8 Second Generation Wrestlers' Favourite Legacy Matches
Days of fights past: featuring Ric Flair, British Bulldog, Scott Hall, and more...
While most of us sour on our parent’s jobs during our angsty teenage years - it is low hanging fruit to fuel rebellion - maybe things would be different if they'd competed at WrestleMania to an adoring crowd.
It can be a treat for long-term fans, or those of us who regularly find ourselves bingeing wrestling that predates our own conceptions, when the child of a legend of yesteryear makes their sports entertainment debut. Though the results are variable, even between second generation siblings, they are at least an easter egg soon to become a niche trivia question for WrestleMania weekends.
However, for the newcomer, having a legacy can come with its downsides. Following a parent into the wrestling business opens up a debuting talent to the pressure of high expectations and cries of nepotism. Though, there are a lot of advantages to being exposed to wrestling from an early age and having your sporting hero live in the same house.
Those who follow family into the ring are often that parental athlete's best historian, with some even willing to narrow it down to one golden highlight.
If anyone is a credible source for a legend’s best bout, it’s their doting offspring…
8. Richie Steamboat - Ricky Steamboat
Richie Steamboat’s choice from his father’s excellent back catalogue is unlikely to shock anyone. One match transcends Steamboat’s personal bests onto the lists of all-time greatest wrestling matches – Steamboat vs. Randy Savage at WrestleMania III. In the immediate aftermath both the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and Pro Wrestling Illustrated awarded it Match of the Year 1987. Since then, its reputation has grown, and it is a much-lauded classic amongst wrestling aficionados.
In a 2016 interview with the In Your Head Wrestling Podcast, Richie described the bout as “arguably one of the best matches of all time”, adding:
“Just being able to grow up in his shadow has been amazing […] He’s definitely one of the best in the business. I’m not saying that because he was my dad, he truly has mastered the art form of professional wrestling.”
The match is a product of its time; however, it has elements of everything you look for in a pro-wrestling classic – technical finesse, strength, speed, agility, combined with the usually polar opposite in-ring techniques of brawling and mind games. The match was well paced with innovation after innovation providing a pop before anyone really had the chance to grow tired of any element.
Even a referee bump, roll-up finish, and George Steele’s sopping back hair couldn’t dampen the magic of the Macho Man and the Dragon.