Jim Ross Talks WCW Letting Ricky Steamboat Go in 1989, Why It Was a Mistake

– Jim Ross discussed WCW allowing Ricky Steamboat to leave the company following the 1989 Great American Bash on the latest Grilling JR. Steamboat had returned to the NWA at WCW in January of 1989 and had a memorable feud with Ric Flair that resulted in three classic matches, followed by a feud with Lex Luger. The two would face off at Great American Bash in what would be Steamboat’s last match for the company at the time; he would leave WCW due to a contract dispute.

Highlights from the discussion, and the full podcast, are below:

On letting Steamboat go: “Well, it was a bad move by us. And I say us, I was there. I wasn’t negotiating contracts. If I had been negotiating contracts, he would not have left. I would not have let that happen if I could have. He’s a class act, is Ricky; still is. Hall of Fame guy, legit. As good a worker as I ever called a match for, I can promise you that. And he is also great in the locker room. Classy, professional, took time to help the younger talents. A lot of things that you don’t see on television that’s important to know is there. So it was just a, we needed — you want to keep quality in your locker room, whether it just be working and as a human being, a professional. And that’s what Ricky was.”

On why it was a mistake to him: “That was a big issue to me, was Ricky escaping. Because he had that — remember, he’s coming off three of the matches in the history of the company with Ric, those three matches in ’89. And he got himself back on the mat. He got two big wins over Ric, then finally loses it in Wrestle War, and that facilitated the angle with Terry [Funk] and the piledriver on the chair. But Ricky Steamboat was not damaged goods. He was simply, they didn’t want to pay him what he believed he was worth. And I believe that situation could have been rectified by communicating. God almighty, just communicate with these talents! It’s always us against them, and ‘Oh boy, we’ve got the budget.’ Bulls**t. So somebody didn’t want Steamboat to be around, because he understood the business and he’s always gonna get over because he’s so damned good at what he does. So I thought that was a big mistake, I thought that was not a smart move on our behalf. Because any time you can get a Ricky Steamboat in your locker room and on your team, you do it.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.