Weight: 235 lbs.

Finishing Maneuver(s): Flying Body Press

In the fickle world of pro wrestling, attention spans are short, and stagnation is the key to damnation. In order to keep the fans' attention, many wrestlers try outlandish gimmicks, create a flamboyant appearance, or repeatedly switch from "bad guy" to "good guy," or sometimes all three! Few wrestlers are able to maintain one identity or persona throughout their entire career without making the jump to "the other side of the fence," be it as either a heel or a face. Usually, the ones that do are very special wrestlers. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat is one of those unique competitors.

Steamboat began his career in 1976 in the Mid-Atlantic region of the country. During those early years he also competed occasionally in Florida, however NWA Mid-Atlantic region was Steamboat's main base of operations. He burst upon the scene, and on June 25, 1977 he scored an upset win over Rookie Of The Year and NWA Mid-Atlantic TV Champion Ric Flair in an exciting altercation that began one of wrestling's greatest and longest-running feuds ever.

Steamboat went on to hold the NWA Mid-Atlantic TV Title for four months before being defeated. The loss was less painful to Steamboat because of the fact the he and Paul Jones had just teamed to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team title by defeating the young and vicious team of Ric Flair and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. Steamboat, along with Ric Flair, was arguably the hottest young star in wrestling during 1977, and he also defeated his nemesis Flair for the prestigious U.S. Heavyweight title. However, though 1977 is considered a breakout year for Steamboat, 1978 was even better.

Steamboat and Jones, the Mid-Atlantic Tag champs, won the NWA World Tag Team titles by winning a 10-team tournament. The team was forced to vacate the Mid-Atlantic Tag title due to winning the World Tag title. Steamboat and Jones became one of the top teams in the sport and defended their belts with frequency, but Jones eventually became jealous of the young and good looking Steamboat, and all of the attention he received. He eventually turned violently on Steamboat, and the two former partners engaged in a series of grudge matches, with Steamboat clearly coming out on top of the feud. Once he had disposed of Jones, Steamboat once again turned his attention to arch-rival Ric Flair. He defeated Flair for the US championship. However, as time would tell, Flair and Steamboat were very evenly matched opponents - and Flair defeated Steamboat to regain his US Heavyweight championship.

Success continued to follow the popular young Hawaiian star everywhere he went. Steamboat would bounce back from a loss by simply winning another title...and on October 23, 1979, Steamboat and "Chief" Jay Youngblood teamed to win their first of five NWA World Tag Team championships.

In 1980, Steamboat won the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight title by defeating Hussein Arab (later known as the Iron Sheik), and he would go on to hold the title for nearly an entire year before losing to Ivan Koloff. He also formed a team with young Canadian superstar Dino Bravo, and the duo won the Mid Atlantic Tag Team title. In 1981, Steamboat defeated Ivan Koloff to regain his Mid Atlantic Heavyweight title.

But in 1983, Steamboat announced that he was going to retire from the sport of wrestling, and the NWA World Tag Team title was vacated. The young, fast, talented, and extremely popular duo would never team again, as Youngblood tragically died a short time later. Steamboat retired, he said at the time, to spend more time with his wife and young son. His legions of fans were crushed, but Steamboat had made up his mind. He kept his word, and Rick Steamboat disappeared from the world of wrestling.

That is, until he showed up in the World Wrestling Federation in 1985. Upon his entrance into the WWF, Rick Steamboat was billed as Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. But just as in the NWA, Steamboat again continued his winning ways and was among the premier wrestlers in the WWF. He had violent, intense feuds with fellow Hawaiian "Magnificent" Don Muraco and Jake "the Snake" Roberts, as well as "Macho Man" Randy Savage. In fact, it was against Savage that Steamboat wrestled in what some still claim is the greatest match in Wrestlemania history to win the WWF Intercontinental title. But after years of working for a title in the WWF, Steamboat was defeated less than three months later in a very controversial match against the far less competent Honky Tonk Man. Soon after, Steamboat once again disappeared from the world of wrestling.

Then in 1989, Eddie Gilbert announced that he would have a surprise partner to face Horsemen Ric Flair and Barry Windham on NWA television the following week. Flair was unimpressed though, and was not expecting much of a surprise when from out of nowhere, Rick Steamboat, Flair's greatest enemy, appeared on TBS and actually pinned NWA champion Flair in front of the whole nation. Forced into a match by the NWA Board Of Directors, Flair lost his prized NWA World Heavyweight title to Steamboat. Steamboat held onto the title in a series of rematches against Flair, and defended his NWA World title against other top wrestlers. But Flair, as always, regained his belt by defeating Steamboat in 1989. Steamboat once again disappeared from the wrestling world soon after his loss.

After a fairly long period of time away from the sport, he again reappeared in the WWF in the early 1990's. However, unlike during his previous WWF tenure, Steamboat was now relegated to mid-card matches and feuds. He was billed only as "The Dragon," and had a pre-match ritual that saw him "breathe fire." This wasn't satisfactory to Steamboat, who was truly one of wrestling's elite names, and after a rather bland run of being misused in the WWF, he once again left the Federation.

Rick reappeared in WCW, once again in a dramatic and unexpected fashion, as Dustin Rhodes' "mystery partner" when Barry Windham (Rhodes' original partner) was injured by The Enforcers, Arn Anderson and Larry Zbysko. Rhodes and Steamboat won the WCW World Tag Team titles that night, and would have a successful run as champions. A short time later, he would also win the WCW World TV title by defeating "Stunning" Steve Austin on September 2, 1992. Steamboat then teamed with Shane Douglas, and the duo went on to win the WCW World Tag Team titles. The team held the belts for four months before losing to The Hollywood Blondes, Austin & Brian Pillman.

On August 18, 1993, "The Dragon" once again won a major championship, this time the WCW World TV title by defeating "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. Steamboat defended his World TV title against all comers, and was a very successful TV champion. Then in 1994, Steamboat won his fourth U.S. Heavyweight title by defeating "Stunning" Steve Austin for the belt. Steamboat held the prestigious title until September 18, 1994, when he vacated the title do to his inability to defend it after sustaining a severe injury. It was the last title Rick Steamboat ever held. His injury was bad enough to force him to again retire from wrestling, this time for good.

Title Summary:

NWA World Tag-Team Champion w/ Paul Jones
NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag-Team Champion w/ Paul Jones (2)
NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Champion (2)
NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion(2)
NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag-Team Champion w/ Jay Youngblood
NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag-Team Champion w/ Dino Bravo
NWA World Tag-Team Champion w/ Jay Youngblood (5)
NWA United States Heavyweight Champion (3)
WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion
NWA World Heavyweight Champion
WCW World Tag-Team Champion w/ Dustin Rhodes
WCW World Tag-Team Champion w/ Shane Douglas
WCW World Television Champion (2)
WCW United States Heavyweight Champion