10 Times Famous Wrestlers Shared A Nickname
5. Ricky Steamboat and Tatsunami Fujinami
Ricky Steamboat gained his famous nickname after a meeting with Vince McMahon in 1985.
Steamboat had just signed with the WWF and Vince had big plans for him. He was given a look that accentuated his Japanese heritage, wearing a traditional martial arts uniform to the ring and adopting a nickname inspired by one of Asia's most famous mythical beasts.
"The Dragon" moniker would follow Ricky for his entire career; his match with Randy Savage at WrestleMania III, his feud with Ric Flair in WCW, his return to WWE in 2009. He was "The Dragon" through all of this.
However, on the other side of the world, another man was already a household name under this guise.
Tatsumi Fujinami is one of the most legendary Japanese wrestlers of all time. He's a six-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, second only to Hiroshi Tanahashi for number of reigns, and has held titles in the US that include the prestigious NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.
Fujinami is perhaps most famous for inventing moves like the Dragon Sleeper submission and the Dragon Suplex. Why are they both named "Dragon"? Because that's the nickname Fujinami went by for most of his career.