10 Things You Didn't Know About Ricky Steamboat
3. He Was Fired By WCW And Left Wrestling Until The First TNA Show
After leaving WWE, Ricky Steamboat came back to WCW for one final run. Though his last tenure with the company was only three years, he would see great success, winning many singles and tag team championships during the run.
It came to an end in 1994, though, when Steamboat suffered a back injury that - apart from his brief 2009 comeback - finished his career. He forfeited the United States Championship at Fall Brawl, and later that month, Eric Bischoff fired him via a FedEx package.
For a long time, that was it for Steamboat. Even though wrestling became wildly popular in the late 1990s and the boom lasted into the 21st century, Steamboat had nothing to do with the sport. It sounds strange, given wrestling's current reliance on former stars, but the one-time World Heavyweight Champion simply retired to a life of privacy.
His next appearance in wrestling wouldn't come until 2002, when TNA used him as the referee for the Gauntlet for the Gold match at the company's inaugural PPV event. Steamboat was on hand as Ken Shamrock won the NWA World Heavyweight Title, adding to the authenticity of the proceedings.