Ricky Steamboat had gained acclaim for legendary wars waged with Ric Flair before the first WrestleMania, but found himself in the midst of a stop-start WWE push during the inaugural 'Show Of Shows', and one that would take two more years to bear fruits.
Across from him was celebrated technician Matt Bourne, working at a rather rudimentary level to ensure 'The Dragon' was cast as one of the company's brightest stars. It'd be eight years before he appeared on 'The Grandest Stage' again, but this lacked the clowning around of that infamous appearance.
Steamboat looks years ahead of his time here. His high spot finish raises the roof, whilst his chiseled frame outstrips virtually anybody else's on the card. Miscast in the Sports Entertainment madness, he nonetheless shone enough to convince higher ups to keep him around before finally making the most of his incomparable babyface fire.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
