100 Greatest WWE WrestleMania Moments
87. Steamboat Shows He Still Has It (WrestleMania XXV)
WWE originally wanted to book Mickey Rourke in a one on one situation vs. Chris Jericho for 'Mania XXV, but the actor's management team weren't exactly keen on the idea. This publicity stunt made more sense than some might think now. Rourke had starred as Randy 'The Ram' Robinson in smash hit movie The Wrestler, and he'd earned plaudits for how convincing he looked in that role.
It wasn't outrageous to think Rourke could work a carefully constructed celeb attraction with someone as skilled as Jericho.
The company couldn't make it happen, so they switched to Jericho bashing actual grappling legends instead. He ridiculed Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat heading into the big night, then agreed to wrestle the latter three in a handicap match. Predictably, Flair tried to steal the show and neither Piper nor Snuka proved very mobile. Meanwhile, Steamboat turned the clock back to 1987 and looked like he hadn't missed a step. He turned in 'Mania XXV's most surprising performance by a mile.
Ricky was so good, in fact, that WWE brought him back for another singles bout vs. Jericho on the follow up Backlash pay-per-view. There's no way that would've happened had he been so-so like 'Hot Rod' and 'Superfly' back in Houston for WrestleMania. Post-match, Jericho challenged Rourke again, ate a punch for his troubles, then the 'Nature Boy' celebrated with a few hearty woos. Oh yes, there was plenty of woo-ing.
Rourke, Jericho and Flair weren't on hardcore fan lips afterwards though. Nope, everyone was talking about Steamboat instead, and rightly so. He was ace.