Savage-Steamboat at WrestleMania III is probably one of the all-time great, most well-known matches out there (just ask Chris Jericho). For a lot of fans today, they hear about that match and think of Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat someone who rose to prominence in WWE. But Steamboat already was an accomplished and decorated wrestler, having won numerous NWA titles prior to his initial WWE run. When Steamboat returned to NWA/WCW in 1989, he and Ric Flair proceeded to tear the house down with their feud. It legitimized Steamboat as a top-tier performer and showed that he was capable of being a focal point of a promotion. When Steamboat trekked back north to WWE in 1991, he wasn't pushed as a world title contender or even inserted into an Intercontinental title feud. He emerged as the fire-breathing Dragon, with little to no reference to his previous success. Just to prove that WWE dropped the ball with Steamboat, when he returned to WCW once more, he went on to capture the Tag Team, TV and U.S. titles in a four-year span. WWE had one of the best in-ring performers and one of the most natural babyfaces on their roster not once, but twice. But somehow, he never materialized as more than a popular midcarder with one very classic match on his resume. Let this be a warning for fans who think that Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles and Bobby Roode should all jump to WWE right now and get pushed to the moon there's no guarantee they won't end up breathing fire, staring into a mirror, having a posedown or cabbage-patching to the ring.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.
