10 Things You Didn't Know About Ricky Steamboat

8. He First Feuded With Ric Flair In The 1970s

Ricky Dragon Steamboat
Pro Wrestling Illustrated

As was already mentioned, the Ric Flair-Ricky Steamboat series from 1989 is considered one of the best feuds in pro wrestling history. At the Chi-Town Rumble on February 5, Steamboat defeated Flair to finally become the World Heavyweight Champion. At Clash of the Champions VI, the two men fought to a double-pin draw in a 55-minute two-out-of-three falls match. Finally, at WrestleWar, Flair defeated Steamboat to reclaim the title. Each of the matches is a classic.

This wasn't the first time that Steamboat and Flair would lock horns, though, and both men had very fond memories of a feud they'd engage in more than a decade earlier. As soon as Steamboat came to Jim Crockett Promotions, he started feuding with Flair, who was already doing his "Nature Boy" gimmick and was the World Television Champion. After a confrontation on the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling program, Steamboat would defeat Flair for the belt.

The two would go on to wrestle all around the Carolinas in the late '70s, having 60-minute draws that they both considered some of the best bouts of their careers.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013