"The Dragon" talks everything pro wrestling.
Last night, WWE Hall Of Famer Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat was a special guest referee for the 'PCW Ultra World LHW Championship' match between Shane Strickland and Douglas James at PCW's 'May The 4th' event. Prior to the show Steamboat spoke with SportsKeeda in a two-part interview as he weighed in on today's pro wrestling landscape and went over his tenure in the business.
In 2009, shortly after being announced as an inductee into that year's WWE Hall Of Fame class Steamboat become involved in in-ring action again. Fast forward a few months later and he was competing against the former nine-time WWE Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho in a one-on-one bout at the 2009 'Backlash' PPV. Steamboat praised Y2J stating that he considers Jericho to be one of the best workers in the business.
"I enjoyed working with him in the ring and consider him one of the top workers in our business. Basically, I'm saying that because he understands the psychology of a match. What you do when you do it and why. Being able to go out there and tell a story." Steamboat shared. "At the same time, he was able to make me look good and take care of me. He made me look like I was still a competitor. Prior to my match with Jericho, being very active with the company and Jericho being full-time with the company I was able to watch him with a number of other guys."
The former WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion recently returned to in-ring competition in March for the first time in eight years. After tallying up nearly 36 years in the sport Steamboat has seen a number of performers come through the business but when asked what current talents reminds him of himself, he stated the names of three former WWE Champions.
"That's hard to say. I remember Seth Rollins when he first came to the training school. When you used to talk to Seth and you knew that he understood what we were trying to say. There were wrestlers who would nod their heads like they would understand but you knew that he hasn't got a clue of what you're trying to teach or what you're trying to describe to him. Rollins to me always had it." He said. "Another one is Roman. He needs to work a bit on his speaking skills, but I do like the way he works in the ring. I'll tell you another guy that totally gets it. After experimenting with three characters before the last one took hold, Bray Wyatt is great. He is great when he's talking. A lot of the young talents today ask me how would we get a heads up in the business. Today, it's to find that character. If you're a C+ worker in the ring but your character on the mic is what captivates the audience...we can teach you the physicality part of it in the ring, but it's the character that the fans gravitate to. They like the character whether it's a good guy or bad guy. The Undertaker to me is the greatest character of all time. You have to find what makes you different from the guy you're standing next to. Understand that the physicality can be taught, but the character is something special."
Ricky Steamboat mentioned Roman Reigns and gave his take on why "The Big Dog" has not been able to establish a connection with the fans and attributed a part of that to Roman being placed in the shadows of his cousin Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson from the start of his career.
"I think in the very, very beginning, he almost appeared like a shadow of The Rock. Maybe that started the ball rolling on him being disliked by fans." Steamboat expressed. "Whether you are liked or disliked, either/or is required to make a match. You got guys that are booed and you got guys that are cheered. You hook the two of them up and there's the match. It's just a matter of time before something happens. Something special on TV or on pay-per-view and Roman Reigns is going to be cheered. The longer he is booed, when they make the switch, the better off he'll be."
Ricky Steamboat also spoke on if he believed that 'Stunning Steve Austin' would become a major player in the business, spoke on how he came to working with 'PCW Ultra', and more. To read more of the comments from "The Dragon", click here.
