Happy birthday to WWE Hall of Famer, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, who turns 64 years old today.
Thirty years ago, Steamboat was involved in what many at the time considered the greatest match in wrestling history when he defeated Randy Macho Man Savage for the Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania 3.
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After winning his first championship and being positioned as one of the top babyfaces in the company, Steamboat quarreled with management over his schedule and end up leaving for NWA (soon to be called WCW), where he would compete in a feud against Nature Boy Ric Flair with matches that possibly even eclipsed his classic with Savage. The Dragon won the NWA World Championship before a contract dispute sent him back to the WWE where he would be repackaged simply as The Dragon. The fire breathing gimmick never quite caught fire with the WWE Universe as Steamboat failed to capture the same magic he left with in 1991.
Steamboat made his first retirement from wrestling in 1994.
In early 2005, Steamboat returned to WWE as a road agent and was introduced as a WWE Legend on the “Homecoming” edition of Raw in October 2005. Steamboat would enter the ring again for several matches in 2005, including a Wrestlemania and Backlash bout with Chris Jericho. Even after all the years out of the spotlight, The Dragon still looked amazing in the ring.
The Dragon was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009 and still works as an ambassador for the company.
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