Ricky Steamboat Discusses How He Got His Ring Name, Initial Reaction From Crowds

Ricky Steamboat is one of the most well-known names in wrestling history, and the WWE Hall of Famer discussed the origin of the name recently. Steamboat originally worked under his birth name of Richard Blood and talked on Stories With Brisco & Bradshaw about how Eddie Graham gave him a new name because he didn’t think it fit a babyface. You can check out the highlights below:

On getting renamed by Eddie Graham: “When I came down to Florida in 1976, I walked into the office and Eddie Graham said, ‘I remember you, kid. When you were in high school, you wrestled Mike.’ He says, ‘Rick Blood is a great wrestling name. But that’s for heels. Blood, that’s for heels.’ He said, ‘I’d like to call you Ricky Steamboat. We had a guy here in the late ’60s and through the early ’70s, that campaigned here. His name was Sammy Steamboat, he was from Hawaii. And I’m going to start putting your name out there, but I’m not going to call you his son. I’m going to start listing you as a nephew. You’re the nephew of Sammy Steamboat.”

On the reaction to the name change: “I’m in the ring, I’m in the corner. They’re doing old school announcing in the middle of the ring with the mic. And he announces, ‘Lades and Gentlemen, we have a substitute this evening! Taking the place of Dick Blood — give it up for the nephew of the great Sammy Steamboat, Ricky Steamboat!’ And the crowd jumped out of the seats. I went like, ‘Holy moly, what the–?’ Prior to that, whenever they announced Dick Blood, when I worked with Verne up in Minneapolis, I’d get beaten in two to three minutes and I’d get a couple of claps out of the house. But then when I went to Florida, just because of the name change. The fans, they must’ve loved Sammy dearly because they jumped outta their seats.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Stories With Brisco And Bradshaw with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.