Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Ricky Steamboat – The Life Story of the Dragon – Disc 3

WCW Clash of the Champions
April 2, 1989

Ricky Steamboat© vs. Ric Flair [NWA World Heavyweight Championship]

This was the middle chapter in their legendary trio of 1989 matches. Steamboat had won the title in the first leg of the trilogy. They are having a two out of three falls match here.

The first fall featured them going back and forth for a while. Steamboat managed to get control, and he got a number of nearfalls. Flair could not get anything going for the longest time. Flair finally managed to come back, but Steamboat roared back with a series of chops that had Flair reeling. Steamboat went for a splash, but Flair got his knees up. Flair worked him over after that. Steamboat got a small package, but Flair reversed it into one of his own: 1…2…3! Flair is up one fall to none.

Flair was in control at the start of the second fall. Steamboat came back and relentlessly went after the left leg of Flair. Steamboat got a Boston Crab, but Flair managed to get to the ropes. They ended up on the floor, and Flair powerslammed him onto the mat. Steamboat came back and got a double chickenwing. Flair tapped out! They each have a fall.

Flair must have a bad back by now. Flair came back by going after the left leg of Steamboat. Steamboat caught him with a huge chop that dropped Flair on the apron. Flair tried to use the ropes for pinning combinations, but Steamboat always managed to get his shoulders up. Flair went after the injured leg some more. Flair got the figure four. Steamboat survived, but Flair hit a diving crossbody for a nearfall. Steamboat came back with diving crossbody of his own for a nearfall. Flair got a sleeper. Steamboat escaped, but Flair took out the injured leg. Steamboat caught him with an enzuigiri for a nearfall. They went back and forth some more. Steamboat got Flair in the double chickenwing again! They fell backwards though, and it looked like a double pin: 1…2…3! Who won? The referee called it for Steamboat.

This is a great middle chapter in this trilogy. It was essentially a way of doing a draw while still giving the match a finish. That being said, the shady finish knocks this one down a bit for me compared to their first match in the trilogy. Generally, I’m not a fan of main events and world title matches having finishes that are just designed to solely set up another match. Within the context of their rivalry, this is The Two Towers of their story. It had a finish, but not really. You have to watch a whole other movie to get the finish to the whole story. The match itself really does a great job of balancing physicality, exciting action, and selling the physical/mental struggle of a long world title match. You can really see how much these two grew as performers in the five years after their bore of a 60 minute match on Disc 2 of this set.

Match Rating: ****1/2

 

WCW Great American Bash
July 23, 1989

Lex Luger(c) vs. Ricky Steamboat [United States Heavyweight Championship]

The match was originally supposed to be No DQ, but Luger refused to wrestle until that stip was taken away.

It was all Steamboat early on until Luger caught him with a knee strike. They proceeded to execute the Steamboat formula very well. Luger was mostly in control, but Steamboat would sporadically have a flurry of offense to give the fans hope. Steamboat was building momentum but then got back back body dropped into the second ring (War Games). Luger went to use a chair but Steamboat caused Luger to crash headfirst into it. Steamboat was sick of Luger’s shit and then used the chair on Luger! He got DQed.

This was Steamboat formula executed about as well as it could be. Luger was on a tear at this time, and Steamboat probably brought the best out of his heel side in the ring. Steamboat looked to be at the peak of his powers here, as the timing and the crispness of everything he did was just untouchable. I love this match. The finish was fine for the feud, but a clean finish really puts this over the top as a great match.

Match Rating: ****

 

WCW Clash of the Champions
November 19, 1991

The Enforcers(c) (Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko) vs. Dustin Rhodes & Ricky Steamboat (w/ Barry Windham)

Steamboat was the surprise replacement for the injured Windham. Anderson and Larry sold this news as if Thor came down to Earth as Dustin’s partner. It was grand. Arn looked at his belt as if it would be the last time he would ever see it. SO great.

The babyfaces had full control early on. The champs almost had Dustin cut off at one point, but Dustin made his own comeback. The champs finally cut off Ricky by playing the numbers game, and they then worked him over. After barely surviving the beatdown, Steamboat made it back to his corner. Dustin made a hot comeback. Steamboat foolishly tagged back in after thirty seconds or so. He almost immediately hit a diving crossbody on Arn: 1…2…3!

This was a fascinating match that undeniably got the live crowd red hot. As far as a return match for Steamboat, I don’t know what else you can ask for. He came off like a star (and the dragon costume could have backfired big time). He looked like he had not lost a step. He wrestled the majority of the match and kept the crowd engaged throughout a lengthy heat segment. You really couldn’t ask for anything more in that regard.

I found the ending to be a bit bizarre to be honest, and it distracted me a fair amount as the match ended. After taking this hellacious beatdown for a very long period of time, he tags back in and gets the victory within thirty seconds. Now do not get me wrong, this finish undeniably worked with the crowd. It got a HUGE reaction. The crowd wanted to watch Ricky win the belts. It just seemed so out of place for him to tag in so quickly after I saw him get destroyed for a very long time. It didn’t make me dislike the match in any way. In fact, I still easily consider it great. Hopefully, I’ll just be able to take a look at it again down the line to see how great it is.

Match Rating: ****

 

WCW Beach Blast
June 20, 1992

Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude [Iron Man]

The wrestler who gets the most falls in thirty minutes wins the match.

Rude could get nothing going early on. At around the eight minute mark, Rude caught Steamboat with a knee to the jaw. Rude promptly pinned him and got the first fall. Wow. Such an odd fall. Steamboat got almost all the offense, but Rude picked up the fall.
Rude: 1
Ricky: 0

Rude was in control to start the second fall. He quickly hit the Rude Awakening: 1…2…3
Rude: 2
Ricky: 0

Rude was obviously in control to start the third fall. He hit a diving knee from the top rope and got disqualified for that. Derpa derp, Bill Watts.
Rude: 2
Ricky: 1

Rude pinned him right away: 1…2…3
Rude: 3
Ricky: 1

Rude’s ribs were hurting, but he remained in control to start the fifth fall. Steamboat was fighting back more during this fall than the previous few though. Rude called for a tombstone, but Steamboat managed to reverse it into a tombstone of his own: 1…2…3!!!
Rude: 3
Ricky: 2

Twelve minutes left. Steamboat hit a superplex and then pinned Rude with a backslide: 1…2…3!
Rude: 3
Ricky: 3

Fewer than ten minutes left. Rude quickly hit a chinbreaker and then worked Steamboat over. Steamboat managed to avoid the Rude Awakening though and hit one of his own: 1…2…leg on the ropes! Rude came back with a sleeper. Working to the hardcam was not a concept at this time. He had it for a very long time. He got Steamboat down to the mat. This sleeper spot was the final few minutes of the match. Steamboat eventually pushed off the turnbuckle to pin Rude: 1…2…3!!!
Rude: 3
Ricky: 4

Rude desperately tried to even things up with pinning combinations, but Steamboat survived!

This was a great match that was helped tremendously by how unique it was laid out and for taking advantage of the Iron Man stipulation to create drama down the stretch. They were smart to put ego aside and do lots of falls throughout the match. It kept the fans interested, and it made it seem genuinely possible that Steamboat would not have enough time to come back. Steamboat winning the match could have made Rude look like a dork for giving up that kind of lead, but they managed to get Ricky back into the match in a believable way that made Rude look strong. In fact, you could argue that Rude look like the better athlete by the end of it as he seemed less worn down. Ricky was just smarter today. Great match.

Match Rating: ****

 

WCW Clash of the Champions
September 2, 1992

Steve Austin(c) vs. Ricky Steamboat [No DQ match for the WCW Television Championship]

There was not much heat to this one or anything special going on in the ring. Steamboat had control early on. Austin cut him off and worked him over for a while. He targeted Steamboat’s midsection. Steamboat progressively fought back more and more until he hit a tombstone for a nearfall. Austin was staying in it though, and Steamboat ended up crawling through the bottom of the ring and then hitting a diving crossbody: 1…2…3

This was solid, if unspectacular, stuff. Austin’s WCW run was often that for me. He was miscast as the technical wizard/Flair ripoff, and I feel that way pretty much every time that I watch him. Steamboat seemed to work down to his level here too, which obviously did not help matters.

Match Rating: ***

 

WWE Backlash
April 26, 2009

Ricky Steamboat vs. Chris Jericho

Steamboat looked good enough at Wrestlemania that he got two more televised matches out of it. This was the second one and the only singles match. He even dyed his hair black for the occasion.

Steamboat had a ton of success early on. He even hit a pescado. Jericho managed to cut him off of course though and worked him over for a while. Steamboat finally came back after hitting back superplex. Jericho came back faster than I expected. Steamboat escaped the Walls and then completely forgot how to apply the figure four in the only moment of the match where he looked truly old. He later hit a diving crossbody for a nearfall. Steamboat then dove off the middle rope but ate a Codebreaker. Steamboat got one final great nearfall with a small package before falling victim to the Walls of Jericho.

This was probably as good of a singles match that Steamboat could have had in 2009. Steamboat looked pretty sharp here beyond that figure four flub, and it was interesting to see him work a more traditional WWE style as opposed to his style of match. While I obviously appreciate his desire to put his health first, I do wish we got more matches from him from 1994 until 2009.

Match Rating: ***1/4

 

Watch Ricky Steamboat vs. Greg Valentine for free!

8.5

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

This set is great solely because of the matches. Nearly every single match works very well and a fair amount of them are great. The match consistency is so great that I could not help but wish this set had three discs of matches instead of doing a documentary on a super nice guy who was not involved in many controversial issues. Pick up this set if you are not familiar with the majority of these matches.