Ricky Steamboat Talks ‘The Dragon’ and His Return in 2009 – Ricky Steamboat is among a rare list of men who had a full career, yet still ended up retiring early due to injuries. He’s obviously known for his WWE run in the 80’s where he topped off his career at WrestleMania 3, but had a much more impressive run in WCW. He opted to return to WCW in 1991 and recounted the decision why, saying;
I don’t know if there was politics involved, I really don’t. If I remember, I think they dropped the name ‘Ricky Steamboat’ and they announced me as ‘The Dragon’. I had this new outfit, this dragon outfit, I’m blowing fire in the ring, so the company came to me and said, ‘we want to start from scratch and repackage you and do it that way.’ I started right off with this character-type guy and blowing fire from the get-go. I understood, to me, however I started out, I knew that I would get my work over or get the character over, and, unfortunately, I think it was [1991] when nine or 10 months had gone by and I was still in that slot of below the main event card type guy. And I just felt, ‘I’m doing everything I can and it looks as though maybe in their eyes it’s not getting me there.’ For my business, for Ricky Steamboat, that’s when I moved on and went back to WCW. It was the repackaging profile that I remember correctly.
He also talked about his decision to return for one night and how that lead to more than just a one-off, continuing on;
At that time I was older and I had that match with Jericho at WrestleMania 25 with [Jimmy] Snuka and [Roddy] Piper, a few moments in that match, I knew I had lost a step and it was just mother nature and age. I knew it. The fans, a lot of them said, ‘you haven’t lost a step,’ but I knew it. And then, three weeks later, unbeknownst to me, I got a single’s match with Jericho at Backlash. Vince was so impressed with the way I was carrying myself at WrestleMania 25, and I think Jericho too, that he went to Vince and said, ‘hey, I’d like to work a single’s match with Ricky,’ and without a hesitation, the next thing you know, I’m on Backlash. And then, we went overseas, on a tour and I was one of the road agents at the time, and working every night with Jericho, we came back to the States and in the States, every night, I was working with Jericho. And that one match at WrestleMania 25 ended up being 20 matches with Chris!” Steamboat noted, “that was never set before WrestleMania 25. It was only because of my showing that that developed and I was like a kid in a candy store, back again working just like one of the boys, like one of the boys every night and having some really good matches.
Top WWE Star Re-Signs With Company – Top WWE wrestler, Kevin Owens, has recently announced that he re-signed with the WWE with a five year deal. The contract’s details weren’t shared, obviously. Owens was being interviewed by a French-Canadian outlet called TVA Sports’s Pat Laprade. Here’s what Owen said, translated from French to English;
Hopefully I do not see why I will not finish my career with WWE. I just recently signed a new five-year contract with them. I do not intend to go anywhere my contract will end. If the WWE wants to continue, if I want to continue and my family is ready for me to continue, I do not see why it would not happen.
Quick Hits – WWE has reported that Alexa Bliss suffered a shoulder injury last night in her match with Nia Jax. No more updates are available as of yet. WWE is contemplating doing a second season of ‘Holy Foly!’ on the Network. Rey Mysterio is expected to make his return to New Japan Pro Wrestling at Dominion on June 9th. The WWE have brought in Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke, both former MMA fighters in their own rights, and along with Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler made up the MMA version of the Four Horsewomen.