Ricky Steamboat first rose to prominence competing for the NWA in the late '70s and early '80s, feuding against the likes of Sgt Slaughter, Wahoo McDaniel and having an amazing rivalry with Ric Flair. He would find the majority of his success here as a three time United States Champion and a six time Tag Team Champion, among others. Upon his WWF debut in 1985, he adopted the Dragon gimmick in homage to Bruce Lee. He would prove to be a fan favourite among WWF audiences, with his ultimate legacy being a stellar match against Macho Man Randy Savage for the Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania 3 helping to draw an audience of 93,000. His wrestling career with WWE would sour soon after, as he was punished by WWF management soon after his title win for a combination of requesting time off and seemingly one-upping the Andre-Hogan main event of Wrestlemania 3. From then on, he would flit back and forth between them, WCW and other promotions, but would never be in the WWE title picture and would never again reach successful heights in WWE. For many wrestling fans, it really sticks in the craw that the man Ric Flair called his greatest rival has won every major championship in North America... except the WWE Championship.