Ricky Steamboat Explains Why He’s Wrestling Again

Ricky Steamboat will be wrestling his first match in twelve years on November 27th…at age 69.

Considered one of the best in-ring competitors in American wrestling history, Ricky Steamboat had several matches that have withstood the test of time. WWE fans may still recall his iconic match with Randy Savage at WrestleMania III, while NWA fans still discuss at length his fabled series with Ric Flair in 1989.

This Sunday, November 27th at Big Time Wrestling’s Return of the Dragon event, Steamboat will team up with FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) to face Jay Lethal, Brock Anderson, and a mystery partner.

Ricky Steamboat spoke with WrestlingInc about his decision to wrestle again and explained what he’s been doing to prepare for the match. He noted that he has been training at a wrestling school run by Tom Prichard and Glenn ‘Kane’ Jacobs outside Knoxville to get into proper form.

“This took almost four months for me to make a decision. It was very difficult. And before I could give a final, this past month or so, I’ve been… Glenn Jacobs (aka Kane), that name ring any bells And Tom Prichard, they have a wrestling school outside of Knoxville… So for the past month or so, I’ve been venturing down to that school once or twice a week just to get some back. But I learned more so on my limitations.”

As for why he’s doing this, Ricky Steamboat noted that it was due to a combination of missing Flair’s last match and due to the fact that Raleigh, North Carolina has a special place in his heart:

“So Raleigh holds a very dear and close wrestling memory out of all the places that I’ve been. You could go with me and Savage at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, at WrestleMania III. But that match, it wasn’t filmed, it wasn’t televised, it was just what you call a regular house show match.

But what a night it was for me to be in the ring with the champion and then go 60 minutes and hold my own with him.

So for that very reason, and a big thanks to all the fans in Raleigh that have come out over the years to support Mid-Atlantic. Jim Crockett was the promoter and I was there from ’77 to ’85. So eight years of being in one territory back in the day was a pretty good stretch.”

Ricky Steamboat was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.