Terry Funk by disqualification

Clash XVII (November 19, 1991)- Teamed with Dustin Rhodes to beat Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko

Clash XVIII (January 21, 1992)- Teamed with Sting to beat Steve Austin and Rick Rude

Clash XIX (June 22, 1992)- Teamed with Nikita Koloff to beat Joe Malenko and Dean Malenko

Clash XX (September 2, 1992)- Beat Steve Austin

Clash XXI (November 18, 1992)- Teamed with Shane Douglas to beat Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes

Clash XXII (January 14, 1993)- Teamed with Shane Douglas to beat Steve Austin and Brian Pillman

Clash XXIV (August 18, 1993)- Beat Paul Orndorff

Clash XXVIII (August 24, 1994)- Beat Steve Austin

First to win the Intercontinental Championship at a Wrestlemania- With the early Wrestlemanias, you're bound to see more history making moments or more "first evers" than you will in future editions and such would be the case for Ricky Steamboat and Wrestlemania III. As is universally known by now, Steamboat challenged "Macho Man" Randy Savage for the Intercontinental Championship at the event and it is considered one of the greatest matches of all time. Not only would the Dragon emerge victorious with the championship but people sharp in their wrestling history would know he made history that night by becoming the first wrestler to win the championship at a Wrestlemania. In the two previous Wrestlemanias, the Intercontinental Championship would be defended but both times, successfully defended. At Wrestlemania I, Greg "the Hammer" Valentine lost to the Junkyard Dog by count out thus he retained the championship. At Wrestlemania 2, Savage would successfully defeat George "the Animal" Steele to retain. Steamboat's Wrestlemania III victory marked the first time the IC belt changed hands at the Showcase of the Immortals.