How high do you rank Ricky Steamboat as an in ring performer?

StoneCold91 · 10-27-2009, 03:28 PM

I think the guy is absolutely awesome. Im rewatching some of his stuff today and im blown away, I havent seen a bad match yet. His Iron Man match with Rude was incredible (and blows away the Michaels/Hart) one, his matches against Austin, Pillman, Rhodes, Vader and Muta are all brilliant. His selling was top notch, and his versatility

horrorfan_1986 · 10-27-2009, 03:41 PM

He's easily one of the greatest of all time (Aka within the past 30 or so years). He's quite possibly the best seller I've ever seen. He was able to add more story to a match through his facial expression while selling than most could do over the course of an entire match. This is one of the very few guys that left, albeit forced by injury, to retire while still being one of the best. What makes it even better is the fact that he wasn't even in his prime in 1994, yet he still was putting on MOTYC's. His brief return this year proved that despite not wrestling in over a decade, he could still put on a performance better than most current wrestlers.

What's also is impressive is how he brought out the best in young wrestlers while they were still trying to break out. Wrestlers like Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Dustin Rhodes and others. Due to the fact that he had most of his success outside of the WWE and not in the main event, he's not going to be remembered as being bigger and better than the likes of Shawn Michaels by most fans. How I see it, Michaels on his best day wasn't in Steamboat's league. Considering how good Michaels could be when he tried, that's a big statement.

Steamboat's one of the best and it's why overtime he became one of my favorite wrestlers ever and currently my only favorite wrestler alive.

StoneCold91 · 10-27-2009, 03:44 PM

I agree, also his matches are timeless, you could watch Savage/Steamboat today and still not get bored, and know that it puts most matches today to shame. What did you think of his series of matches with Vader?

King Steventon · 10-27-2009, 04:47 PM

Not the best ever, but up there. Tremendous resume, the matches against Flair, Rude, Funk and the rest of the Dangerous Alliance amongst others are classics. Post-retirement only adds to his legacy with the ROH Punk angle and his brief comeback this year.

A few strikes against him. Flair always refers to him as "the best babyface ever" as opposed to "best wrestler ever" because he never played heel - a fair point. I think variety and diversity is important and a better arguement than "he never had to". Not that being the best babyface ever is knock, of course. Having a lot of his career in the 70's and 80's also means he suffers the same way a lot of guys do - lack of footage. There could be a dosen of classics he's had only a few have seen, just like there could be times he has stunk up the joint which have gone un-noticed.

Still, he was pretty excellent at everything he did. Great strikes, amazing seller, babyface charisma through the roof, a very smart wrestler with a lot of passion and he rocked on the mat to boot. The list of wrestlers better than him is short.

Sir Nicky Talent · 10-27-2009, 05:22 PM

Possibly in the top five. He helped groom a lot of talent by creating fantastic matches, as well as taking legends to the limit, such as Ron Bass, Randy Savage, Rick Rude. The rivarly with Ric Flair was intense, possibly my favorite competitive rivalry in pro wrestling history. Flair is right when he says best babyface ever.As said before, he might not be number one, but in terms of match quality and ability, he is in the top five. Hell, he put on good matches past his prime, even this year against Jericho.

Y 2 Jake · 10-28-2009, 07:05 AM

He had a hand full of classic matches, mostly always good ones, and hardly any bad ones, but he was fucking boring. The only time I found him intresting was when he dressed like a dragon.

Good babyface, or a bit wet, depending on how you look at it. At least Hogan acted like he knew how to party.

horrorfan_1986 · 10-29-2009, 01:57 PM

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Originally Posted by StoneCold91
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I agree, also his matches are timeless, you could watch Savage/Steamboat today and still not get bored, and know that it puts most matches today to shame. What did you think of his series of matches with Vader?

I'm embarrassed to say this, but I've never known he's had a series with Vader. Sounds like it could be some great matches though.

How high do you rank Ricky Steamboat as an in ring performer?

This is a discussion on How high do you rank Ricky Steamboat as an in ring performer? within the General Pro Wrestling : Classic & General forums, part of the Wrestling Forums category; I think the guy is absolutely awesome. Im rewatching some of his stuff today and im blown away, I havent ...