A mainstay in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling for eight glorious years, Ricky Steamboat personified what it was to be the consummate “good guy” both inside and outside the ring. From early 1977 through early 1985, fans of Jim Crockett Promotions in the Carolinas and Virginia could always count on Ricky to valiantly battle, and usually slay, the wrestling giants that roamed the heel side of the talent rich Mid-Atlantic Wrestling roster. Steamboat’s most famous Mid-Atlantic rival, the boisterous “Nature Boy” Ric Flair was the perfect foil for Ricky’s unassuming and unpretentious character. But there were times when Flair aligned himself with the forces of good, and he and Steamboat became a formidable tag team combination to the fans’ delight. Later during the Mid-Atlantic era and beyond, Ric Flair ruled the roost as the NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion and he and Ricky had memorable bouts over wrestling’s most prestigious title. On February 20, 1989, “Steamer” realized his dream of becoming NWA World Champion by beating Flair, and the three match series between Steamboat and Flair at that time is widely viewed as the greatest championship trilogy in professional wrestling history.
Exciting news came out recently that Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair would be doing a Mid-Atlantic reunion tour of sorts in the fall of 2016, retracing their steps in the Carolinas in a rare series of joint appearances. Big Time Wrestling sponsored mega events in
Morganton, North Carolina on September 22nd, Raleigh, North Carolina on September 23rd and Spartanburg, South Carolina on September 24th will feature the homecoming of Steamboat and Flair, along with a cavalcade of other wrestling stars from today and yesteryear.
On the eve of Ricky Steamboat once again “teaming” with Ric Flair in the Carolinas, version 2016, the Mid-Atlantic Gateway had the privilege of chatting with Ricky about that upcoming reunion, the glory days of the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling promotion and assorted other topics. While Ricky Steamboat found success wherever he competed in professional wrestling, including being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009, he will always be considered a “Mid-Atlantic guy” by those fans who cut their wrestling teeth with big bites of Ricky Steamboat versus Ric Flair in the Mid-Atlantic area, in some of the greatest matches ever!
David Chappell: Hey Ricky, thanks so much for visiting the Mid-Atlantic Gateway today. Greetings from Richmond, Virginia!
Ricky Steamboat: Thank you David. Richmond Coliseum, we would go there every other week on a Friday night.
Chappell: Absolutely. Boy, I tell you what, those were just wonderful times. I don't think that magic has ever been recaptured.
I saw one of your very first matches in the Mid-Atlantic territory. It was actually at a spot show just outside of Richmond on March 4, 1977 at the Colonial Heights High School gym, and this new guy named Ricky Steamboat was wrestling Jacques Goulet. Of course, we had never heard of you. But after a couple of minutes with Goulet, it was pretty obvious you were going to be a big deal!
Steamboat: 1977 would be the year in which I did go to the Carolinas from Atlanta. In the early part of the year, I think it would be February or March of '77. I don't remember that match particularly, but I do remember Colonial Heights. I do remember Jacques Goulet. He was from Montreal, Canada. I think he was like a Sergeant.
Chappell: Yes, Sergeant Jacques Goulet! I thought he was excellent in the ring.
Speaking of being excellent in the ring, you actually wrestled excellently as recently as 2009 in the WWE and suffered a scary injury in that brief stint. Can you tell us a little about that, because I was never real clear what happened then.
Steamboat: The incident happened on Monday Night Raw through Nexus. They brought me out because they were introducing my DVD about Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, and his career. We had these guys come out. They had just come up from the WWE school and they were trying to create some heat; four of these young guys. I had my hand in with all of them, and helped with training them down there at the school. During that live event on Monday Night Raw, I ended up with what they call a subarachnoid hemorrhage. In other words, I got thrown down real hard, and I ended up with a brain bleed.
Chappell: Yeah, we were really worried about you. We'd hear stuff, obviously, well after you experienced it. It sounded really scary.
Steamboat: It was a bad situation for me because the doctor said they could not do anything for it, it either had to stop on its own, or if it continued, the pressure would kill me. It was down inside my brain. They said unlike an aneurysm, which is mostly a surface bleed, to relieve the pressure they would drill a little hole in your skull and let it bleed out. The problem with mine was that they couldn't get to it. I was in intensive care for almost a month, which I didn't think anything about it at the time because I was so drugged up on the pain medicine because of the pressure in my head. Being in intensive care for almost a month, the doctors say was a very long time.
Most people go to intensive care, they're there for three or four days and then after that, they get moved up to the next level.
Chappell: Exactly.
Steamboat: I was in there for almost a month. It was a bit hard for me.
Chappell: I know it had to be, and everybody is just thankful that you were eventually okay.
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But on a happier note, how great is it that you and your top Mid-Atlantic rival Ric Flair are going to be making joint appearances in the Carolinas in just a few days? Wouldn’t you love to get in the ring and wrestle him just one more time?!
Steamboat: I would really love to get in the ring with Flair, but the doctor told me my head's been traumatized too many times throughout my career, chairs and 2x4's, and DDT's on the cement floor from Jake Roberts!
Chappell: (laughs) Okay, I guess it’s understandable why it’s not going to be a physical deal! But how do you feel about just getting together with Ric again and hitting these old Crockett towns together?
Steamboat: This is such a great pleasure for me, and I also know it is for him. Even during our heyday, in the 70s and 80s when we campaigned through the Carolinas and Virginias, we had a lot of respect for each other when it comes to being a professional person in the ring. People ask about were you guys friends, and I would say yes, but we never hung out.
Chappell: You really couldn't hang out in those days could you?
Steamboat: Yeah, kayfabing was the number one deal. Even to invite one over to one's house to have dinner in a private way never took place. Our lifestyles were totally different. What you saw of me was the way I was. What you saw of him, the flamboyant guy was the way he was. To get together now is great; we have a show in Raleigh and we also have one in Spartanburg. To get together with Ric Flair, it is so rewarding for me on a personal basis. I also want to tell the fans this does not happen too often.
Chappell: That's true, very true. I think that's the great part of these upcoming events, Ricky. I don't remember… I'm sure you probably made a joint appearance or two with Flair after your in-ring days, but it certainly is not commonplace.
Steamboat: Let me say this. I actually retired in '94, so I've been out a little over 20 years. Both Flair and I have been doing these appearance gigs during this time. I'm going to be very honest with all my fans out there; we have been together on two other occasions for autograph signings in the past 20 years.
Chappell: Wow, I didn't know it was that limited.
Steamboat: Between the two of us, I know we have done hundreds and hundreds of appearances around the country. For us to get together on the same date in the same town, to sit side by side with each other is very, very rare. I'm pretty excited about it.
Chappell: And at the Raleigh and Spartanburg events, the fans will have the option to do a photo op with both of you together with the “big gold belt” as a prop!
Steamboat: Yeah, that's very rare to get our autographs, but at the same time get a picture with us with the World Championship. It's a very rare moment. The fans coming away at the end of the day with that, being able to put it in a photo album or frame it and put it up on the wall is very, very rare. The fans that are going to be able to do that, I'm not going to say will be very lucky, but I think will be very fortunate. I couldn't tell you when the next time the two of us will be able to hook up and do this again.
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Chappell: I think that's well-said.
You've already hit on a couple of things I wanted to touch on with you, kind of reading my mind on these. You talked about not really being able to hang out with Ric much during the Mid-Atlantic days. I sort of divide you two in the Mid-Atlantic era between the early days when you were the babyface, which of course you always were, and Ric was the heel. Later, and I remember this really well, because one of the first big matches when Ric turned babyface, you all teamed up in Richmond. I don't think there were ever more people trying to get into that building, the Coliseum, than when you all unexpectedly teamed up. Do you have any thoughts of when you two were feuding over the U.S. belt when he was the heel, and then later when Flair became a babyface as well, and that dynamic? Do you have any particular recollections of those two time frames?
Now this is something we can all agree on, regardless of our own personal political leanings:
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