Ricky Steamboat made a return to Norfolk, VA recently in an appearance for Big Time Wrestling at the Norfolk Scope.
Prior to the event Eric Stace and Eddie Cheslock met Ricky in front of the famous Scope Coliseum, site of so many great Mid-Atlantic Wrestling events over the years, including yearly cards on Thanksgiving night in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. They took some photographs of the former NWA world champion with a replica of the belt he wore in 1989.
Thanks to those guys for allowing us to post this great photograph here on the Gateway. Thanks also to promoter Tony Hunter who helped make all that possible.
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| Ricky Steamboat with the book "United States Championship" |
Also, our buddy George South had a chance to spend some time with Ricky before the Norfolk event and show him our new book on the United States Championship. He posted some comments about that on his website. George reports that Ricky loved the book and asked for a copy, which you just better believe is on the way soon. (You kidding me?)
George wrote:
We spent 30 minutes talking about the U.S. belt! He remembered that "heavyweight" was misspelled on the belt and loved seeing all those photos of it again. He marked out a little remembering working with Buddy Rogers in one of the U.S. tournaments. And got mad that Slaughter put new leather on the black belt! haha
Steamboat held the U.S. championship on several occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, trading the title with the likes of Ric Flair, Blackjack Mulligan, Wahoo McDaniel, and Dick Slater.
For more information on the book about Jim Crockett's United States Championship and the five belts that represented it, click here.
Originally published in November 2015 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.