1 00:00:03,042 --> 00:00:05,833 (birds chirping) 2 00:00:05,958 --> 00:00:06,875 - [Speaker] All righty, folks. 3 00:00:07,208 --> 00:00:09,917 It's time again to see your WWE superstar 4 00:00:10,042 --> 00:00:12,333 out here enjoying the golden years of life. 5 00:00:12,458 --> 00:00:14,375 Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, folks, 6 00:00:14,542 --> 00:00:17,833 going to make his second hit of the night. 7 00:00:17,958 --> 00:00:19,958 - It's just a big rush for me. 8 00:00:20,083 --> 00:00:22,500 I guess I'm adrenaline nutty. 9 00:00:24,917 --> 00:00:27,083 I almost get the same kind of feeling 10 00:00:27,250 --> 00:00:28,792 during a wrestling match, 11 00:00:28,917 --> 00:00:30,250 when you hear the crowd responding 12 00:00:30,417 --> 00:00:32,292 to what you're doing in the ring. 13 00:00:32,417 --> 00:00:34,667 You notice that adrenaline rush. 14 00:00:34,792 --> 00:00:37,167 This car, it's something for me to play with, and something 15 00:00:37,333 --> 00:00:41,708 that I've been familiar with for pretty much all my life. 16 00:00:41,833 --> 00:00:43,042 - [Speaker] Here we go, folks. 17 00:00:43,208 --> 00:00:46,083 (engine revving) 18 00:00:48,542 --> 00:00:50,750 - [Speaker] Standing ovation for The Dragon, 19 00:00:50,875 --> 00:00:52,375 Ricky Steamboat. 20 00:00:52,500 --> 00:00:55,042 And a dropkick right in the kisser. 21 00:00:55,167 --> 00:00:56,333 - He's just incredible in the ring, 22 00:00:56,625 --> 00:01:00,208 I remember watching him, and he impacted on first sight. 23 00:01:01,167 --> 00:01:03,833 - This is a John Lennon in our business. 24 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:05,750 This is a Muhammad Ali in our business. 25 00:01:05,875 --> 00:01:09,458 - He was a main-event guy through his whole career. 26 00:01:09,583 --> 00:01:11,042 There are no flaws. 27 00:01:11,167 --> 00:01:13,042 - Greatest (indistinct) of all time. 28 00:01:13,167 --> 00:01:15,000 - Ricky's matches were some of the best 29 00:01:15,208 --> 00:01:16,583 of the best ever to be recorded. 30 00:01:16,708 --> 00:01:17,875 - [Speaker] This is one of the greatest matches 31 00:01:18,042 --> 00:01:19,833 I've ever seen. 32 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,625 Steamboat, leaping. - That was my goal, 33 00:01:22,750 --> 00:01:25,250 to have the match of the night. 34 00:01:27,833 --> 00:01:30,083 I sacrificed so much. 35 00:01:30,250 --> 00:01:34,375 I would be gone a lot, be away from home a lot. 36 00:01:34,542 --> 00:01:37,500 The business was a different animal, being away so much, 37 00:01:37,708 --> 00:01:39,708 and it was hard on family. 38 00:01:41,708 --> 00:01:44,833 I kind of felt I need to do what I need to do now 39 00:01:44,958 --> 00:01:47,292 to help prepare myself for the future. 40 00:01:47,375 --> 00:01:49,000 - [Speaker] Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, 41 00:01:49,167 --> 00:01:51,583 the new heavyweight champion. 42 00:01:52,708 --> 00:01:55,500 - [Ricky] I always put my career at the top 43 00:01:55,625 --> 00:01:58,750 of what I wanted to be able to achieve. 44 00:02:00,208 --> 00:02:03,167 (Ricky sniffling) 45 00:02:03,292 --> 00:02:05,667 - He's a tough guy on the outside, 46 00:02:05,792 --> 00:02:08,875 but he's very tender-hearted. 47 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:10,125 - [Speaker] Ricky Steamboat, 48 00:02:10,500 --> 00:02:12,083 one of the most electrifying wrestlers ever to wrestle. 49 00:02:12,208 --> 00:02:14,208 Be one of the country. 50 00:02:14,375 --> 00:02:18,208 - [Announcer] Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat! 51 00:02:18,375 --> 00:02:22,750 - [Crowd] Steamboat, Steamboat, Steamboat, Steamboat. 52 00:02:24,625 --> 00:02:26,792 (soft music) 53 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:29,833 - Wrestling has given back to me as much 54 00:02:29,958 --> 00:02:31,333 as I've given into it. 55 00:02:31,458 --> 00:02:35,208 I had to take a moment and think about that. 56 00:02:36,542 --> 00:02:40,583 The sport has made it very difficult to have a normal life 57 00:02:40,708 --> 00:02:45,667 as you hope for, but that was a career in a life I chose. 58 00:02:46,375 --> 00:02:47,292 Yep. 59 00:02:47,375 --> 00:02:49,083 - [Speaker] Nice. - Okay, Dad. 60 00:02:49,208 --> 00:02:50,125 There you go. 61 00:02:52,250 --> 00:02:54,000 - [Ricky] In and out of the wrestling ring, 62 00:02:54,125 --> 00:02:56,458 I was known as the good guy. 63 00:02:57,750 --> 00:03:02,042 I think it's the values that my parents instilled in me. 64 00:03:02,208 --> 00:03:04,542 (crowd cheering) 65 00:03:04,708 --> 00:03:06,208 - [Speaker] The Japanese have accepted 66 00:03:06,333 --> 00:03:08,417 fully the surrender terms of the United Nations. 67 00:03:08,542 --> 00:03:10,542 This, ladies and gentlemen, is the end 68 00:03:10,708 --> 00:03:12,458 of the Second World War. 69 00:03:12,583 --> 00:03:15,542 (crowd cheering) 70 00:03:15,708 --> 00:03:17,458 (soft music) 71 00:03:17,625 --> 00:03:20,667 - My dad was in the army, I think 22 years. 72 00:03:20,833 --> 00:03:23,042 Being in the Army, military, 73 00:03:23,208 --> 00:03:26,125 and traveling all around the world, 74 00:03:26,292 --> 00:03:28,417 he met my mom in 1949-ish. 75 00:03:30,500 --> 00:03:33,333 When he got married to mom over in Japan, 76 00:03:33,375 --> 00:03:37,167 and he came back to the States with his new bride, 77 00:03:37,250 --> 00:03:40,167 his parents, my grandparents wouldn't let her 78 00:03:40,333 --> 00:03:43,708 in the house because she was Japanese. 79 00:03:43,875 --> 00:03:46,000 It's because of the war. 80 00:03:46,125 --> 00:03:48,208 This was early '50s. 81 00:03:48,375 --> 00:03:50,000 - When they got married, 82 00:03:50,125 --> 00:03:53,167 her side of the family really rejected it, 83 00:03:53,292 --> 00:03:56,875 and his side of the family rejected it also. 84 00:03:57,750 --> 00:03:59,500 - I understood that I and my brothers 85 00:03:59,667 --> 00:04:03,417 were different because we were half-Japanese. 86 00:04:05,375 --> 00:04:08,417 My life as a youngster, being the so-called Army brat, 87 00:04:08,542 --> 00:04:11,667 whether we lived in Germany or Turkey or Italy, 88 00:04:11,833 --> 00:04:15,167 I do remember that the people that lived 89 00:04:15,333 --> 00:04:19,333 in those countries frowned upon the way we looked. 90 00:04:20,500 --> 00:04:22,458 - The Turks did not like us too much. 91 00:04:22,667 --> 00:04:25,417 We'd have rock fights all the time with Turks, 92 00:04:25,542 --> 00:04:27,333 standing at one end of the road, at the other, 93 00:04:27,542 --> 00:04:29,625 just chucking rocks at each other. 94 00:04:29,792 --> 00:04:32,583 But that was the time, back then. 95 00:04:33,833 --> 00:04:34,958 Everywhere they went, 96 00:04:35,083 --> 00:04:36,292 it seemed like they got the look 97 00:04:36,417 --> 00:04:38,833 just because she was Japanese. 98 00:04:40,375 --> 00:04:42,000 - And my mom would wash, rinse, 99 00:04:42,125 --> 00:04:44,500 and then hang the clothes on the balcony. 100 00:04:44,625 --> 00:04:48,167 And I do remember some of the younger Turkish kids, 101 00:04:48,375 --> 00:04:49,917 they would throw tomatoes and stuff 102 00:04:50,125 --> 00:04:53,458 at our laundry hanging on the line. 103 00:04:53,542 --> 00:04:57,083 Being a minority does play a factor on, I guess, 104 00:04:57,208 --> 00:04:58,542 the way you brought up 105 00:04:58,708 --> 00:05:01,333 and also the way you understand the way life is. 106 00:05:01,500 --> 00:05:04,042 You grow up a little bit faster. 107 00:05:07,208 --> 00:05:11,292 - I do remember one time, we was going to the Ozarks, 108 00:05:11,417 --> 00:05:13,333 and we're behind this old pickup truck. 109 00:05:13,500 --> 00:05:17,042 The guy in the back, he looks at me, he points at my mom, 110 00:05:17,167 --> 00:05:20,083 he takes a shotgun, he does this with it. 111 00:05:20,250 --> 00:05:22,292 My mom told my dad to turn the car around. 112 00:05:22,417 --> 00:05:25,333 Boom, we're back in Florida the next day. 113 00:05:25,542 --> 00:05:28,333 - When I was growing up, I was called slanty eyes, 114 00:05:28,458 --> 00:05:29,875 yellow skin. 115 00:05:30,042 --> 00:05:32,667 Every time they would say something to me about it, 116 00:05:32,792 --> 00:05:36,750 I almost looked at them that they were making fun of my mom. 117 00:05:36,958 --> 00:05:41,875 I would deal with it in a way of retaliation, physicality. 118 00:05:42,417 --> 00:05:46,333 I'm glad with the way my parents brought me up, 119 00:05:46,458 --> 00:05:49,417 and my dad teaching me to stick up for my right, 120 00:05:49,542 --> 00:05:51,667 and if you gets your butt handed to you at the end 121 00:05:51,792 --> 00:05:55,167 of the night and you come home, don't be ashamed of that. 122 00:05:55,292 --> 00:05:58,250 You stuck up for what you thought was right. 123 00:05:58,375 --> 00:06:00,625 (soft music) 124 00:06:00,708 --> 00:06:02,875 Going to high school, I was always interested 125 00:06:03,042 --> 00:06:04,542 in playing some kind of sport. 126 00:06:04,708 --> 00:06:08,417 I went out for the football team, and I was a running back, 127 00:06:08,542 --> 00:06:11,167 and I also went out for basketball 128 00:06:11,250 --> 00:06:13,667 because I played basketball as a young kid. 129 00:06:13,792 --> 00:06:17,792 Never was tall, but I was pretty accurate. 130 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:22,958 But I knew in 10th grade, I would never make varsity because 131 00:06:23,042 --> 00:06:25,083 of the seniors. 132 00:06:25,208 --> 00:06:27,667 So over in the corner of the gymnasium, 133 00:06:27,875 --> 00:06:32,500 there's guys over there doing high school wrestling. 134 00:06:32,625 --> 00:06:34,667 I asked my basketball coach, I said, 135 00:06:34,792 --> 00:06:35,750 "What are they doing over there?" 136 00:06:35,875 --> 00:06:38,000 He said, "Oh, that's the wrestling team." 137 00:06:38,167 --> 00:06:39,000 I said, "Oh, really? 138 00:06:39,167 --> 00:06:40,167 Wrestling?" 139 00:06:40,292 --> 00:06:42,125 Then I said, "See you." 140 00:06:42,292 --> 00:06:47,333 I walked off the basketball court over to the wrestling mat. 141 00:06:47,542 --> 00:06:49,167 - Ricky and I were high school teammates 142 00:06:49,333 --> 00:06:51,000 on the wrestling team. 143 00:06:51,083 --> 00:06:52,500 He was a big guy in high school. 144 00:06:52,625 --> 00:06:55,750 He was humanly strong, and it showed. 145 00:06:57,958 --> 00:07:02,333 The wrestling coach told several of us lightweights 146 00:07:02,458 --> 00:07:05,583 to all pile onto Ricky and see if we could pin him. 147 00:07:05,792 --> 00:07:08,833 He would throw us off like popcorn. 148 00:07:08,958 --> 00:07:10,833 - Wrestling was a different animal. 149 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,583 I played football, but that's a team effort; basketball, 150 00:07:13,708 --> 00:07:15,208 that was a team effort; baseball, 151 00:07:15,375 --> 00:07:19,083 that's a team effort; but wrestling, you show up as a team, 152 00:07:19,208 --> 00:07:21,875 but you're one on one on the mat. 153 00:07:23,875 --> 00:07:26,667 - Ricky was a star, there's no doubt about it. 154 00:07:26,792 --> 00:07:30,625 He was well-qualified to be a state champion. 155 00:07:31,417 --> 00:07:33,500 He would dominate wrestlers. 156 00:07:33,625 --> 00:07:35,458 The matches would begin, 157 00:07:35,542 --> 00:07:37,792 and they would be over very quickly. 158 00:07:37,917 --> 00:07:41,958 - All said and done, my senior year, out of all the athletes 159 00:07:42,125 --> 00:07:46,042 at the school, I was voted Athlete of the Year. 160 00:07:49,167 --> 00:07:52,333 My life through high school was pretty much go to school, 161 00:07:52,542 --> 00:07:55,250 go to some kind of practice, whether it be football 162 00:07:55,375 --> 00:07:59,458 or wrestling, and then on weekends, work at the gas station. 163 00:07:59,583 --> 00:08:01,292 When my dad retired from the military, 164 00:08:01,458 --> 00:08:02,917 and he settled in St. Petersburg, 165 00:08:03,042 --> 00:08:05,417 he bought a little neighborhood gas station, 166 00:08:05,583 --> 00:08:09,042 and that's when I got introduced to cars. 167 00:08:09,208 --> 00:08:12,542 And I'll never forget when I would go out and pump gas 168 00:08:12,667 --> 00:08:15,000 and wash the windshields, check the tires, 169 00:08:15,208 --> 00:08:18,750 check the oil, I'd always knew in the back 170 00:08:18,875 --> 00:08:21,708 of my mind that whatever I did out front would reflect 171 00:08:21,875 --> 00:08:24,750 on this gas station as who we are. 172 00:08:27,458 --> 00:08:30,250 And I thought that was the biggest thing. 173 00:08:30,375 --> 00:08:32,333 (soft music) 174 00:08:32,458 --> 00:08:35,458 My dad was paying me a $1.50 an hour. 175 00:08:36,708 --> 00:08:39,208 With that money, I learned to put away what I could, 176 00:08:39,375 --> 00:08:41,792 and I bought my first car. 177 00:08:41,875 --> 00:08:44,208 - He could rebuild an engine and whatnot, 178 00:08:44,375 --> 00:08:47,250 being a gearhead and stuff like that, 179 00:08:47,417 --> 00:08:49,708 but that's not his protocol. 180 00:08:52,042 --> 00:08:56,708 Him being in sports, he was pretty much all he could do, 181 00:08:58,500 --> 00:09:00,333 knew how to do very well. 182 00:09:00,500 --> 00:09:02,833 - And I don't know if it was planned 183 00:09:03,042 --> 00:09:07,500 or how it worked out this way or it just happened, 184 00:09:07,583 --> 00:09:10,250 Maureen, Rick's high school love was working 185 00:09:10,375 --> 00:09:14,792 for an airline up in Minnesota, and her roommate 186 00:09:14,917 --> 00:09:16,958 at the time was Donna Gagne. 187 00:09:17,083 --> 00:09:19,667 - Donna Gagne's father was Vern Gagne, 188 00:09:19,833 --> 00:09:23,083 and he was the wrestling promoter for the AWA. 189 00:09:23,208 --> 00:09:25,083 - The past 32 years been 190 00:09:25,208 --> 00:09:26,583 tremendously entertainment. 191 00:09:26,750 --> 00:09:28,125 You've truly been a great champ. 192 00:09:28,250 --> 00:09:29,125 - Well, it's been a great sport. 193 00:09:29,250 --> 00:09:30,292 It still will be a great sport, 194 00:09:30,542 --> 00:09:32,667 and it'll go on long after Vern Gagne quits. 195 00:09:32,792 --> 00:09:35,167 - Vern Gagne was the wrestling promoter 196 00:09:35,375 --> 00:09:36,542 based in Minneapolis. 197 00:09:36,625 --> 00:09:37,833 He ran a school that 198 00:09:37,958 --> 00:09:41,833 was not unlike the WWE Performance Center today. 199 00:09:42,042 --> 00:09:44,292 And a lot of great wrestlers came through there. 200 00:09:44,417 --> 00:09:46,333 A lot of superstars came through there, 201 00:09:46,417 --> 00:09:50,000 including The Iron Sheik, including Sergeant Slaughter, 202 00:09:50,125 --> 00:09:52,375 and including Ric Flair. 203 00:09:52,542 --> 00:09:53,833 - So Vern told Maureen, he says, 204 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,375 "Yeah, it is understanding that your boyfriend 205 00:09:56,500 --> 00:09:58,500 was pretty good in amateurs. 206 00:09:58,667 --> 00:09:59,875 We have a wrestling school here, 207 00:10:00,042 --> 00:10:04,375 if he would consider getting into pro wrestling." 208 00:10:04,542 --> 00:10:06,500 And I said to myself, 209 00:10:06,625 --> 00:10:08,583 "I think I'm going to give this a shot." 210 00:10:08,750 --> 00:10:10,500 - Same shock you had the first time 211 00:10:10,667 --> 00:10:11,833 someone threw you down, 212 00:10:11,958 --> 00:10:15,750 but you're building up a tolerance to it. 213 00:10:15,875 --> 00:10:19,375 - I think on the first day, there was about 16 of us. 214 00:10:19,500 --> 00:10:22,833 The Iron Sheik was our coach, and man, he was relentless, 215 00:10:23,042 --> 00:10:27,500 he was unforgiving, he didn't give a flip, he didn't care. 216 00:10:27,667 --> 00:10:31,042 We had a dozen guys quit after the first week. 217 00:10:31,208 --> 00:10:31,958 - [Speaker] Come on. 218 00:10:32,083 --> 00:10:33,042 Dig, dig, dig. 219 00:10:33,167 --> 00:10:36,167 - It was very hard for them, but slowly, 220 00:10:36,250 --> 00:10:40,500 they learned and they did it my way and good. 221 00:10:40,583 --> 00:10:42,375 - Khosrow would break them down. 222 00:10:42,583 --> 00:10:43,833 I literally saw guys crying 223 00:10:43,958 --> 00:10:47,625 because of the pain they were going through. 224 00:10:48,458 --> 00:10:51,000 - I pushed Ricky very hard. 225 00:10:51,167 --> 00:10:52,167 I want to test him. 226 00:10:52,333 --> 00:10:53,375 He didn't quit. 227 00:10:53,708 --> 00:10:56,542 He come in and come in, and then he impressed me, 228 00:10:56,667 --> 00:10:59,000 and then finally he made it. 229 00:11:01,667 --> 00:11:05,083 - Once we finished the camp, Vern Gagne booked us, 230 00:11:05,208 --> 00:11:09,375 the rookies, maybe three or four shows a week. 231 00:11:09,458 --> 00:11:12,167 - My mom was probably not so excited, 232 00:11:12,333 --> 00:11:13,708 but after seeing him wrestle, 233 00:11:13,917 --> 00:11:16,708 both of them were very proud of Richard 234 00:11:16,875 --> 00:11:19,250 becoming a professional wrestler. 235 00:11:19,375 --> 00:11:24,375 - I wrestled in the AWA circuit for maybe about four months, 236 00:11:25,250 --> 00:11:27,625 and then Vern Gagne came up to me, and he said, "Ricky," 237 00:11:27,750 --> 00:11:30,083 he said, "How would you like to go to Florida?" 238 00:11:30,208 --> 00:11:31,708 And I was like, "Wow. 239 00:11:31,792 --> 00:11:33,750 Going back home." 240 00:11:33,833 --> 00:11:35,292 And I said, "The Florida Circuit?" 241 00:11:35,458 --> 00:11:36,500 And he goes, 242 00:11:36,875 --> 00:11:38,750 "Yep, down there with the promoter, Eddie Graham." 243 00:11:38,875 --> 00:11:40,500 - I wrestled as an amateur, 244 00:11:40,625 --> 00:11:41,500 that's where most professionals 245 00:11:41,708 --> 00:11:43,167 do get their background although, 246 00:11:43,292 --> 00:11:45,542 there is a definite difference as there is going 247 00:11:45,708 --> 00:11:50,042 from the amateurs to professional in any sport. 248 00:11:50,208 --> 00:11:53,208 - I walked into Eddie Graham's office for the first time, 249 00:11:53,333 --> 00:11:57,875 and he goes, "The last name, Blood, that's for a bad guy." 250 00:11:58,042 --> 00:12:00,167 He said, "But you're a good guy. 251 00:12:00,292 --> 00:12:03,250 You're young, you got this long black hair, 252 00:12:03,375 --> 00:12:05,625 you got a good look." 253 00:12:05,750 --> 00:12:09,042 - My first impression when I first met him, 254 00:12:09,167 --> 00:12:10,333 "What a nice guy." 255 00:12:10,542 --> 00:12:12,500 It wouldn't work to make him a bad guy. 256 00:12:12,667 --> 00:12:13,667 How? 257 00:12:13,958 --> 00:12:15,792 He couldn't pretend to be something he's not. 258 00:12:15,875 --> 00:12:19,625 - So he said, "I'd like to call you Steamboat. 259 00:12:19,708 --> 00:12:22,292 I'd like to call you Ricky Steamboat." 260 00:12:22,417 --> 00:12:25,167 He said, "I had a guy here a few years back, 261 00:12:25,292 --> 00:12:26,333 he has since retired. 262 00:12:26,458 --> 00:12:27,667 He was from Hawaii. 263 00:12:27,833 --> 00:12:29,750 His name was Sammy Steamboat, 264 00:12:29,875 --> 00:12:31,833 and the fans here in Florida loved him." 265 00:12:32,042 --> 00:12:35,250 I'm going to start advertising you as his nephew. 266 00:12:35,375 --> 00:12:37,667 - [Speaker] In the blue corner, from Honolulu, 267 00:12:37,875 --> 00:12:40,833 Hawaii, 263, Sammy Steamboat Mokuahi. 268 00:12:45,042 --> 00:12:48,958 - My mom, I remembered her saying, "Steamboat? 269 00:12:50,375 --> 00:12:51,375 Why? 270 00:12:51,542 --> 00:12:52,250 No. 271 00:12:52,375 --> 00:12:53,708 Ricky's no Steamboat son." 272 00:12:53,833 --> 00:12:55,250 "It's on the stage, Mom. 273 00:12:55,417 --> 00:12:56,833 It's a stage. 274 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,125 That's the stage name." 275 00:12:59,250 --> 00:13:00,000 "Oh. 276 00:13:00,875 --> 00:13:02,458 But Steamboat?" 277 00:13:02,542 --> 00:13:05,125 Ah. (laughing) 278 00:13:06,542 --> 00:13:11,500 - When I was wrestling in Minneapolis, I was a nobody. 279 00:13:11,958 --> 00:13:15,333 They announced Dick Blood, and I'd get this. 280 00:13:15,375 --> 00:13:18,125 (hands clapping) 281 00:13:19,208 --> 00:13:20,667 They announced me as Ricky Steamboat, 282 00:13:20,750 --> 00:13:22,375 and the fans jumped out of their seats. 283 00:13:22,500 --> 00:13:26,125 Thousands of fans jumped out of their seat, and I'm going, 284 00:13:26,250 --> 00:13:29,833 "Oh my goodness, so this is what it's like." 285 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:31,042 - [Speaker] The plane spin, falls back. 286 00:13:31,208 --> 00:13:32,125 Oh, beautiful. 287 00:13:32,250 --> 00:13:35,458 - I saw Ricky on TV, and I went back 288 00:13:35,625 --> 00:13:37,833 and told Jimmy Crockett, I said, 289 00:13:37,917 --> 00:13:41,542 "There's the kid that can be second to none." 290 00:13:42,708 --> 00:13:43,667 I was adamant. 291 00:13:43,833 --> 00:13:46,500 I said, "This guy is going to be it." 292 00:13:46,667 --> 00:13:49,375 - I'm going to say May, June of '77 is 293 00:13:49,500 --> 00:13:53,750 when I got introduced to working with Ric Flair. 294 00:13:53,875 --> 00:13:57,000 - Whatever Ric Flair wants, Ric Flair gets. 295 00:13:57,167 --> 00:13:59,833 - If you got involved in a program with Ric Flair, 296 00:13:59,958 --> 00:14:03,917 you got the rub, meaning your star was elevated. 297 00:14:08,167 --> 00:14:09,667 - My parents, only on a few occasions, 298 00:14:09,875 --> 00:14:12,625 actually watched me live live. 299 00:14:12,792 --> 00:14:14,500 The very first time, we were driving, 300 00:14:14,667 --> 00:14:17,250 and dad's sitting next to me, mom's sitting in the back. 301 00:14:17,375 --> 00:14:20,875 So I started telling them the ins and outs of the business. 302 00:14:20,958 --> 00:14:25,000 And in so many words, I wanted to explain to them that, 303 00:14:25,167 --> 00:14:28,500 "Don't worry, I may show that I'm hurt, 304 00:14:28,625 --> 00:14:30,167 but your son's okay." 305 00:14:30,250 --> 00:14:33,750 I was working with Ernie Ladd, the Cat. 306 00:14:33,917 --> 00:14:36,917 - [Speaker] Ernie "the Big Cat" Ladd. 307 00:14:37,750 --> 00:14:38,833 - So we do the match. 308 00:14:39,042 --> 00:14:40,083 I get my hand raised, and here, 309 00:14:40,375 --> 00:14:42,208 Ernie attacks me from behind, boom, boom, boom. 310 00:14:42,292 --> 00:14:44,208 Down I go, and he's stomping on me. 311 00:14:44,375 --> 00:14:46,667 I'm laying on the mat like this, trying to cover up, 312 00:14:46,875 --> 00:14:48,167 and over here to the side. 313 00:14:48,292 --> 00:14:49,833 I see this commotion going on. 314 00:14:49,958 --> 00:14:53,250 So I look over and it's my dad standing on the apron. 315 00:14:53,375 --> 00:14:55,667 He's got a folded steel chair in his hand. 316 00:14:55,792 --> 00:14:57,708 He's got one leg in the ring. 317 00:14:57,833 --> 00:15:00,708 Security has got the other leg. 318 00:15:00,833 --> 00:15:02,500 Guys trying to yank him off the apron. 319 00:15:02,708 --> 00:15:05,708 Another security guy has got his hands on the chair, 320 00:15:05,875 --> 00:15:07,917 and I could see my dad pulling on the chair, 321 00:15:08,083 --> 00:15:10,208 and he's trying to get in the ring. 322 00:15:10,333 --> 00:15:15,125 My dad yells out, "Don't worry, son, I'm coming for you." 323 00:15:19,167 --> 00:15:21,833 So I roll out, I run around to the ring, 324 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,333 and I grabbed the two security guys, 325 00:15:24,500 --> 00:15:27,250 and I said, "Hey, that's my dad." 326 00:15:28,375 --> 00:15:32,042 They looked, "Ricky, that's your dad?" 327 00:15:32,167 --> 00:15:33,000 Ah. 328 00:15:34,542 --> 00:15:36,000 Now we're driving home, 329 00:15:36,167 --> 00:15:38,750 and for about the first half hour is dead silence. 330 00:15:38,875 --> 00:15:43,833 I look over at my dad, and I said, "What are you doing?" 331 00:15:44,083 --> 00:15:45,083 He goes, "What do you mean?" 332 00:15:45,417 --> 00:15:47,125 I said, "I tell you not to worry about your son, 333 00:15:47,250 --> 00:15:50,333 that everything was going to be okay?" 334 00:15:50,417 --> 00:15:54,292 And then, my dad, whose from Boston, military, 335 00:15:55,417 --> 00:15:58,375 "Don't blame me, blame your mother." 336 00:15:58,458 --> 00:16:00,917 And I look up in the mirror and I go, "Mom," I said, 337 00:16:01,083 --> 00:16:03,958 "Didn't I tell you not to worry about it?" 338 00:16:04,042 --> 00:16:05,625 And she's from Japan, she's Japanese. 339 00:16:05,792 --> 00:16:07,583 She goes, "I don't care. 340 00:16:09,125 --> 00:16:10,708 He a cheater. 341 00:16:10,833 --> 00:16:11,708 Match over. 342 00:16:12,875 --> 00:16:15,625 I said, 'Daddy, do something. 343 00:16:15,750 --> 00:16:17,042 Help our boy.'" 344 00:16:18,125 --> 00:16:20,042 - Everywhere I've gone, 345 00:16:20,208 --> 00:16:22,958 every letter I've gotten has said, Rick Steamboat. 346 00:16:23,083 --> 00:16:24,042 I'm talking to you. 347 00:16:24,208 --> 00:16:25,875 You listen to me, boy. 348 00:16:26,042 --> 00:16:29,500 I first met Ricky when I saw him in Atlanta, 349 00:16:31,042 --> 00:16:32,667 and I saw someone for me to wrestle 350 00:16:32,792 --> 00:16:34,208 that I thought would be a new face 351 00:16:34,375 --> 00:16:39,333 of that company because he was so handsome, great body, 352 00:16:39,458 --> 00:16:43,167 nice guy, and Ricky Steamboat could wrestle from day one. 353 00:16:43,375 --> 00:16:44,958 - When Ric Flair went to Jim Crockett Promotions 354 00:16:45,042 --> 00:16:47,000 and told Jim Crockett, the promoter, 355 00:16:47,208 --> 00:16:50,167 that he saw something in me, I was like, 356 00:16:50,250 --> 00:16:53,167 "Holy moly, this is the number one guy in the region." 357 00:16:53,375 --> 00:16:55,208 - I just played, whether you like it or not, 358 00:16:55,375 --> 00:16:59,167 am the greatest wrestler in the world of all time. 359 00:16:59,375 --> 00:17:01,458 - I realize Steamboat's a pretty young guy. 360 00:17:01,625 --> 00:17:04,125 So to be spotted like that and told, 361 00:17:04,208 --> 00:17:07,958 "I want this guy main eventing with me," 362 00:17:08,125 --> 00:17:09,958 that's a dream come true. 363 00:17:10,083 --> 00:17:11,667 - [Speaker] Steamboat, an outstanding wrestler 364 00:17:11,792 --> 00:17:14,000 and competitor in the ring. 365 00:17:15,750 --> 00:17:17,250 - Rick Steamboat and Ric Flair 366 00:17:17,375 --> 00:17:20,792 were very much like the characters they portrayed. 367 00:17:20,958 --> 00:17:23,417 Ric Flair was very much the brash, flamboyant, 368 00:17:23,500 --> 00:17:26,333 limousine riding, jet flying, kiss dealing, 369 00:17:26,458 --> 00:17:28,583 wheeling, dealing son of a gun. 370 00:17:28,708 --> 00:17:31,500 And you know Rick Steamboat was a straight guy. 371 00:17:31,625 --> 00:17:33,208 - Ricky Steamboat, probably sitting 372 00:17:33,375 --> 00:17:35,167 in a corner somewhere, sucking on something. 373 00:17:35,375 --> 00:17:36,917 While Nature Boy, Ric Flair stands 374 00:17:37,083 --> 00:17:38,292 before the whole world with two 375 00:17:38,375 --> 00:17:41,417 of the most gorgeous human beings on on the face 376 00:17:41,583 --> 00:17:42,875 of this Earth. 377 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:44,875 - In and out of the wrestling ring, 378 00:17:44,958 --> 00:17:47,083 I was known as the good guy. 379 00:17:47,250 --> 00:17:50,500 I had those values, with my dad being in the military 380 00:17:50,625 --> 00:17:55,417 and my mom being from Japan, with family values very high. 381 00:17:56,500 --> 00:18:00,333 They supported me in my wrestling career. 382 00:18:00,417 --> 00:18:03,833 The drawback was my mom couldn't stand 383 00:18:03,958 --> 00:18:06,583 to see her son getting hurt. 384 00:18:06,708 --> 00:18:07,792 - He must be serious. 385 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:09,000 He wants to wrestling me one-on-one? 386 00:18:09,125 --> 00:18:10,083 - Maybe you didn't hear me. 387 00:18:10,375 --> 00:18:11,875 I said get in there and wrestle me right now. 388 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:12,875 - Yeah, he's serious. 389 00:18:13,042 --> 00:18:14,083 - You got to it. 390 00:18:14,458 --> 00:18:17,792 - This was the start of a lengthy, successful rivalry, 391 00:18:17,917 --> 00:18:20,000 and fans needed to believe 392 00:18:20,125 --> 00:18:24,208 that there was something legitimate behind it. 393 00:18:24,333 --> 00:18:25,583 - [Speaker] I've never seen anybody handle 394 00:18:25,708 --> 00:18:26,792 that way on the mat. 395 00:18:26,958 --> 00:18:27,875 He's out on the floor now. 396 00:18:27,958 --> 00:18:30,500 And here comes Flair after him. 397 00:18:30,625 --> 00:18:33,167 - And at one point Ric Flair whispered, 398 00:18:33,292 --> 00:18:35,833 "Rick, I'm really sorry, but I have to do this," 399 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,000 and he hit him with a hard way shot. 400 00:18:38,125 --> 00:18:39,875 - [Speaker] Rick Flair has gone mad. 401 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,167 He's dragging him (indistinct)- 402 00:18:41,292 --> 00:18:43,292 - The expression "the hard way" means, 403 00:18:43,458 --> 00:18:45,625 "Can Flair give you the real shot?" 404 00:18:45,792 --> 00:18:47,750 No holding back, one shot. 405 00:18:50,042 --> 00:18:51,083 So here's the moment. 406 00:18:51,208 --> 00:18:52,125 He jumps me, he beats me up. 407 00:18:52,292 --> 00:18:54,000 We're outside on the floor. 408 00:18:54,208 --> 00:18:55,500 I'm on my knees. 409 00:18:55,667 --> 00:18:57,000 He's standing behind me. 410 00:18:57,083 --> 00:19:00,542 He pulls me back by my hair, and he goes, 411 00:19:00,708 --> 00:19:02,083 "Here it is." 412 00:19:02,250 --> 00:19:03,750 Boom, right there. 413 00:19:06,333 --> 00:19:08,667 - Oh, right in the eye. - Right hand, 414 00:19:08,750 --> 00:19:09,833 right into the eye again. 415 00:19:09,917 --> 00:19:11,250 He rubbed that eye. 416 00:19:11,375 --> 00:19:13,792 - Then he took me down to the cement floor 417 00:19:13,875 --> 00:19:18,083 and started of scraping my face on the cement floor. 418 00:19:18,208 --> 00:19:21,708 - [Speaker] Steamboat really hasn't had a chance. 419 00:19:21,833 --> 00:19:26,375 - So after they did this angle, the great Harley Race, 420 00:19:26,542 --> 00:19:30,333 multiple NWA champion, took Rick Steamboat 421 00:19:30,417 --> 00:19:32,292 into a private area, 422 00:19:32,417 --> 00:19:35,333 and he cut his face all over 423 00:19:35,500 --> 00:19:39,750 and then he rubs sandpaper into the wounds. 424 00:19:39,917 --> 00:19:42,292 - I'm sitting there in the chair, 425 00:19:42,458 --> 00:19:44,042 Harley says, "I need a couple of wrestlers 426 00:19:44,167 --> 00:19:45,500 to hold Ricky down." 427 00:19:45,708 --> 00:19:48,167 So they got these two guys holding me down like this. 428 00:19:48,375 --> 00:19:51,458 He pulls me back, he's got that sandpaper, 429 00:19:51,625 --> 00:19:54,292 and he starts doing this to me. 430 00:19:55,458 --> 00:19:59,875 - It took a year for the pigmentation to come back. 431 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:00,958 - The scar is really just starting 432 00:20:01,042 --> 00:20:02,667 to heal real well now. 433 00:20:02,708 --> 00:20:03,333 It looks better. 434 00:20:03,458 --> 00:20:04,542 How's the eyesight? 435 00:20:04,875 --> 00:20:09,167 - Well, vision is still not on the 100% scale yet. 436 00:20:09,250 --> 00:20:10,708 Hopefully, it's going to look better 437 00:20:10,833 --> 00:20:13,500 with the next coming months coming up. 438 00:20:13,667 --> 00:20:16,125 Now it's time for Ricky to get back at Flair. 439 00:20:16,208 --> 00:20:17,375 (dramatic music) 440 00:20:17,500 --> 00:20:20,875 I get out there, and jump him. 441 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,417 He says, "Tear my suit off me." 442 00:20:23,542 --> 00:20:25,125 - [Speaker] Brand new suit shirt. 443 00:20:25,208 --> 00:20:27,000 Oh, that's right. 444 00:20:27,167 --> 00:20:29,667 And it's all Ricky's Steamboat now. 445 00:20:29,833 --> 00:20:30,333 That's right, it is. 446 00:20:30,500 --> 00:20:31,667 He's got him down now. 447 00:20:31,792 --> 00:20:35,458 - The only thing left is Ric Flare's briefs 448 00:20:35,583 --> 00:20:38,375 and Ric Flair's dress shoes. 449 00:20:38,500 --> 00:20:42,333 - I got the shirt, the suit, the pants, and beat him up, 450 00:20:42,417 --> 00:20:43,667 and left him laying, 451 00:20:43,750 --> 00:20:45,833 and went down to the announcers table and said, 452 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,375 "You just saw an example of what's going to be happening 453 00:20:48,500 --> 00:20:52,125 in the future for that man up there." 454 00:20:52,208 --> 00:20:55,167 After that aired, we went and sold out, 455 00:20:55,250 --> 00:20:58,625 sold out everywhere, turning away people. 456 00:21:00,208 --> 00:21:03,875 Now previously, up to that time in my career, 457 00:21:05,375 --> 00:21:08,125 I was first, second, and third match guy. 458 00:21:08,250 --> 00:21:10,625 Now, I'm in the main events. 459 00:21:16,042 --> 00:21:16,875 (dramatic orchestral music) 460 00:21:17,208 --> 00:21:18,833 My growth in the ring with Rick Flair went 461 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:20,708 to another new level. 462 00:21:21,708 --> 00:21:25,208 - Ricky had that ability to be able to work with anyone 463 00:21:25,375 --> 00:21:26,708 and everyone. 464 00:21:26,875 --> 00:21:29,917 If there was a newbie like myself, I could go in, 465 00:21:30,042 --> 00:21:32,667 and if I just followed his lead, 466 00:21:33,875 --> 00:21:37,000 I knew it was going to be a great match. 467 00:21:37,167 --> 00:21:38,333 - [Speaker] Ricky Steamboat, 468 00:21:38,708 --> 00:21:41,875 one of the most electrifying wrestlers ever to wrestle. 469 00:21:42,042 --> 00:21:45,292 - To be a main inventor, which is what Ricky were, 470 00:21:45,375 --> 00:21:50,083 you have to be dependable, you have to be reliable, 471 00:21:50,208 --> 00:21:53,667 and you have to know how to draw a audience. 472 00:21:56,208 --> 00:21:59,208 It was more than just the wrestling part. 473 00:21:59,333 --> 00:22:01,958 He had the ability to draw fans. 474 00:22:03,542 --> 00:22:07,042 - Ricky Steamboat for the fans, he was like a god. 475 00:22:07,250 --> 00:22:10,625 Their desire for him to win was so strong. 476 00:22:10,792 --> 00:22:12,208 - [Speaker] Steamboat, one of the favorites 477 00:22:12,375 --> 00:22:14,167 of fans everywhere. 478 00:22:14,292 --> 00:22:15,583 - There was a brief time in my career 479 00:22:15,708 --> 00:22:17,375 for about a little bit over four years 480 00:22:17,542 --> 00:22:19,958 in which I got involved with tag teams with Jay Youngblood. 481 00:22:20,083 --> 00:22:22,125 We set some records throughout the Carolinas, 482 00:22:22,208 --> 00:22:24,250 30 straight sellouts. 483 00:22:24,375 --> 00:22:26,292 My career just kept snowballing. 484 00:22:26,375 --> 00:22:28,625 It seemed like year after year after year. 485 00:22:28,792 --> 00:22:30,333 - [Speaker] Nobody could be any more popular 486 00:22:30,500 --> 00:22:32,417 than they are right now. 487 00:22:32,583 --> 00:22:34,500 - Jay Youngblood and I had a good run. 488 00:22:34,708 --> 00:22:37,417 It was time for maybe adventure off into singles. 489 00:22:37,625 --> 00:22:40,917 You wondered, do I have an opportunity to win the world cup? 490 00:22:41,042 --> 00:22:42,333 - Rick was a matinee idol. 491 00:22:42,500 --> 00:22:45,042 He was the perfect good guy. 492 00:22:45,167 --> 00:22:46,125 - [Speaker] Listen to the crowd. 493 00:22:46,292 --> 00:22:48,833 Here comes Steamboat down on the range. 494 00:22:48,917 --> 00:22:51,625 - The Mid-Atlantic territory had a lot of good, 495 00:22:51,708 --> 00:22:55,625 believable, tough guys there, but not a lot of heartthrobs. 496 00:22:55,792 --> 00:23:00,458 A teenage girl would put a poster up of Rick on her wall. 497 00:23:02,083 --> 00:23:05,000 - By that time, I was a main event guy for going on a number 498 00:23:05,125 --> 00:23:06,292 of years. 499 00:23:06,458 --> 00:23:08,042 I know the fans have been wondering 500 00:23:08,208 --> 00:23:09,167 what I've been doing. 501 00:23:09,250 --> 00:23:10,333 For the past eight months, 502 00:23:10,458 --> 00:23:11,750 I've been making tours over to Japan. 503 00:23:11,875 --> 00:23:12,667 I've had three now. 504 00:23:12,958 --> 00:23:16,833 All it is for myself as a learning experience. 505 00:23:16,958 --> 00:23:21,000 1984, we went over to Japan and toured Japan, 506 00:23:21,083 --> 00:23:25,750 and the promoter, Giant Baba, I went to him and I said, 507 00:23:27,708 --> 00:23:32,375 When my mother married my father, and they left Japan, 508 00:23:33,333 --> 00:23:36,583 my mother lost contact with her family, 509 00:23:36,708 --> 00:23:39,583 they were from Kyoto, so I went to Giant Baba, 510 00:23:39,708 --> 00:23:41,125 I said, "During my match, could you maybe announce 511 00:23:41,250 --> 00:23:45,375 or have him tell the story that my mother is from Kyoto, 512 00:23:45,500 --> 00:23:49,000 her last name is Ito, and tell them the story 513 00:23:49,083 --> 00:23:50,792 that she married an American GI. 514 00:23:50,917 --> 00:23:52,333 Last name was Blood. 515 00:23:52,458 --> 00:23:53,792 If there's any family members 516 00:23:53,917 --> 00:23:55,458 that are watching the wrestling show, 517 00:23:55,583 --> 00:23:58,042 please contact the office." 518 00:23:58,208 --> 00:24:03,083 Ultimately, my goal is I'm searching for my mother's family. 519 00:24:04,542 --> 00:24:07,583 And the very next day, this Japanese runner, 520 00:24:07,708 --> 00:24:10,333 young boy knocking on my hotel door, says, "Ricky, 521 00:24:10,458 --> 00:24:14,083 we have people call office about your mother." 522 00:24:16,208 --> 00:24:17,667 I said, "Really? 523 00:24:17,875 --> 00:24:18,667 Oh, how many? 524 00:24:18,750 --> 00:24:20,958 He said, "We have 200 people." 525 00:24:21,125 --> 00:24:23,167 I said, "It must be fans." 526 00:24:24,375 --> 00:24:26,208 The very first phone call that he made 527 00:24:26,375 --> 00:24:29,833 was my mother's oldest brother, very first. 528 00:24:31,208 --> 00:24:32,667 I said, "Ask the older brother 529 00:24:32,792 --> 00:24:34,667 if he has any wedding pictures." 530 00:24:34,833 --> 00:24:37,458 Because I've seen all the wedding pictures. 531 00:24:37,667 --> 00:24:38,625 I had the interpreter. 532 00:24:38,792 --> 00:24:40,083 So they're talking, the introduction, 533 00:24:40,208 --> 00:24:41,500 opens up the photo album, 534 00:24:41,708 --> 00:24:46,458 they're the same pictures from the wedding, same pictures. 535 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,208 So I got back to the States, back to Carolina, 536 00:24:53,375 --> 00:24:54,917 I went over to my mom and dad's and my dad 537 00:24:55,042 --> 00:24:58,333 was in the kitchen, and I showed him this phone number, 538 00:24:58,500 --> 00:25:00,333 and the oldest brother's name was written on it, 539 00:25:00,542 --> 00:25:02,583 and he broke down crying. 540 00:25:05,292 --> 00:25:08,708 Mom was sitting in the living room, and she was sewing, 541 00:25:08,917 --> 00:25:10,708 and I took the paper, and I went out and I said, 542 00:25:10,917 --> 00:25:11,708 "Mother, 543 00:25:20,375 --> 00:25:22,625 it's your oldest brother." 544 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:28,167 (soft music) 545 00:25:32,667 --> 00:25:35,625 I arranged to bring my mother home. 546 00:25:36,583 --> 00:25:38,125 So we get our bags, go through customs, 547 00:25:38,250 --> 00:25:41,875 and as soon as we get through the doors, they embrace, 548 00:25:42,083 --> 00:25:43,250 big hug. 549 00:25:43,625 --> 00:25:46,500 They haven't seen each other for over 30-some years. 550 00:25:46,583 --> 00:25:49,500 Flash camera. (imitating camera shutter clicking) 551 00:25:49,667 --> 00:25:53,750 Well, in the Tokyo paper, there's a picture of my mother 552 00:25:53,875 --> 00:25:56,792 and her brother hugging each other. 553 00:25:58,125 --> 00:25:58,917 and pro wrestler, 554 00:25:59,250 --> 00:26:02,333 Ricky Steamboat through the company of Giant Baba, 555 00:26:02,500 --> 00:26:05,542 brings mother home to be with family. 556 00:26:09,125 --> 00:26:12,208 And the next morning I get up and I get a phone call 557 00:26:12,375 --> 00:26:13,667 and that's my mom. 558 00:26:13,792 --> 00:26:16,542 "I'm ready to go home." 559 00:26:16,667 --> 00:26:20,333 I said, "Mom, it's only been two days." 560 00:26:20,417 --> 00:26:22,000 "I don't care. 561 00:26:22,167 --> 00:26:26,792 I finally finish big argument I have with oldest sister. 562 00:26:28,708 --> 00:26:30,917 I'm ready to go home now." 563 00:26:32,875 --> 00:26:34,875 She had an argument before leaving 564 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:36,833 because her oldest sister did not like the fact 565 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,750 that my mother was marrying an American GI right 566 00:26:40,875 --> 00:26:42,917 after the Second World War. 567 00:26:43,042 --> 00:26:45,167 I said, "I'm under here under contract for Baba 568 00:26:45,250 --> 00:26:46,500 for two weeks. 569 00:26:46,667 --> 00:26:49,833 He paid for your plane ticket. 570 00:26:49,875 --> 00:26:51,958 You have to fix it, Mom." 571 00:26:53,500 --> 00:26:55,583 "Okay, I do it for you." 572 00:26:57,375 --> 00:27:00,292 Two weeks later, we're meeting back at the company hotel 573 00:27:00,417 --> 00:27:02,667 end of tour, and there's my mom 574 00:27:02,792 --> 00:27:05,667 sitting there with the family, 575 00:27:05,833 --> 00:27:08,292 even the oldest sister. 576 00:27:08,417 --> 00:27:09,708 They made amends. 577 00:27:12,792 --> 00:27:15,042 I think one of the things that I've ever done 578 00:27:15,208 --> 00:27:18,333 in my life that I was so happy to be able 579 00:27:18,417 --> 00:27:23,500 to pull off was reuniting my mom with her family by now. 580 00:27:23,875 --> 00:27:27,667 My mom passed away three years ago, she was 91, 581 00:27:27,833 --> 00:27:29,875 but they had the moment. 582 00:27:32,875 --> 00:27:37,208 (speaking foreign language) 583 00:27:37,333 --> 00:27:38,542 There was a way that Japanese 584 00:27:38,708 --> 00:27:40,500 would show you their appreciation 585 00:27:40,625 --> 00:27:44,333 by throwing this spool of ribbon into the ring. 586 00:27:44,458 --> 00:27:47,958 And prior to bringing my mom home and I would get some, 587 00:27:48,083 --> 00:27:52,000 but this time it'd be so much they would fill the ring. 588 00:27:52,167 --> 00:27:57,125 (crowd cheering) (speaking foreign language) 589 00:27:59,167 --> 00:28:02,667 They'd bring out sweeping brooms to sweep it out 590 00:28:02,792 --> 00:28:05,917 of the ring so we could have the match. 591 00:28:06,042 --> 00:28:09,625 It made me feel proud to be Japanese. 592 00:28:09,750 --> 00:28:10,833 - [Speaker] I understand that Ricky Steamboat 593 00:28:10,958 --> 00:28:13,833 is a master of the art of karate. 594 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:15,875 - [Ricky] When I went to WWE, 595 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:18,583 they had moved to a national level 596 00:28:18,708 --> 00:28:21,500 on cable coast to coast on national television. 597 00:28:21,625 --> 00:28:23,292 I'm getting national exposure. 598 00:28:23,417 --> 00:28:25,583 I wanted to change my appearance to fit more 599 00:28:25,708 --> 00:28:27,750 of this martial arts guy. 600 00:28:32,542 --> 00:28:34,375 - It is my distinct privilege to present 601 00:28:34,500 --> 00:28:35,958 to you Hulk Hogan. 602 00:28:38,167 --> 00:28:40,167 (crowd cheering) 603 00:28:40,333 --> 00:28:43,792 - By the mid '80s, the professional wrestling business 604 00:28:43,917 --> 00:28:46,750 is being transformed rapidly. 605 00:28:46,875 --> 00:28:49,833 Vincent Kenny McMahon had a radically different view 606 00:28:49,958 --> 00:28:52,958 of the business than his predecessors. 607 00:28:53,042 --> 00:28:56,000 Vince McMahon still receives some criticism 608 00:28:56,208 --> 00:29:00,708 for ushering in what's known as sports entertainment. 609 00:29:02,708 --> 00:29:03,667 - [Speaker] Ladies and gentlemen, 610 00:29:03,917 --> 00:29:07,208 we have got a crowd that is coming on good. 611 00:29:07,333 --> 00:29:08,792 They're loving it. 612 00:29:10,458 --> 00:29:13,000 - The company was going in a direction of making everybody 613 00:29:13,208 --> 00:29:14,542 like a superhero. 614 00:29:14,667 --> 00:29:18,333 They actually came out with the cartoons and the comics 615 00:29:18,500 --> 00:29:23,250 and taking the pro wrestling in a whole different direction. 616 00:29:23,375 --> 00:29:26,500 - I got to give Vince credit on this. 617 00:29:26,625 --> 00:29:28,417 He knew his audience. 618 00:29:28,542 --> 00:29:31,667 The gimmick got more outrageous. 619 00:29:31,833 --> 00:29:35,000 The costumes got more outrageous. 620 00:29:35,167 --> 00:29:38,083 - [Speaker] The Macho Man, he always looks sharp. 621 00:29:38,208 --> 00:29:42,083 - Suddenly everyone's attention was going to WWE. 622 00:29:42,208 --> 00:29:44,917 - [Speaker] Holy cow, they do love him everywhere. 623 00:29:45,083 --> 00:29:47,625 - Now, professional wrestling was at a level 624 00:29:47,792 --> 00:29:49,833 it had never been at before. 625 00:29:49,958 --> 00:29:52,208 - I went into the office, spoke to Jimmy Crockett, said, 626 00:29:52,333 --> 00:29:53,667 "You know, I've been here for almost eight years. 627 00:29:53,833 --> 00:29:56,167 It's time for me to move on." 628 00:29:57,167 --> 00:29:59,167 - Well, I know Ricky was really eager 629 00:29:59,333 --> 00:30:01,833 to go that route and now this is his chance to get 630 00:30:02,042 --> 00:30:04,542 to that next level of what we were looking 631 00:30:04,667 --> 00:30:05,833 at the business then is, 632 00:30:06,167 --> 00:30:09,000 "This is wrestling and this is sports entertainment." 633 00:30:09,167 --> 00:30:13,167 - I was a Bruce Lee fan, "Enter the Dragon" movie. 634 00:30:14,375 --> 00:30:17,875 And then that name The Dragon that sort of, boom, popped. 635 00:30:17,958 --> 00:30:20,167 - Scene two, take two. 636 00:30:20,250 --> 00:30:22,458 Gene Okerlund here on location 637 00:30:22,625 --> 00:30:26,750 at the temple of Ching Lau with Rick "The Dragon" Steamboat. 638 00:30:26,875 --> 00:30:29,958 Ricky Steamboat, it is right here on these premises 639 00:30:30,042 --> 00:30:31,958 where you and others have gone through 640 00:30:32,167 --> 00:30:35,792 and will go through intense training in preparation 641 00:30:35,958 --> 00:30:39,375 for not only professional wrestling but for life itself. 642 00:30:39,500 --> 00:30:40,833 - Mind and body as one. 643 00:30:41,042 --> 00:30:44,167 Physical and mental preparation in the martial arts. 644 00:30:44,292 --> 00:30:48,792 - [Speaker] From Hawaii, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. 645 00:30:50,042 --> 00:30:51,875 - [Speaker] Boy, is this Steamboat exciting. 646 00:30:52,042 --> 00:30:54,250 He's just electrifying. 647 00:30:54,375 --> 00:30:56,792 - He came in as this super athletic, 648 00:30:56,875 --> 00:30:59,167 muscular martial artist. 649 00:30:59,375 --> 00:31:02,125 And he had the headband and he would wear the gi 650 00:31:02,208 --> 00:31:04,750 and he would present himself in a way that nobody 651 00:31:04,875 --> 00:31:07,500 had really done before in the WWE. 652 00:31:08,542 --> 00:31:10,708 - He was like an action star. 653 00:31:10,833 --> 00:31:13,667 He was definitely one of my favorites. 654 00:31:13,792 --> 00:31:14,792 - [Speaker] Beautiful karate kick. 655 00:31:15,083 --> 00:31:17,417 There's another one devastating karate kicks. 656 00:31:17,542 --> 00:31:18,667 Oh, look at that. 657 00:31:19,042 --> 00:31:22,208 Shot to the back of the net and over the top goes the champ. 658 00:31:22,375 --> 00:31:25,083 - It was going to be Ricky's thing with the performance arts 659 00:31:25,208 --> 00:31:29,833 and the karate and judo and fancy moves and all that, 660 00:31:29,958 --> 00:31:32,375 and it made him more aggressive. 661 00:31:32,500 --> 00:31:36,000 - [Speaker] And a dropkick right at a kisser. 662 00:31:36,083 --> 00:31:39,083 - Ricky would do this incredibly athletic 663 00:31:39,208 --> 00:31:41,708 off the top rope dive, 664 00:31:41,875 --> 00:31:44,708 which not that many people did moves 665 00:31:44,833 --> 00:31:47,792 off the top rope in that era. 666 00:31:47,875 --> 00:31:49,208 - [Speaker] High cross body. 667 00:31:49,375 --> 00:31:51,917 - But back then, if you were diving off the top rope, 668 00:31:52,042 --> 00:31:53,875 it was your specialty. 669 00:31:54,042 --> 00:31:56,333 And Ricky made it special. 670 00:31:56,500 --> 00:31:59,000 - [Speaker] The Dragon on the top rope. 671 00:31:59,125 --> 00:32:01,333 - [Speaker] Steamboat, leaping. 672 00:32:01,375 --> 00:32:03,458 Flies through the air, high cross body. 673 00:32:03,625 --> 00:32:05,292 Down one, two, he got it. 674 00:32:05,375 --> 00:32:08,167 - [Speaker] He definitely got it. 675 00:32:08,292 --> 00:32:10,167 - He was amazed that he could do that. 676 00:32:10,375 --> 00:32:13,125 He was just so excited about it. 677 00:32:13,250 --> 00:32:16,083 - [Speaker] Flies through the air, high cross body. 678 00:32:16,167 --> 00:32:18,500 - If you want to see what separates Ricky 679 00:32:18,625 --> 00:32:23,083 from everyone else, take a move as simple as the arm drag. 680 00:32:23,208 --> 00:32:27,167 Everybody does an arm drag, but Ricky's arm drag 681 00:32:28,458 --> 00:32:29,667 is a work of art. 682 00:32:31,875 --> 00:32:33,708 - [Speaker] Whoa, what a deep arm drag. 683 00:32:33,875 --> 00:32:35,583 And another one. 684 00:32:35,667 --> 00:32:39,083 - He would take a guy, snap them over him and it would look 685 00:32:39,250 --> 00:32:42,667 like he was going to throw the guy into the rafters. 686 00:32:42,833 --> 00:32:44,333 It was electrifying. 687 00:32:44,417 --> 00:32:46,042 - [Speaker] Arm drag, take down again. 688 00:32:46,208 --> 00:32:50,458 - [Speaker] And an arm drag, well executed. 689 00:32:50,542 --> 00:32:52,500 - I love that arm drag. 690 00:32:52,625 --> 00:32:54,417 I love that arm drag. 691 00:32:54,542 --> 00:32:57,125 - He could fight on the ground, he could fight in the air. 692 00:32:57,208 --> 00:33:00,167 - It sort of made me different from all the other wrestlers 693 00:33:00,292 --> 00:33:02,500 in the business and the fans loved it 694 00:33:02,667 --> 00:33:04,333 because my style was different. 695 00:33:04,458 --> 00:33:07,750 - The dragon just brought something different to the table 696 00:33:07,875 --> 00:33:09,792 that caught on really fast. 697 00:33:09,917 --> 00:33:11,625 - [Speaker] Standing ovation for The Dragon, 698 00:33:11,750 --> 00:33:13,625 Ricky Steamboat. 699 00:33:13,750 --> 00:33:15,958 - My popularity was growing. 700 00:33:17,208 --> 00:33:20,750 They saw me that I would be a good cast 701 00:33:20,917 --> 00:33:23,542 to put in with Macho Man, Randy Savage. 702 00:33:23,708 --> 00:33:26,000 - All the world will realize that The Dragon 703 00:33:26,083 --> 00:33:27,750 cannot go against the Macho Man Randy Savage. 704 00:33:27,917 --> 00:33:28,750 - You're you're not nervous? 705 00:33:28,875 --> 00:33:30,208 - I'm not nervous. 706 00:33:30,333 --> 00:33:33,250 - We hooked up in December of '86. 707 00:33:34,375 --> 00:33:37,417 He was over the threshold of the up and comer 708 00:33:37,583 --> 00:33:39,500 and now the star. 709 00:33:39,708 --> 00:33:41,833 - Macho Man Randy Savage, it's totally impossible 710 00:33:41,917 --> 00:33:43,458 that I could be intimidated. 711 00:33:43,583 --> 00:33:47,333 - Randy Savage was the WWE Intercontinental Champion 712 00:33:47,417 --> 00:33:51,958 and Rick Steamboat challenged Randy for the title on TV. 713 00:33:52,042 --> 00:33:55,375 And it led to a very disturbing incident. 714 00:33:57,958 --> 00:34:02,458 - Every wrestling fan of the era remembers where they were 715 00:34:02,542 --> 00:34:05,000 when Randy Savage took out the throat 716 00:34:05,125 --> 00:34:08,167 of Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. 717 00:34:08,292 --> 00:34:09,458 - [Announcer] Get him down from there. 718 00:34:09,625 --> 00:34:11,125 From the top rope. 719 00:34:12,375 --> 00:34:13,125 Whoa. 720 00:34:15,375 --> 00:34:18,583 - Randy Savage attacked first with a double ax handle 721 00:34:18,708 --> 00:34:23,000 that knocked Ricky's throat across the guard area. 722 00:34:25,500 --> 00:34:29,167 - [Speaker] Steamboat's grabbing his throat. 723 00:34:30,625 --> 00:34:35,500 - Once they were back in the ring, the evil Macho Man 724 00:34:35,667 --> 00:34:38,167 took the ring bell, which is a metal bell 725 00:34:38,292 --> 00:34:40,292 that has plywood under it. 726 00:34:40,417 --> 00:34:43,167 Took it with him to the top rope 727 00:34:43,333 --> 00:34:47,542 and performed his elbow drop with the ring bell. 728 00:34:47,667 --> 00:34:50,708 - [Speaker] Look, he's got the bell. 729 00:34:51,708 --> 00:34:53,333 Whoa. 730 00:34:53,458 --> 00:34:56,375 - The story that we were told was as he came down 731 00:34:56,542 --> 00:35:00,000 and made contact, he destroyed the larynx 732 00:35:00,167 --> 00:35:02,708 of Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. 733 00:35:04,375 --> 00:35:06,333 - I remember Vince is telling me, 734 00:35:06,417 --> 00:35:08,000 "You would not believe the hate mail 735 00:35:08,167 --> 00:35:09,500 that's been delivered to the office. 736 00:35:09,625 --> 00:35:14,792 We got duffle bags full of hate mail about Savage doing 737 00:35:14,875 --> 00:35:16,333 that to you." 738 00:35:16,542 --> 00:35:18,542 (crowd cheering) 739 00:35:18,708 --> 00:35:19,250 - [Speaker] Whoa. 740 00:35:19,375 --> 00:35:21,458 Steamboat can't breathe. 741 00:35:23,542 --> 00:35:27,667 - The WWE sent cameras to a local medical facility 742 00:35:27,792 --> 00:35:32,083 and week by week they tracked the progress 743 00:35:32,208 --> 00:35:34,458 that Ricky Steamboat was making. 744 00:35:34,583 --> 00:35:36,833 - [Speaker] Ricky Steamboat suffered a crushed larynx 745 00:35:36,958 --> 00:35:40,292 in that accident and tremendous trauma to his vocal cords. 746 00:35:40,375 --> 00:35:43,208 - They showed him going through speech therapy. 747 00:35:43,333 --> 00:35:44,542 - What we're going to do now is 748 00:35:44,708 --> 00:35:47,083 to increase the strength of your vocal cords. 749 00:35:47,208 --> 00:35:49,958 I'd like you to say this vowel after me. 750 00:35:50,042 --> 00:35:51,500 E. 751 00:35:51,667 --> 00:35:52,500 - E. 752 00:35:52,667 --> 00:35:53,500 - [Speaker] Okay. 753 00:35:53,917 --> 00:35:56,333 Now, you're trying, but I want it to be more crisp. 754 00:35:56,458 --> 00:35:56,958 E. 755 00:35:57,042 --> 00:35:58,417 - E. 756 00:35:58,708 --> 00:36:00,250 - This was one of the biggest stories up until that point 757 00:36:00,375 --> 00:36:02,917 that Ricky Steamboat had been a part of. 758 00:36:03,042 --> 00:36:04,583 - Now I'm talking to you. 759 00:36:04,708 --> 00:36:08,333 You are a priority in my career right now. 760 00:36:08,500 --> 00:36:11,667 - Suddenly it was announced Rick's Steamboat was recovered 761 00:36:11,833 --> 00:36:15,500 and he was coming back and he was coming after Randy Savage. 762 00:36:15,625 --> 00:36:19,167 They were able to stretch this thing out all the way up 763 00:36:19,250 --> 00:36:21,375 to WrestleMania and he was going 764 00:36:21,542 --> 00:36:23,958 to take that Intercontinental Championship. 765 00:36:24,083 --> 00:36:25,125 (crowd cheering) 766 00:36:25,375 --> 00:36:27,625 - [Speaker] 93,000 here at the Silverdome. 767 00:36:27,750 --> 00:36:29,708 This is a vendetta that's been coming down 768 00:36:29,833 --> 00:36:30,833 for quite some time. 769 00:36:35,042 --> 00:36:37,208 (soft music) 770 00:36:37,375 --> 00:36:39,458 - When we started to work for the WWE 771 00:36:39,542 --> 00:36:41,583 and we found out they were flying everywhere, 772 00:36:41,708 --> 00:36:43,667 Vince decided to get on cable and go coast to coast. 773 00:36:43,792 --> 00:36:46,333 So we're flying all of these major markets. 774 00:36:46,542 --> 00:36:48,333 - [Speaker] Ricky Steamboat, getting a big hand 775 00:36:48,542 --> 00:36:51,500 from this capacity crowd in Madison Square Garden. 776 00:36:51,542 --> 00:36:53,583 - And if you're a Main Event guy and you're doing well 777 00:36:53,708 --> 00:36:55,625 with the company and you know they're selling tickets, 778 00:36:55,792 --> 00:36:58,125 you might be home for just a couple of days 779 00:36:58,250 --> 00:37:01,250 and then you're gone for three or four weeks again 780 00:37:01,333 --> 00:37:03,292 and then home for two or three. 781 00:37:03,375 --> 00:37:05,000 Then it hits you in the head of reality that, 782 00:37:05,125 --> 00:37:06,750 "God, I'm hardly making it home." 783 00:37:06,917 --> 00:37:08,958 At the time when I was married, that led it 784 00:37:09,083 --> 00:37:11,333 to be very hard on families. 785 00:37:13,542 --> 00:37:15,833 The hardship was being away so much 786 00:37:15,958 --> 00:37:19,667 and then finding out that your wife was pregnant. 787 00:37:19,833 --> 00:37:23,500 Around 1986, towards the end of November, 788 00:37:23,625 --> 00:37:25,542 I brought it to Vince's attention that, 789 00:37:25,667 --> 00:37:28,708 "I have a son that's coming due in the first week of July. 790 00:37:28,875 --> 00:37:32,583 I'd like to have that week off and a week following, 791 00:37:32,750 --> 00:37:34,625 two weeks off." 792 00:37:34,750 --> 00:37:35,750 We're on a schedule. 793 00:37:36,125 --> 00:37:40,750 We wrestle 365 days a year, Thanksgivings and Christmases, 794 00:37:40,917 --> 00:37:45,042 and I said, "I just want to be there for my firstborn." 795 00:37:45,167 --> 00:37:47,792 "No problem," was the response. 796 00:37:47,875 --> 00:37:52,500 And that was back in December, before WrestleMania III. 797 00:37:54,042 --> 00:37:56,375 - We have established a brand new 798 00:37:56,583 --> 00:37:59,458 indoor attendance record of 93,173. 799 00:38:06,542 --> 00:38:08,625 Give yourself a big hand. 800 00:38:09,958 --> 00:38:11,542 - I was at WrestleMania III. 801 00:38:11,667 --> 00:38:15,500 The crowd at the Silverdome was so immense. 802 00:38:15,667 --> 00:38:20,208 It was like the biggest mass gathering of people ever at 803 00:38:20,333 --> 00:38:21,917 that point indoors. 804 00:38:24,958 --> 00:38:29,875 - For guys like Ricky and Randy, this was literally the eyes 805 00:38:30,208 --> 00:38:31,792 of the world on them. 806 00:38:31,917 --> 00:38:34,792 The planet has stopped and is paying attention to this. 807 00:38:34,917 --> 00:38:36,958 - [Speaker] This is a vendetta that's been coming down 808 00:38:37,083 --> 00:38:38,292 for quite some time. 809 00:38:38,667 --> 00:38:39,875 - [Speaker] You got to get up pretty early in the morning 810 00:38:40,042 --> 00:38:42,000 to outsmart the Macho Man. 811 00:38:42,167 --> 00:38:45,042 - As soon as the curtain opened up, 812 00:38:45,208 --> 00:38:47,417 the stress just went away. 813 00:38:49,583 --> 00:38:52,333 For some reason, it all went away 814 00:38:52,458 --> 00:38:54,792 and it came down to the ring. 815 00:38:56,208 --> 00:38:57,167 - [Speaker] He has to concentrate 816 00:38:57,500 --> 00:38:59,125 on "The Dragon" Ricky Steam boat and the defense 817 00:38:59,250 --> 00:39:02,375 of this Intercontinental Championship. 818 00:39:03,500 --> 00:39:06,833 - WrestleMania III, the match with Randy Savage, 819 00:39:06,917 --> 00:39:11,292 this had as much attention almost as Andre the Giant 820 00:39:11,375 --> 00:39:12,917 and Hulk Hogan. 821 00:39:13,042 --> 00:39:14,042 (crowd cheering) 822 00:39:14,208 --> 00:39:15,292 - [Speaker] Going to work on him. 823 00:39:15,667 --> 00:39:17,792 - Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan were headlining the show. 824 00:39:17,875 --> 00:39:22,125 They were the main event, but our objective was to go out 825 00:39:22,250 --> 00:39:23,958 and have the best match of the evening. 826 00:39:24,083 --> 00:39:28,667 And if it meant to upstage the main event, so be it. 827 00:39:28,792 --> 00:39:30,000 - [Speaker] Look out, Irish whipping. 828 00:39:30,167 --> 00:39:31,208 Ducked underneath The Dragon. 829 00:39:31,375 --> 00:39:33,417 Oh, look at that deep arm drag. 830 00:39:33,583 --> 00:39:36,000 Off the ropes, through the legs, and another deep arm drag 831 00:39:36,208 --> 00:39:37,375 by The Dragon. 832 00:39:37,542 --> 00:39:40,667 Oh, and catches him right around the throat. 833 00:39:40,833 --> 00:39:43,417 - Steamboat and Savage stole the show of WrestleMania III, 834 00:39:43,583 --> 00:39:44,542 no doubt about it. 835 00:39:44,708 --> 00:39:46,958 They worked so well together. 836 00:39:47,125 --> 00:39:49,125 It was incredible to watch. 837 00:39:50,458 --> 00:39:51,750 - [Speaker] Whoa, look at that. 838 00:39:51,875 --> 00:39:54,792 - [Speaker] Look at the leverage on the wrist line. 839 00:39:54,958 --> 00:39:57,042 - That really cemented in to my psyche 840 00:39:57,208 --> 00:39:59,917 what a good wrestler he was because of that match. 841 00:40:00,083 --> 00:40:02,500 And it introduced me to a style of wrestling 842 00:40:02,667 --> 00:40:05,083 that I didn't realize existed. 843 00:40:06,250 --> 00:40:07,333 - [Speaker] Look at this, wide open. 844 00:40:07,458 --> 00:40:08,667 - [Speaker] And he's going after the throat. 845 00:40:08,833 --> 00:40:10,458 - [Speaker] He's going after the throat indeed. 846 00:40:10,583 --> 00:40:13,042 The reigning champion, Macho Man Randy Savage. 847 00:40:13,208 --> 00:40:14,958 Oh, what a clothesline. 848 00:40:15,125 --> 00:40:17,792 - I mean, these are two really apex predators 849 00:40:17,917 --> 00:40:18,667 in our business. 850 00:40:18,875 --> 00:40:22,333 These are really incredible talents. 851 00:40:22,458 --> 00:40:25,083 - [Speaker] He dropped right in the sternum area, 852 00:40:25,208 --> 00:40:26,542 overhooks the leg again. 853 00:40:26,708 --> 00:40:28,833 Two count and The Dragon comes out once more. 854 00:40:28,958 --> 00:40:33,292 - It was just a real quality match and both guys delivered. 855 00:40:33,417 --> 00:40:35,125 - [Speaker] This is beyond wrestling ability. 856 00:40:35,208 --> 00:40:38,750 This is guts personified right now. 857 00:40:38,917 --> 00:40:41,000 - So the beauty of that match is that you have something 858 00:40:41,125 --> 00:40:45,583 like 20 near falls throughout the whole story. 859 00:40:45,750 --> 00:40:47,333 - [Speaker] Could be all over right here. 860 00:40:47,542 --> 00:40:48,500 Two count- - No. 861 00:40:48,875 --> 00:40:50,667 Macho Man throwing everything but the kitchen sink 862 00:40:50,708 --> 00:40:53,333 and can't keep The Dragon's shoulders down. 863 00:40:53,458 --> 00:40:54,833 - [Speaker] I don't know how. 864 00:40:54,958 --> 00:40:57,417 - [Speaker] Savage doesn't know where he is. 865 00:40:57,542 --> 00:41:00,417 Oh, what a karate shot right between the eyes. 866 00:41:00,583 --> 00:41:02,833 This (indistinct) has gone bananas. 867 00:41:03,042 --> 00:41:04,417 - [Speaker] No, his foot was on the rope. 868 00:41:04,542 --> 00:41:06,333 His foot was on the rope. 869 00:41:06,500 --> 00:41:08,833 - There was near fall after near fall. 870 00:41:09,042 --> 00:41:12,000 There was drama, it was back and forth. 871 00:41:12,167 --> 00:41:13,667 It was breathless. 872 00:41:13,750 --> 00:41:16,208 - [Speaker] Macho Man, poised in his favorite position. 873 00:41:16,375 --> 00:41:17,167 Bombs away. 874 00:41:17,292 --> 00:41:18,167 - [Speaker] He got him. 875 00:41:18,375 --> 00:41:18,917 - [Speaker] He nailed him with it. 876 00:41:19,042 --> 00:41:19,833 Bombs away. 877 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:20,875 - [Speaker] He got him. 878 00:41:21,042 --> 00:41:21,708 - [Speaker] He nailed him. 879 00:41:21,917 --> 00:41:23,375 - And when the match finally ends, 880 00:41:23,542 --> 00:41:25,958 it's because Ricky Steamboat was able to lock in 881 00:41:26,042 --> 00:41:27,000 a small package. 882 00:41:27,250 --> 00:41:29,750 The fans were not expecting the match to end there, 883 00:41:29,875 --> 00:41:34,000 and when it did, you wouldn't believe the reaction. 884 00:41:35,792 --> 00:41:36,833 - [Speaker] But the championship still in control. 885 00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:38,958 No, a small package by The Dragon. 886 00:41:39,125 --> 00:41:40,292 He got him. 887 00:41:40,417 --> 00:41:43,667 (crowd cheering) 888 00:41:43,833 --> 00:41:46,667 - But after the one, two, three, 889 00:41:46,833 --> 00:41:49,500 and I'm laying there looking up at the Silverdome, 890 00:41:49,625 --> 00:41:51,750 my body completely melted. 891 00:41:54,500 --> 00:41:56,208 It is over. 892 00:41:56,333 --> 00:41:58,458 (crowd cheering) 893 00:41:58,583 --> 00:42:00,875 The feeling of accomplishment. 894 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:03,833 I thought we had one hell of a match. 895 00:42:03,917 --> 00:42:05,500 - [Speaker] Ladies and gentlemen, 896 00:42:05,667 --> 00:42:07,875 the winner of this contest, 897 00:42:09,333 --> 00:42:12,042 our new Intercontinental Champion. 898 00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:17,875 (soft music) 899 00:42:18,083 --> 00:42:20,333 - The common consensus was that the clash 900 00:42:20,542 --> 00:42:22,792 of WrestleMania III between Steamboat 901 00:42:22,958 --> 00:42:26,750 and the Macho Man was the greatest match ever. 902 00:42:28,500 --> 00:42:29,875 - I'll tell you when it hit me. 903 00:42:30,042 --> 00:42:31,958 Vince McMahon would always have this after dinner party 904 00:42:32,042 --> 00:42:36,583 after a WrestleMania, and it was nonstop how wrestlers 905 00:42:37,708 --> 00:42:41,333 were coming up to us and saying, "What a match." 906 00:42:41,458 --> 00:42:44,167 It was nonstop through the evening. 907 00:42:45,167 --> 00:42:46,833 You see Hogan over there sitting at his table 908 00:42:46,917 --> 00:42:49,250 and nobody's going over there. 909 00:42:49,417 --> 00:42:52,208 That meant we did something special. 910 00:42:54,833 --> 00:42:56,625 - The measure of an incredible performer 911 00:42:56,792 --> 00:43:00,750 is when you can inspire generations to come. 912 00:43:00,833 --> 00:43:03,667 - For me, as a kid, I literally watched that match 913 00:43:03,833 --> 00:43:06,333 on videotape till it wore out. 914 00:43:10,250 --> 00:43:15,250 - To be able to reach that plateau and to wrestle, what, 915 00:43:15,375 --> 00:43:20,125 90 some thousand people, screaming ass people, very proud. 916 00:43:29,458 --> 00:43:30,750 (soft music) 917 00:43:30,875 --> 00:43:33,167 - I think I had the IC belt for nine or 10 weeks. 918 00:43:33,333 --> 00:43:35,000 It's around that time. 919 00:43:36,708 --> 00:43:39,458 I walk into TV and Vince comes up to me and says, 920 00:43:39,625 --> 00:43:42,542 "Got to have you swish the belt." 921 00:43:42,667 --> 00:43:44,667 And I say, "Well, why?" 922 00:43:44,750 --> 00:43:47,667 He says, "Well, it was two weeks you asked off." 923 00:43:47,750 --> 00:43:51,750 And he's like, "We can't leave the belt dormant." 924 00:43:54,167 --> 00:43:56,333 - The mentality was that the company couldn't afford 925 00:43:56,500 --> 00:44:00,167 to have the Intercontinental Champion out of commission. 926 00:44:00,333 --> 00:44:02,375 - He said, "Well, we have decided you're going 927 00:44:02,542 --> 00:44:04,500 to have a match with Honky Tonk 928 00:44:04,583 --> 00:44:06,833 and you're going to drop the belt to him." 929 00:44:07,042 --> 00:44:09,000 - [Speaker] Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest 930 00:44:09,125 --> 00:44:13,625 is for the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. 931 00:44:14,875 --> 00:44:16,833 - I thought that was totally ridiculous just 932 00:44:16,958 --> 00:44:19,250 to have this rug pulled out from under me, 933 00:44:19,417 --> 00:44:22,500 but any explanation other than the fact that, 934 00:44:22,625 --> 00:44:25,625 "We don't want to leave the belt dormant for two weeks." 935 00:44:25,750 --> 00:44:28,333 (crowd cheering) 936 00:44:28,458 --> 00:44:29,750 - [Speaker] Party dog man scoop. 937 00:44:29,917 --> 00:44:30,792 - [Speaker] He's in the ropes. 938 00:44:30,875 --> 00:44:32,667 - [Speaker] Wait, a minute. 939 00:44:32,750 --> 00:44:35,333 (bell ringing) 940 00:44:35,375 --> 00:44:38,583 Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of this contest, 941 00:44:38,750 --> 00:44:42,333 the new Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion, 942 00:44:43,542 --> 00:44:45,083 The Honky Tonk Man. 943 00:44:48,292 --> 00:44:50,750 - Maybe in terms of a business decision, 944 00:44:50,875 --> 00:44:52,458 it was the right move, 945 00:44:52,625 --> 00:44:57,625 but I would imagine Ricky felt a little bit humiliated. 946 00:44:57,958 --> 00:45:01,167 - [Speaker] A major, major upset. 947 00:45:01,375 --> 00:45:03,667 - So right after the match, I went to Vince and I said, 948 00:45:03,750 --> 00:45:06,333 "You know those two weeks I asked off in July? 949 00:45:06,542 --> 00:45:08,375 I'm taking six months." 950 00:45:08,500 --> 00:45:11,875 - In a position that he was in, it's a good thing. 951 00:45:12,042 --> 00:45:14,667 A lot of people don't have that opportunity 952 00:45:14,833 --> 00:45:16,000 or position to do so. 953 00:45:16,250 --> 00:45:19,167 - I will have to say that my pride and ego had a lot to 954 00:45:19,292 --> 00:45:22,708 play involved in deciding to take the time off 955 00:45:22,917 --> 00:45:24,750 to go from two weeks to six months. 956 00:45:24,875 --> 00:45:27,250 (soft music) 957 00:45:32,750 --> 00:45:34,250 I chose my family over wrestling 958 00:45:34,375 --> 00:45:38,500 because I thought at that time I had given so much up 959 00:45:38,625 --> 00:45:40,250 to be a team player. 960 00:45:43,292 --> 00:45:44,958 It was something else. 961 00:45:45,083 --> 00:45:49,500 Nothing I ever experienced to that level of happiness. 962 00:45:51,083 --> 00:45:52,667 All the championships in the world, 963 00:45:52,833 --> 00:45:56,167 all the sellouts that's under your belt 964 00:45:56,292 --> 00:46:01,250 and the notoriety of who you are and what you worked for, 965 00:46:01,792 --> 00:46:04,333 it doesn't compare to that. 966 00:46:04,500 --> 00:46:06,917 I kept saying to myself, "If I was on the road, 967 00:46:07,042 --> 00:46:08,667 I would miss this moment. 968 00:46:08,875 --> 00:46:10,833 If I was on the road, I would not be able 969 00:46:10,958 --> 00:46:14,042 to capture what's going on right now with my son. 970 00:46:14,167 --> 00:46:17,417 If I was on the road, there would be things 971 00:46:17,625 --> 00:46:19,167 that I would regret." 972 00:46:20,667 --> 00:46:22,333 - That's a good decision. 973 00:46:22,417 --> 00:46:25,083 First six months, I think the first couple of years 974 00:46:25,208 --> 00:46:29,500 is the most important part of the child's life. 975 00:46:29,625 --> 00:46:31,000 - What a dad should do. 976 00:46:31,167 --> 00:46:34,667 Just shows what kind of person he wanted to be, be a dad. 977 00:46:34,792 --> 00:46:37,875 It's your first son, and to be there. 978 00:46:39,042 --> 00:46:40,708 I don't know how many diapers he changed now, 979 00:46:40,875 --> 00:46:43,167 but I'm sure he was there. 980 00:46:43,292 --> 00:46:46,500 - Here I've got a brand new son and it's the joy of my life, 981 00:46:46,708 --> 00:46:49,708 but it made me sad to know that I was going to leave. 982 00:46:49,875 --> 00:46:54,083 I had six months to spend as much time as I could. 983 00:46:54,208 --> 00:46:55,458 - [Speaker] Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat 984 00:46:55,583 --> 00:46:58,833 against "The Hammer" Valentine. 985 00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:00,875 - When he got back from taking time off, 986 00:47:01,042 --> 00:47:03,250 nothing was the same. 987 00:47:03,458 --> 00:47:05,708 - I always thought that even if I took the six months, 988 00:47:05,875 --> 00:47:09,083 I'd come back and I'd still be... 989 00:47:09,208 --> 00:47:11,667 Maybe that was the arrogance of my thought process 990 00:47:11,792 --> 00:47:16,917 that I could pick up where I left off, but it didn't happen. 991 00:47:19,375 --> 00:47:23,167 I don't regret making this decision to be at home. 992 00:47:23,333 --> 00:47:27,125 I've been hitting it hard for 12 straight years. 993 00:47:27,250 --> 00:47:29,167 It's almost like a double-edged sword. 994 00:47:29,333 --> 00:47:31,833 You're looking at your family and trying to be with them, 995 00:47:31,917 --> 00:47:34,000 and then at the same time you got a career 996 00:47:34,125 --> 00:47:36,750 you haven't completely finished yet 997 00:47:36,917 --> 00:47:39,958 and you still got a good ways to go. 998 00:47:40,125 --> 00:47:42,833 So it was a balancing act. 999 00:47:43,000 --> 00:47:44,625 - [Speaker] High cross body. 1000 00:47:44,750 --> 00:47:46,167 The Hammer turns it over. 1001 00:47:46,292 --> 00:47:47,667 He got him. 1002 00:47:47,750 --> 00:47:52,292 - After a certain period, The Dragon stopped mattering. 1003 00:47:52,375 --> 00:47:54,875 - Every two weeks I'd talk to Vincent on passing. 1004 00:47:55,042 --> 00:47:56,292 Most of the time I'd say, 1005 00:47:56,458 --> 00:47:58,000 "Hey, any Main Event spots come open?" 1006 00:47:58,167 --> 00:47:59,458 He goes, "No, not yet, Ricky." 1007 00:47:59,708 --> 00:48:02,500 Weeks went into months and then all of a sudden here it is, 1008 00:48:02,583 --> 00:48:04,125 about nine or 10 months later, 1009 00:48:04,250 --> 00:48:08,292 I just called the office and gave them my notice. 1010 00:48:08,458 --> 00:48:11,583 - Ricky left to go be with his family. 1011 00:48:11,708 --> 00:48:14,958 Rick didn't want to be on the road anymore and wanted 1012 00:48:15,042 --> 00:48:17,542 to spend time with his family and see his son grow up. 1013 00:48:17,708 --> 00:48:20,042 So he made the decision to leave. 1014 00:48:20,208 --> 00:48:22,833 - Honest truth, I would go back. 1015 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:26,000 I would only do two weeks and then come back. 1016 00:48:26,125 --> 00:48:29,000 But it rubbed me the wrong way, at that moment. 1017 00:48:29,125 --> 00:48:32,083 I don't look back at it as a regret. 1018 00:48:32,208 --> 00:48:35,458 There might have been an opportunity that I missed. 1019 00:48:39,542 --> 00:48:42,292 I think was home for just a couple of months 1020 00:48:42,417 --> 00:48:44,458 and then I went back to WCW in January of '89. 1021 00:48:45,875 --> 00:48:47,417 - [Speaker] Jim, that's Rick Steamboat. 1022 00:48:47,500 --> 00:48:48,583 It's The Dragon. 1023 00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:52,417 - It was an intriguing matchup. 1024 00:48:52,542 --> 00:48:55,125 It was Ric Flair and Barry Windham were going 1025 00:48:55,250 --> 00:48:58,125 to wrestle Eddie Gilbert and Rick Steamboat, 1026 00:48:58,250 --> 00:49:01,500 returning to the place where he became a star. 1027 00:49:01,667 --> 00:49:04,333 - [Speaker] Steamboat on fire here dominating the action. 1028 00:49:04,500 --> 00:49:05,625 Flair goes for the ride. 1029 00:49:05,750 --> 00:49:06,917 He's elevated. 1030 00:49:07,333 --> 00:49:08,875 The heavyweight champion of the world is in deep trouble 1031 00:49:09,042 --> 00:49:11,500 in this television Main Event. 1032 00:49:11,625 --> 00:49:13,000 - It's a very intense match. 1033 00:49:13,167 --> 00:49:16,917 The fans pop in the arena, the fans pop at home. 1034 00:49:17,042 --> 00:49:19,333 I popped at home when I was watching it. 1035 00:49:19,417 --> 00:49:22,375 And Ricky beats the champion, Ric Flair 1036 00:49:22,500 --> 00:49:26,708 with the high cross body block, his signature move. 1037 00:49:26,875 --> 00:49:29,500 And big things are ahead. 1038 00:49:29,667 --> 00:49:31,000 - [Speaker] Ricky Steamboat has 1039 00:49:31,167 --> 00:49:35,000 just pinned the Heavyweight Champion of the world. 1040 00:49:35,167 --> 00:49:38,083 The Dragon has returned to the NWA. 1041 00:49:42,750 --> 00:49:47,833 - Ric Flair versus Ricky Steamboat in 1989 is the Star Wars 1042 00:49:47,958 --> 00:49:49,958 of wrestling trilogies. 1043 00:49:51,458 --> 00:49:52,833 - [Speaker] What a cute little kid. 1044 00:49:52,917 --> 00:49:54,500 - [Speaker] This is the motivation magnum 1045 00:49:54,625 --> 00:49:58,500 that Ricky Steamboat is using for this contest. 1046 00:49:59,625 --> 00:50:02,000 - Ricky's matches with "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair 1047 00:50:02,125 --> 00:50:04,958 were some of the best of the best ever to be recorded. 1048 00:50:05,083 --> 00:50:06,292 - [Speaker] Each man has taken the best 1049 00:50:06,417 --> 00:50:08,042 that the other could dish out. 1050 00:50:08,167 --> 00:50:09,875 - They knew each other like the back of their hand. 1051 00:50:10,083 --> 00:50:11,792 They were just so familiar with each other. 1052 00:50:11,917 --> 00:50:13,167 - [Speaker] Each time that these two 1053 00:50:13,333 --> 00:50:14,875 admit they've been monumental matches. 1054 00:50:15,000 --> 00:50:17,542 - To me, it was like falling off a bike and you get back on 1055 00:50:17,708 --> 00:50:18,417 and ride it again. 1056 00:50:18,542 --> 00:50:19,917 We didn't miss a beat. 1057 00:50:20,042 --> 00:50:21,667 We didn't miss a step. 1058 00:50:21,833 --> 00:50:23,167 - It was like just having fun. 1059 00:50:23,333 --> 00:50:24,792 We knew nothing could touch it. 1060 00:50:24,958 --> 00:50:27,292 - [Speaker] The two finest wrestlers in the country today. 1061 00:50:27,417 --> 00:50:28,958 - They would be pulling out all the stops. 1062 00:50:29,125 --> 00:50:30,875 You knew when you were watching, 1063 00:50:31,042 --> 00:50:32,167 you were watching something special. 1064 00:50:32,500 --> 00:50:33,958 Something that people are going to talk about for years 1065 00:50:34,125 --> 00:50:35,542 and years to come. 1066 00:50:35,667 --> 00:50:36,625 - [Speaker] The people here are in awe, 1067 00:50:36,875 --> 00:50:39,292 the physical nature of this event. 1068 00:50:39,375 --> 00:50:41,375 - When you think about it, Ric Flair and Ricky 1069 00:50:41,542 --> 00:50:44,833 did the same thing with Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. 1070 00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:46,375 Ali met his match. 1071 00:50:46,542 --> 00:50:48,375 He got somebody to stand ground with him, 1072 00:50:48,542 --> 00:50:50,292 somebody could hold their own with him. 1073 00:50:50,417 --> 00:50:51,625 And that's what Ricky was. 1074 00:50:51,917 --> 00:50:55,042 He was somebody that could hold their own with Ric Flair. 1075 00:50:55,208 --> 00:50:56,792 - [Speaker] But now Flair, 1076 00:50:57,000 --> 00:51:00,083 he twists the leg inside (indistinct). 1077 00:51:00,167 --> 00:51:01,000 Can he hold him? 1078 00:51:01,125 --> 00:51:01,875 Yes, he can. 1079 00:51:02,042 --> 00:51:03,667 (bell ringing) 1080 00:51:03,833 --> 00:51:08,167 Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat has won the world title. 1081 00:51:08,250 --> 00:51:11,667 - The returning Ricky dethrones Ric Flair 1082 00:51:11,833 --> 00:51:14,833 for the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship. 1083 00:51:14,958 --> 00:51:19,833 - [Speaker] The winner and new world heavyweight champion, 1084 00:51:22,083 --> 00:51:24,458 Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. 1085 00:51:29,708 --> 00:51:30,833 - Whooo, whooo! 1086 00:51:33,542 --> 00:51:35,167 - Never had a champagne bath before, Rick. 1087 00:51:35,250 --> 00:51:36,500 - Never, never. 1088 00:51:40,042 --> 00:51:43,000 I came my way to win the championship that night. 1089 00:51:43,167 --> 00:51:44,333 Big moment. 1090 00:51:44,500 --> 00:51:45,292 Big moment. 1091 00:51:45,542 --> 00:51:47,625 I even broke down at the end of the match. 1092 00:51:47,750 --> 00:51:50,333 This is a prize that we all strive for in our business, 1093 00:51:50,458 --> 00:51:54,000 trying to be some kind of a world champion. 1094 00:51:54,167 --> 00:51:56,833 I was real happy that finally they felt the nod 1095 00:51:56,958 --> 00:51:59,000 to go in my direction. 1096 00:51:59,167 --> 00:52:03,375 And like I said earlier, that there are things 1097 00:52:03,500 --> 00:52:05,750 in the horizon that may not be so bright 1098 00:52:05,875 --> 00:52:10,167 all the time when you think you become the world champion. 1099 00:52:10,292 --> 00:52:11,458 And then, what was it? 1100 00:52:11,583 --> 00:52:13,458 A month later, I lost it to him in Nashville. 1101 00:52:13,583 --> 00:52:15,542 - [Speaker] Steamboat's got him up. 1102 00:52:15,708 --> 00:52:16,875 A slam. 1103 00:52:17,042 --> 00:52:18,750 (indistinct) 1104 00:52:18,917 --> 00:52:19,917 - He did it. - He's done it. 1105 00:52:20,042 --> 00:52:21,167 (crowd cheering) 1106 00:52:21,375 --> 00:52:23,958 Steamboat's leg buckled and Flair has done it. 1107 00:52:24,125 --> 00:52:25,542 Flair has done it. 1108 00:52:26,542 --> 00:52:27,750 (dramatic music) 1109 00:52:27,917 --> 00:52:29,000 - When I lost the championship, 1110 00:52:29,125 --> 00:52:30,833 I was looking down the road at a number 1111 00:52:30,958 --> 00:52:32,583 of return matches between Flair 1112 00:52:32,708 --> 00:52:35,667 and I to see if Ricky was going to win it back. 1113 00:52:35,750 --> 00:52:39,417 But unbeknown to me, an angle was brewing. 1114 00:52:41,375 --> 00:52:45,292 - As much work as Ricky and Flair had done together, 1115 00:52:45,375 --> 00:52:48,458 I think Ricky might have felt slighted that they were 1116 00:52:48,542 --> 00:52:51,542 so quickly in the same night, in the same moment, 1117 00:52:51,708 --> 00:52:54,500 moving on to the next thing for Flair, 1118 00:52:54,625 --> 00:52:57,333 and didn't necessarily have anything planned for Steamboat. 1119 00:52:57,417 --> 00:53:00,750 - After I lost, Terry Funk comes running out, 1120 00:53:00,917 --> 00:53:03,125 grabs Flair, beats him up and pile drives him 1121 00:53:03,208 --> 00:53:04,792 on the announcement table. 1122 00:53:04,875 --> 00:53:09,250 And right before my very eyes, they created an angle. 1123 00:53:09,375 --> 00:53:12,250 No return matches with Ric Flair. 1124 00:53:14,042 --> 00:53:15,750 I only had a one-year deal, 1125 00:53:15,875 --> 00:53:17,917 and I thought that I could prove myself in one year 1126 00:53:18,042 --> 00:53:21,750 to the company to warrant a good contract. 1127 00:53:21,875 --> 00:53:24,167 And when I had a meeting with the higher ups, 1128 00:53:24,375 --> 00:53:27,208 they wanted to cut my pay in half. 1129 00:53:29,542 --> 00:53:32,250 And I said, "I don't think so." 1130 00:53:38,208 --> 00:53:40,375 - [Crowd] Steamboat, Steamboat, Steamboat. 1131 00:53:40,458 --> 00:53:44,458 - From '87 up to '89, for almost those two years 1132 00:53:47,250 --> 00:53:49,875 was high emotions, low emotions. 1133 00:53:51,125 --> 00:53:55,125 From '87, that WrestleMania match with me and Savage- 1134 00:53:55,292 --> 00:53:56,708 - [Speaker] (indistinct) and Steamboat, 1135 00:53:56,875 --> 00:54:00,917 the new Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion. 1136 00:54:01,000 --> 00:54:02,833 - And then I got fired. 1137 00:54:03,875 --> 00:54:06,833 Highs were so high for winning the world championship 1138 00:54:07,000 --> 00:54:09,292 and having classic matches with my old friend, 1139 00:54:09,458 --> 00:54:13,333 and number one guy that taught me so much, 1140 00:54:13,417 --> 00:54:15,500 just to get squashed out. 1141 00:54:18,042 --> 00:54:19,458 High emotions, low emotions. 1142 00:54:19,625 --> 00:54:23,833 It would play a factor on, believe this or not, 1143 00:54:24,042 --> 00:54:26,250 maybe it's time to bow out? 1144 00:54:29,875 --> 00:54:33,667 I was also thinking that I've got a newborn 1145 00:54:34,708 --> 00:54:37,917 and a couple good years for college money, 1146 00:54:39,542 --> 00:54:42,375 and I was still physically sound. 1147 00:54:44,375 --> 00:54:48,000 I will tell you this, I didn't question my inability 1148 00:54:48,083 --> 00:54:50,375 to work at another company. 1149 00:54:52,583 --> 00:54:53,750 I never questioned that. 1150 00:54:54,125 --> 00:54:57,708 I knew my stock value was good, and if I wanted to go back 1151 00:54:57,875 --> 00:55:01,042 to WWE, it was just a phone call away. 1152 00:55:02,667 --> 00:55:06,417 In '91, when I came back to WWE, Vince said, 1153 00:55:06,583 --> 00:55:08,458 "We want to repackage you." 1154 00:55:08,625 --> 00:55:11,042 - I think Vince McMahon felt he needed 1155 00:55:11,208 --> 00:55:16,042 a little something extra to connect with the WWE audience, 1156 00:55:17,083 --> 00:55:19,000 and that's where we got The Dragon. 1157 00:55:19,167 --> 00:55:21,833 (dramatic music) 1158 00:55:22,958 --> 00:55:27,542 So when Ricky comes back, he's wearing a giant headdress 1159 00:55:28,667 --> 00:55:31,958 and he's got a cape that looks like dragon wings 1160 00:55:32,083 --> 00:55:33,667 and a tail that comes down. 1161 00:55:33,792 --> 00:55:36,417 And of course, like any great athlete, 1162 00:55:36,583 --> 00:55:39,542 he has to learn how to breathe fire. 1163 00:55:40,875 --> 00:55:43,042 - In looking at the presentation of Rick Steamboat, 1164 00:55:43,167 --> 00:55:46,500 it was just a guy that called himself The Dragon, 1165 00:55:46,667 --> 00:55:49,333 but we wanted to turn Rick Steamboat, 1166 00:55:49,500 --> 00:55:51,583 "The Dragon" Ricky Steamboat, 1167 00:55:51,708 --> 00:55:54,500 into an actual dragon, a fire breathing dragon 1168 00:55:54,667 --> 00:55:56,792 because that's what dragons do. 1169 00:55:56,875 --> 00:55:59,208 (dramatic music) 1170 00:55:59,375 --> 00:56:00,500 - You've been Ricky "The Dragon", 1171 00:56:00,667 --> 00:56:02,375 you need to get a dragon's outfit, 1172 00:56:02,500 --> 00:56:07,208 and I'm going to have you learn how to blow fire. 1173 00:56:07,333 --> 00:56:10,708 - We went on a search for fire breathers, 1174 00:56:12,417 --> 00:56:16,375 and we spent a couple weeks with a fire breather 1175 00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:21,500 in a circus learning how to breathe fire. 1176 00:56:25,500 --> 00:56:28,625 - I learned from a guy in Florida named Brian LaPalme. 1177 00:56:28,750 --> 00:56:30,667 LaPalme was so excited on showing me he wanted 1178 00:56:30,875 --> 00:56:32,833 to show me outside, and it was a bit windy 1179 00:56:33,042 --> 00:56:34,167 down there in Florida. 1180 00:56:34,292 --> 00:56:35,708 So he got a mouthful of kerosene, 1181 00:56:35,875 --> 00:56:38,333 and just as he went to blow into the torch, 1182 00:56:38,500 --> 00:56:40,875 the wind shifted and he blew it all in his face. 1183 00:56:40,958 --> 00:56:43,083 And now, I'm looking at this guy running 1184 00:56:43,208 --> 00:56:45,500 around with his face on fire. 1185 00:56:45,667 --> 00:56:50,417 - Rick looked at me and said, "I'm not doing that." 1186 00:56:50,583 --> 00:56:51,583 - He said, "Man, it's okay. 1187 00:56:51,708 --> 00:56:53,250 It's just superficial. 1188 00:56:53,375 --> 00:56:55,500 Just, look, superficial." 1189 00:56:56,583 --> 00:57:00,000 He says, "Come on, let me teach it" 1190 00:57:00,167 --> 00:57:02,333 - [Speaker] First, he's going to start with his hands up. 1191 00:57:02,417 --> 00:57:03,500 Fire lit. 1192 00:57:03,625 --> 00:57:06,542 Then he's going to take it, blow it. 1193 00:57:07,583 --> 00:57:10,167 - Holy (beeping). (blowing) 1194 00:57:10,375 --> 00:57:12,000 - First time Rick came out with the fire, 1195 00:57:12,083 --> 00:57:16,750 the crowd's ooh-ing and ahh-ing, and then, spectacular. 1196 00:57:19,208 --> 00:57:21,917 (dramatic music) 1197 00:57:24,875 --> 00:57:27,625 - It's cool seeing Ricky come out dressed as a dragon 1198 00:57:27,792 --> 00:57:29,833 and breathing fire and everything, 1199 00:57:30,042 --> 00:57:33,833 but he didn't have any meaningful stories 1200 00:57:33,917 --> 00:57:36,708 the entire time that he was a fire breather. 1201 00:57:36,833 --> 00:57:39,667 - [Speaker] Nothing worse than a sagging dragon. 1202 00:57:39,833 --> 00:57:43,083 - He won matches or he might have lost matches. 1203 00:57:43,292 --> 00:57:44,750 Nobody really remembers because none 1204 00:57:44,875 --> 00:57:49,042 of the matches really had a lot of meaning to them. 1205 00:57:49,167 --> 00:57:50,333 - [Speaker] Oh, right through the legs. 1206 00:57:50,458 --> 00:57:51,375 Look, now. 1207 00:57:51,583 --> 00:57:52,375 - [Speaker] Something about The Dragon, 1208 00:57:52,542 --> 00:57:53,417 he takes it right to you. 1209 00:57:53,542 --> 00:57:55,000 - [Speaker] Cross-body, a beauty. 1210 00:57:55,208 --> 00:57:55,917 Forget it. 1211 00:57:57,500 --> 00:58:01,250 - I was not in a position of main events. 1212 00:58:01,375 --> 00:58:02,792 The Dragon's outfit and the blowing fire 1213 00:58:02,875 --> 00:58:04,958 didn't last but maybe 10 months or something, 1214 00:58:05,125 --> 00:58:07,208 and then I went back to WCW. 1215 00:58:08,917 --> 00:58:10,333 - [Speaker] What an entrance. 1216 00:58:10,417 --> 00:58:11,833 Fans going nuts. 1217 00:58:14,125 --> 00:58:18,625 - And I was with Shane Douglas and we were a tag team. 1218 00:58:18,708 --> 00:58:20,292 - It really was the blessing of my career, 1219 00:58:20,375 --> 00:58:21,542 getting put with him. 1220 00:58:21,667 --> 00:58:22,708 He's Ricky Steamboat. 1221 00:58:22,833 --> 00:58:25,083 He's on the Mount Rushmore. 1222 00:58:27,125 --> 00:58:28,417 - [Speaker] Steamboat and Douglas now, 1223 00:58:28,542 --> 00:58:30,833 with some explosive offense. 1224 00:58:34,000 --> 00:58:35,625 - We would get into the car at night 1225 00:58:35,833 --> 00:58:37,500 and have these long drives. 1226 00:58:37,583 --> 00:58:39,708 I mean, you go on the road and you're home 1227 00:58:39,833 --> 00:58:41,750 for about that much of the year. 1228 00:58:41,875 --> 00:58:46,792 And so, I know that Ricky just was gaga over being a father. 1229 00:58:47,708 --> 00:58:50,583 And when we were together, Richie was four, 1230 00:58:50,750 --> 00:58:54,792 and he wanted to be home and be a dad and provide. 1231 00:58:54,958 --> 00:58:56,458 Ricky wrestled with that. 1232 00:58:56,583 --> 00:58:58,667 It was a real, like this for him. 1233 00:58:58,750 --> 00:59:01,417 His marriage was starting to falter a bit 1234 00:59:01,542 --> 00:59:06,167 and he was not around Richie as much as he wanted to be. 1235 00:59:06,375 --> 00:59:07,667 - It's hard to be a family man. 1236 00:59:07,792 --> 00:59:10,792 It's hard to be a husband, it's hard to be a father 1237 00:59:10,875 --> 00:59:12,708 if you're a pro wrestler. 1238 00:59:12,833 --> 00:59:17,000 It weighs on a family and it weighs on a husband 1239 00:59:17,167 --> 00:59:20,833 and wife relationship when you were gone 250 1240 00:59:22,333 --> 00:59:24,167 to 300 days a year. 1241 00:59:24,250 --> 00:59:26,875 - That was one of the sacrifices that he made was 1242 00:59:27,000 --> 00:59:28,750 to be on a road to support his family, 1243 00:59:28,875 --> 00:59:31,625 to give them that good life to live. 1244 00:59:31,708 --> 00:59:35,667 I'm sure at times, it probably broke his heart. 1245 00:59:36,958 --> 00:59:39,500 - I would be gone a lot, be away a lot, 1246 00:59:39,667 --> 00:59:41,833 be away from home a lot. 1247 00:59:42,000 --> 00:59:45,625 And I kind of felt I need to do what I need to do now 1248 00:59:45,792 --> 00:59:48,875 to help prepare myself for the future. 1249 00:59:50,042 --> 00:59:51,083 - For someone who's not been in the ring, 1250 00:59:51,250 --> 00:59:52,500 you have to understand that there's so many 1251 00:59:52,583 --> 00:59:54,000 of these ingredients that go into it. 1252 00:59:54,083 --> 00:59:55,458 You're on the road, you're tired, 1253 00:59:55,542 --> 00:59:57,208 you're away from home forever, 1254 00:59:57,333 --> 00:59:59,583 but you got to go out and give this audience their match. 1255 00:59:59,708 --> 01:00:00,917 - [Speaker] All right? 1256 01:00:01,208 --> 01:00:02,500 The youngster, Shane Douglas, who's aligned himself 1257 01:00:02,667 --> 01:00:03,833 with a veteran, Ricky Steamboat. 1258 01:00:03,958 --> 01:00:06,042 They know each other quite well. 1259 01:00:06,125 --> 01:00:07,333 Oh, it's the team work and the champions 1260 01:00:07,417 --> 01:00:08,625 coming through here. 1261 01:00:08,833 --> 01:00:12,083 - I wanted to be there in the last twilight years, 1262 01:00:12,208 --> 01:00:16,917 and maybe coach or pass the torch and help out and teach. 1263 01:00:19,542 --> 01:00:20,875 - I credit it with having taken me 1264 01:00:21,000 --> 01:00:23,500 from being a junior partner in tag team 1265 01:00:23,667 --> 01:00:25,708 to being a main event later in ECW, 1266 01:00:25,792 --> 01:00:28,667 because most of what I was doing there was built on 1267 01:00:28,833 --> 01:00:31,667 what I learned with Ricky there. 1268 01:00:31,875 --> 01:00:34,083 - This was the next group of guys, right? 1269 01:00:34,208 --> 01:00:36,583 This is the next generation, the Shane Douglas' 1270 01:00:36,708 --> 01:00:38,958 and the Steve Austins. 1271 01:00:39,083 --> 01:00:41,917 - [Speaker] Stunning Steve Austin. 1272 01:00:43,500 --> 01:00:48,250 - I went to WCW and said, "This kid Austin, he's got it." 1273 01:00:49,708 --> 01:00:53,000 I told the WCW higher ups, I would suggest 1274 01:00:53,167 --> 01:00:55,792 to give him some more air time on TV 1275 01:00:55,875 --> 01:00:59,417 and maybe feature him a little bit more. 1276 01:00:59,542 --> 01:01:02,042 - [Speaker] I see a lot more confidence zooming off 1277 01:01:02,167 --> 01:01:03,125 of Austin. 1278 01:01:03,375 --> 01:01:04,708 - [Speaker] Personally, my favorite guy I'd ever get 1279 01:01:04,875 --> 01:01:07,167 in the ring with because he was so good. 1280 01:01:07,375 --> 01:01:09,917 - Ricky saw that I had something back then, 1281 01:01:10,042 --> 01:01:12,375 and because he'd already been with the WWE before, 1282 01:01:12,500 --> 01:01:15,083 he was a great guy that I could ask advice from. 1283 01:01:15,250 --> 01:01:18,500 - [Speaker] Steamboat and Stunning Steve, now the new battle 1284 01:01:18,667 --> 01:01:20,625 for the US title. 1285 01:01:20,708 --> 01:01:23,333 - We're having a match in Roanoke, Virginia, 1286 01:01:23,458 --> 01:01:25,042 and lost my balance. 1287 01:01:25,208 --> 01:01:26,833 - [Speaker] And Stunning Steve, they just continue 1288 01:01:26,917 --> 01:01:29,333 to battle on this turnbuckle. 1289 01:01:29,500 --> 01:01:33,833 - [Ricky] I slipped and ended up herniating a disc, 1290 01:01:35,208 --> 01:01:38,750 putting an hairline in a vertebrae fracture. 1291 01:01:38,917 --> 01:01:41,208 Very last match of my career. 1292 01:01:45,542 --> 01:01:48,042 - [Speaker] Steamboat and Stunning Steve now, to do battle 1293 01:01:48,208 --> 01:01:49,417 for the US title. 1294 01:01:51,167 --> 01:01:54,875 - Steve Austin, who is my very last match of my career. 1295 01:01:55,000 --> 01:01:57,458 A lot of guys put baby oil, including myself, 1296 01:01:57,625 --> 01:01:58,875 just to give a little shine, 1297 01:01:59,042 --> 01:02:02,167 and a lot of that gets rubbed off on the corners. 1298 01:02:02,333 --> 01:02:05,500 And you could stand on it and slip. 1299 01:02:05,625 --> 01:02:08,958 I was supposed to take a bump backwards into the ring. 1300 01:02:09,042 --> 01:02:13,208 As I was pushing off to get some distance, I slipped, 1301 01:02:13,375 --> 01:02:17,833 landing in almost a sit-up position on my tailbone. 1302 01:02:19,125 --> 01:02:22,458 - He had probably done that 10,000 times in his career. 1303 01:02:22,583 --> 01:02:25,833 But if you go out and you do something 10,000 times, 1304 01:02:25,958 --> 01:02:27,000 there might be a chance that 1305 01:02:27,167 --> 01:02:29,250 on that 10,001st time you might trip. 1306 01:02:29,375 --> 01:02:31,708 Something might not be in the right place. 1307 01:02:31,833 --> 01:02:35,000 And when he took that bump and he went 1308 01:02:35,167 --> 01:02:38,500 to do the backward roll, I saw him throw his hand back. 1309 01:02:38,625 --> 01:02:40,417 For me, I knew that with Ricky, 1310 01:02:40,542 --> 01:02:43,000 if he's selling this like this, he must really be hurt, 1311 01:02:43,125 --> 01:02:47,792 because Ricky would never go to the hospital on his own. 1312 01:02:48,958 --> 01:02:50,167 - And when I got back home to Charlotte, 1313 01:02:50,333 --> 01:02:52,250 I went to the Charlotte Spine Center and they said, 1314 01:02:52,375 --> 01:02:55,500 "Yeah, you've got a pretty serious herniated disc." 1315 01:02:55,625 --> 01:02:56,750 They did say it looked 1316 01:02:57,083 --> 01:02:58,375 like it might have been accumulation of over the years 1317 01:02:58,542 --> 01:03:01,167 of wrestling, those two vertebraes being compressed 1318 01:03:01,250 --> 01:03:05,792 so many times for it to finally herniate out the side. 1319 01:03:09,083 --> 01:03:11,208 After being in the business of wrestling 1320 01:03:11,333 --> 01:03:12,375 for almost 20 years, 1321 01:03:12,625 --> 01:03:16,833 this was the first real serious injury that I suffered. 1322 01:03:19,958 --> 01:03:21,833 That injury forced me to retire, 1323 01:03:21,917 --> 01:03:25,167 or to take a serious consideration. 1324 01:03:25,333 --> 01:03:27,375 It was almost like a double-edged sword on my feelings. 1325 01:03:27,458 --> 01:03:29,958 I was kind of sad that I was getting out because I'd been in 1326 01:03:30,042 --> 01:03:31,917 and I was still doing well, 1327 01:03:32,042 --> 01:03:36,042 and then because of this injury, it left a little bit 1328 01:03:36,167 --> 01:03:38,292 of a sour taste in my mouth. 1329 01:03:38,375 --> 01:03:42,458 - [Speaker] The winner and new United States 1330 01:03:42,583 --> 01:03:46,958 Heavyweight Champion, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. 1331 01:03:53,333 --> 01:03:55,875 - When I decided to get out, I forfeited the belt. 1332 01:03:56,042 --> 01:03:59,250 Things that were going through my mind obviously was, 1333 01:03:59,417 --> 01:04:00,542 what do I do now? 1334 01:04:04,583 --> 01:04:08,167 I started spending some more time being around the house 1335 01:04:08,333 --> 01:04:12,958 and being able to do that, but I guess that didn't work, 1336 01:04:13,125 --> 01:04:15,708 and I was getting divorced. 1337 01:04:15,875 --> 01:04:18,250 Didn't see that coming. 1338 01:04:18,375 --> 01:04:21,250 Here I was, off the road and home. 1339 01:04:23,625 --> 01:04:26,167 I was reading the Sunday paper. 1340 01:04:28,750 --> 01:04:31,125 She goes, "I want a divorce." 1341 01:04:34,333 --> 01:04:35,125 "Okay. 1342 01:04:39,792 --> 01:04:41,625 What are you talking about? 1343 01:04:41,708 --> 01:04:43,583 Why do you..." 1344 01:04:43,708 --> 01:04:44,750 None of that. 1345 01:04:44,875 --> 01:04:46,292 I don't know why. 1346 01:04:47,500 --> 01:04:52,333 I don't know, maybe she liked me being away. (laughing) 1347 01:04:59,583 --> 01:05:02,083 (soft music) 1348 01:05:03,958 --> 01:05:08,958 My love for cars started just as I became an early teenager. 1349 01:05:10,750 --> 01:05:12,542 My father retired from the military, 1350 01:05:12,708 --> 01:05:13,958 moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, 1351 01:05:14,083 --> 01:05:15,208 and the first thing he went out 1352 01:05:15,375 --> 01:05:17,500 and got me was a go-kart. 1353 01:05:17,625 --> 01:05:22,667 I got to learn the basic mechanics off of this go-kart. 1354 01:05:23,083 --> 01:05:26,708 Then I had '65 GTOs and I had '67, '68 Camaros. 1355 01:05:27,833 --> 01:05:29,458 When I had the Camaro, that's when I started venturing 1356 01:05:29,542 --> 01:05:32,542 to the drag strip and doing very well with the car. 1357 01:05:32,708 --> 01:05:34,667 That was my first introduction. 1358 01:05:34,833 --> 01:05:35,542 I was 17. 1359 01:05:37,458 --> 01:05:40,042 But up until about five years ago, 1360 01:05:40,208 --> 01:05:42,958 I really didn't have anything in the garage. 1361 01:05:43,083 --> 01:05:45,292 And five years ago, I started looking around. 1362 01:05:45,417 --> 01:05:47,333 I wanted something a little bit newer, 1363 01:05:47,458 --> 01:05:51,542 and so I started looking at Shelby, Cobra Mustangs. 1364 01:05:54,375 --> 01:05:55,583 Take a look. 1365 01:05:55,750 --> 01:05:59,083 What attracted me to this year car of Mustang '07, 1366 01:05:59,208 --> 01:06:02,417 is that the body lines are like second generation Mustang, 1367 01:06:02,542 --> 01:06:06,083 '69, '70, because that was the era I grew up in high school. 1368 01:06:06,250 --> 01:06:09,250 So I wanted to have that look, 1369 01:06:09,375 --> 01:06:12,917 so I ended up cutting a hole in the hood. 1370 01:06:13,042 --> 01:06:14,708 Then I cut these relief holes here. 1371 01:06:14,917 --> 01:06:17,167 There's vents up top where the heat that's coming off, 1372 01:06:17,292 --> 01:06:19,500 the headers can go up through here. 1373 01:06:19,625 --> 01:06:21,917 Over there, as the rear end that came out of it, 1374 01:06:22,083 --> 01:06:25,042 and I put it in a heavy duty nine inch Currie 1375 01:06:25,208 --> 01:06:27,292 made rear end to handle the horsepower. 1376 01:06:27,417 --> 01:06:31,458 That was the weak link on the drivetrain. 1377 01:06:31,625 --> 01:06:34,792 - That's one big thing I see of my brother. 1378 01:06:34,875 --> 01:06:39,417 He's a fairly quiet man until he gets in his hot rods. 1379 01:06:42,083 --> 01:06:43,667 - I'm pretty mechanically inclined, 1380 01:06:43,792 --> 01:06:45,583 so that's how Richie got started. 1381 01:06:45,708 --> 01:06:48,625 And Charlotte being the hub for NASCAR, 1382 01:06:48,708 --> 01:06:50,583 they had racing for kids. 1383 01:06:51,750 --> 01:06:53,917 The cars were called Bandoleros. 1384 01:06:54,083 --> 01:06:57,250 We raced it for about three years. 1385 01:06:57,417 --> 01:07:01,333 Lot of hours together, lot of hours together. 1386 01:07:01,417 --> 01:07:03,750 It was a good bonding time. 1387 01:07:05,833 --> 01:07:09,750 My son and I grew really close with this racing, 1388 01:07:13,250 --> 01:07:17,667 but at the same time, I missed the time in the ring. 1389 01:07:17,792 --> 01:07:21,250 Every other aspect of the business, I was not a fan of. 1390 01:07:21,417 --> 01:07:24,792 The travel, the being away, the politics. 1391 01:07:24,875 --> 01:07:26,167 - [Speaker] Welcome back. 1392 01:07:26,333 --> 01:07:29,333 Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. 1393 01:07:29,458 --> 01:07:38,042 - [Ricky] The time in the ring is what I missed. 1394 01:07:38,042 --> 01:07:41,333 - In 2005, I got a call from talent relations. 1395 01:07:41,542 --> 01:07:44,875 "How'd you like to be a producer for WWE? 1396 01:07:46,500 --> 01:07:49,792 You will be assigned a couple of matches to oversee them 1397 01:07:49,917 --> 01:07:53,083 to make sure that the end of the match, the product 1398 01:07:53,250 --> 01:07:55,542 is what the company wants." 1399 01:07:56,583 --> 01:07:58,458 I said, "I'd be happy to come in and help out, 1400 01:07:58,583 --> 01:07:59,750 but you need to talk to Vince 1401 01:07:59,875 --> 01:08:03,458 because we did not have a good departing." 1402 01:08:05,167 --> 01:08:06,875 I'll never forget, as I walked into the building, 1403 01:08:07,042 --> 01:08:11,625 lo and behold, the first guy I run into was Vince McMahon. 1404 01:08:11,792 --> 01:08:14,583 And he came right up to me and shook my hand and said, 1405 01:08:14,667 --> 01:08:15,833 "Welcome aboard." 1406 01:08:18,792 --> 01:08:22,250 The last time we talked, he said, "You're fired. 1407 01:08:22,375 --> 01:08:24,417 Find your own way home." 1408 01:08:25,708 --> 01:08:27,250 So, what a change. 1409 01:08:30,083 --> 01:08:33,000 - I liked it when Ricky was a producer at WWE. 1410 01:08:33,125 --> 01:08:34,292 I was a fan of his. 1411 01:08:34,458 --> 01:08:36,333 I think everybody was, so it was cool 1412 01:08:36,542 --> 01:08:40,208 to think maybe he could help give some insight to my match. 1413 01:08:40,417 --> 01:08:43,167 - Boom, bang, bang, bang. 1414 01:08:43,292 --> 01:08:47,500 - But I got a chance to have him as my agent in many 1415 01:08:47,583 --> 01:08:48,833 of my matches. 1416 01:08:49,042 --> 01:08:53,042 I'm grateful to been able to have given that opportunity 1417 01:08:53,167 --> 01:08:55,708 to pick his brain just that much. 1418 01:08:57,958 --> 01:09:01,417 - I'm back into this routine now of being gone. 1419 01:09:01,583 --> 01:09:04,750 At this point, around 250 days a year, 1420 01:09:06,667 --> 01:09:10,458 which then at that time was also hard on family. 1421 01:09:10,583 --> 01:09:13,917 At the time, I had to remarried, and I could see how 1422 01:09:14,083 --> 01:09:17,167 that was wearing on the marriage, 1423 01:09:17,292 --> 01:09:21,500 but I wanted to get back to the wrestling business. 1424 01:09:23,875 --> 01:09:26,625 (dramatic music) 1425 01:09:28,958 --> 01:09:31,250 When you start out in the wrestling business, 1426 01:09:31,417 --> 01:09:33,292 you start knowing where you're going 1427 01:09:33,458 --> 01:09:37,417 to be on the ground level, opening matches. 1428 01:09:37,542 --> 01:09:40,375 And then you wonder, "Will I ever be good enough 1429 01:09:40,542 --> 01:09:43,792 or get good enough to make main events?" 1430 01:09:45,083 --> 01:09:48,292 - So, you want to slip them up or down? 1431 01:09:49,542 --> 01:09:51,167 - And once you reach main events, you say, 1432 01:09:51,333 --> 01:09:54,583 "Am I going to ever have a championship?" 1433 01:09:56,750 --> 01:09:59,333 Then you wonder, "Will I ever be inducted 1434 01:09:59,500 --> 01:10:01,375 in the Hall of Fame?" 1435 01:10:02,667 --> 01:10:03,792 The last piece. 1436 01:10:16,083 --> 01:10:17,625 And that happened. 1437 01:10:20,417 --> 01:10:22,250 - You worked hard for this. 1438 01:10:22,375 --> 01:10:23,125 Congratulations. 1439 01:10:23,292 --> 01:10:23,917 - Thank you, boss. 1440 01:10:24,042 --> 01:10:24,833 I mean that. 1441 01:10:25,000 --> 01:10:25,792 I mean it. 1442 01:10:26,792 --> 01:10:28,625 (crowd cheering) 1443 01:10:28,750 --> 01:10:31,958 - Over a 36-year period, when I'm asked 1444 01:10:33,458 --> 01:10:35,458 who my greatest opponent was, the answer 1445 01:10:35,583 --> 01:10:38,042 is always Ricky Steamboat. 1446 01:10:38,167 --> 01:10:40,875 (crowd cheering) 1447 01:10:42,750 --> 01:10:44,625 Ladies and gentlemen, it's my honor 1448 01:10:44,708 --> 01:10:49,000 to induct my friend, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. 1449 01:10:49,167 --> 01:10:51,583 (crowd cheering) 1450 01:10:51,708 --> 01:10:55,958 - [Crowd] Steamboat, Steamboat, Steamboat, Steamboat. 1451 01:10:58,875 --> 01:11:01,583 (crowd cheering) 1452 01:11:06,083 --> 01:11:07,167 - He couldn't believe it. 1453 01:11:07,333 --> 01:11:08,333 Not worthy of this. 1454 01:11:08,458 --> 01:11:10,167 He didn't felt worthy. 1455 01:11:10,375 --> 01:11:11,333 That's why people like him 1456 01:11:11,417 --> 01:11:13,667 so much is that humbleness about him. 1457 01:11:13,875 --> 01:11:18,333 He rather brag about you than he'll brag about himself. 1458 01:11:22,208 --> 01:11:24,667 - I knew I was going to break down, but I didn't know it was 1459 01:11:24,750 --> 01:11:27,750 before I was going to start talking. 1460 01:11:29,542 --> 01:11:31,875 When I look back 35 years ago and visualize 1461 01:11:32,042 --> 01:11:34,167 what this business has given me, 1462 01:11:34,292 --> 01:11:37,375 I cannot help but be passionate and humbled 1463 01:11:37,542 --> 01:11:40,000 with what I've been blessed with. 1464 01:11:40,208 --> 01:11:42,458 (audience applauding) 1465 01:11:42,625 --> 01:11:44,792 You see, ladies and gentlemen, my rewards are not measured 1466 01:11:44,917 --> 01:11:46,792 in wins and losses. 1467 01:11:47,000 --> 01:11:50,583 It was about the performance, the match, 1468 01:11:50,708 --> 01:11:55,208 to know you left everything you had in that ring. 1469 01:11:55,333 --> 01:11:57,542 I want to stand here and thank all of you 1470 01:11:57,708 --> 01:12:01,792 for giving this moment, this Hall of Fame moment. 1471 01:12:03,125 --> 01:12:06,083 I'd like to give a special thanks, Richie Steamboat, 1472 01:12:06,208 --> 01:12:07,542 where are you? 1473 01:12:07,667 --> 01:12:11,042 Hopefully, someday, a future WWE superstar. 1474 01:12:12,958 --> 01:12:16,667 I stand before you, so proud, so humbled, 1475 01:12:16,750 --> 01:12:19,667 to be in the 2009 WWE Hall of Fame. 1476 01:12:21,542 --> 01:12:22,458 Thank you, everyone. 1477 01:12:22,542 --> 01:12:25,750 (audience applauding) 1478 01:12:26,875 --> 01:12:29,958 - The night after Rick was inducted into the WWE Hall 1479 01:12:30,083 --> 01:12:35,083 of Fame, he took part in a legend's match at WrestleMania. 1480 01:12:35,625 --> 01:12:37,375 - [Speaker] Welcome to the wonderment 1481 01:12:37,500 --> 01:12:40,833 of the 25th anniversary of WrestleMania. 1482 01:12:45,542 --> 01:12:48,750 - [Ricky] I was more worried about, I'm 56 years old. 1483 01:12:48,875 --> 01:12:51,792 I had not had a match in 15 years. 1484 01:12:52,958 --> 01:12:55,625 - [Speaker] And here comes The Dragon. 1485 01:12:55,750 --> 01:12:58,208 Well, Steamboat looks in great shape. 1486 01:12:58,375 --> 01:13:01,667 - It's a three-on-one handicap match at WrestleMania 25. 1487 01:13:01,792 --> 01:13:04,875 Chris Jericho versus Rowdy Roddy Piper, 1488 01:13:05,083 --> 01:13:07,542 "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, and for the first time 1489 01:13:07,708 --> 01:13:09,625 in a ring since 1994. 1490 01:13:09,750 --> 01:13:13,125 - [Speaker] Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. 1491 01:13:14,375 --> 01:13:19,000 - As a fan, I remember looking at this match as a spectacle. 1492 01:13:19,083 --> 01:13:22,042 It'll be fun to see the old timers again. 1493 01:13:22,208 --> 01:13:26,792 And all of a sudden, Ricky's Steamboat gets in the ring, 1494 01:13:26,958 --> 01:13:29,875 and it's like he jumped into a time machine. 1495 01:13:30,042 --> 01:13:31,208 - [Speaker] Whoa. 1496 01:13:32,667 --> 01:13:33,875 That's will, ladies and gentlemen. 1497 01:13:34,042 --> 01:13:35,333 Ooh, that's passsion. 1498 01:13:35,458 --> 01:13:36,583 Look at Steamboat go. 1499 01:13:36,708 --> 01:13:39,750 We've turned back the hands of time. 1500 01:13:40,792 --> 01:13:43,417 - And my jaw was on the floor. 1501 01:13:43,542 --> 01:13:44,875 And I go, "Oh my God. 1502 01:13:45,042 --> 01:13:46,542 Ricky's still got it." 1503 01:13:46,708 --> 01:13:48,167 - [Speaker] I love the vintage. 1504 01:13:48,375 --> 01:13:49,833 Oh, and a great arm drag. 1505 01:13:50,042 --> 01:13:51,458 The Dragon. 1506 01:13:51,542 --> 01:13:53,875 (indistinct) Ricky Steamboat. 1507 01:13:54,000 --> 01:13:56,875 - Him and Jericho had a hell of a match. 1508 01:13:57,042 --> 01:13:58,042 (indistinct) 1509 01:13:58,167 --> 01:14:00,833 (crowd cheering) 1510 01:14:03,958 --> 01:14:07,458 - Jericho was so impressed, and even Vince was so, 1511 01:14:07,667 --> 01:14:09,625 watching me working the ring. 1512 01:14:09,792 --> 01:14:11,167 Vince shook my hand. 1513 01:14:11,292 --> 01:14:14,167 He said, "You ain't lost a step." 1514 01:14:14,375 --> 01:14:15,833 Well, three weeks later, 1515 01:14:16,000 --> 01:14:18,500 they have another pay-per-view called Backlash. 1516 01:14:18,583 --> 01:14:19,833 So I'm looking through it and I'm looking 1517 01:14:19,958 --> 01:14:21,833 at match number one, match number two, match... 1518 01:14:22,000 --> 01:14:25,417 Then I also look, oh, Steamboat versus Jericho. 1519 01:14:25,542 --> 01:14:27,500 And I went, "What?" 1520 01:14:27,625 --> 01:14:30,708 I look up at Vince and Vince is going- 1521 01:14:32,542 --> 01:14:33,667 I said, "What's going on?" 1522 01:14:34,042 --> 01:14:37,083 He says, "Well, you did so good with the legends match, 1523 01:14:37,208 --> 01:14:39,500 but Jericho wanted to really have his hand 1524 01:14:39,625 --> 01:14:42,000 at you in his singles." 1525 01:14:42,167 --> 01:14:43,500 - [Speaker] Can Jericho believe that that 1526 01:14:43,667 --> 01:14:44,917 just happened to him? 1527 01:14:45,042 --> 01:14:46,167 Don't you have to admit that this 1528 01:14:46,250 --> 01:14:47,333 is far more competitive a match 1529 01:14:47,458 --> 01:14:48,708 than you thought it would be? 1530 01:14:49,000 --> 01:14:52,167 - [Speaker] Magnificent effort from this WWE Hall of Famer. 1531 01:14:52,375 --> 01:14:53,583 Oh no. 1532 01:14:53,708 --> 01:14:54,750 - [Speaker] You got to be kidding me. 1533 01:14:54,875 --> 01:14:55,625 - [Speaker] Look at this. 1534 01:14:55,708 --> 01:14:56,708 You have got to be... 1535 01:14:56,875 --> 01:14:59,833 Oh my goodness. - You still got it, baby. 1536 01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:02,500 - It felt great because I was getting a bunch of pat 1537 01:15:02,708 --> 01:15:04,458 on the backs from some of the younger kids 1538 01:15:04,583 --> 01:15:05,750 that were watching my match. 1539 01:15:05,958 --> 01:15:10,083 But I'll tell you this, at 56 years old, my skeleton, 1540 01:15:10,208 --> 01:15:12,833 my joints, I was happy that I did it, 1541 01:15:13,042 --> 01:15:15,042 but then I was happy, "Okay, I've done it. 1542 01:15:15,167 --> 01:15:15,833 It's done. 1543 01:15:16,000 --> 01:15:17,042 It's over." 1544 01:15:17,375 --> 01:15:19,750 - [Speaker] Magnificent effort from this WWE Hall of Famer, 1545 01:15:19,917 --> 01:15:23,792 who we could have seen here for the last time. 1546 01:15:29,292 --> 01:15:30,167 Oh, got one more. 1547 01:15:31,250 --> 01:15:33,292 - I feel it was important to continue training 1548 01:15:33,375 --> 01:15:35,875 even when I retired from wrestling. 1549 01:15:36,042 --> 01:15:36,792 - [Speaker] Go back towards me. 1550 01:15:36,875 --> 01:15:37,833 Back towards me, Rick. 1551 01:15:38,042 --> 01:15:38,500 Good. 1552 01:15:38,708 --> 01:15:39,583 Up, good. 1553 01:15:41,042 --> 01:15:42,000 - The difference between now 1554 01:15:42,250 --> 01:15:45,167 and when I was actively wrestling, as you know, 1555 01:15:45,375 --> 01:15:47,625 when you're working out, you do a tearing down process 1556 01:15:47,708 --> 01:15:49,500 with the muscle and then it rebuilds itself. 1557 01:15:49,583 --> 01:15:54,625 But as I got older, I understood that that slowed way down. 1558 01:15:57,167 --> 01:15:57,625 - Bang it out. 1559 01:15:57,750 --> 01:15:59,500 Come on, Ricky. 1560 01:15:59,583 --> 01:16:00,375 Get it. 1561 01:16:00,458 --> 01:16:01,292 Get it. 1562 01:16:01,375 --> 01:16:02,167 That's all you. 1563 01:16:02,292 --> 01:16:03,833 Stand up and show them off. 1564 01:16:03,958 --> 01:16:05,167 Stand up and show them off. 1565 01:16:05,333 --> 01:16:06,667 (Ricky laughing) 1566 01:16:07,042 --> 01:16:10,875 - I got into the notion to where, if I just use lightweights 1567 01:16:11,042 --> 01:16:14,917 and do a lot of reps, I could also help my joints out. 1568 01:16:15,042 --> 01:16:17,667 A range of motion would still be good as opposed 1569 01:16:17,833 --> 01:16:20,667 to not being able to raise my arms 1570 01:16:20,875 --> 01:16:24,375 because of my shoulders or my elbows or my hips. 1571 01:16:24,583 --> 01:16:27,333 But just doing some form of exercise 1572 01:16:27,542 --> 01:16:29,458 to keep the blood flowing in those areas 1573 01:16:29,542 --> 01:16:31,625 has really helped me out. 1574 01:16:33,833 --> 01:16:34,917 - [Speaker] Ladies and gentlemen, 1575 01:16:35,042 --> 01:16:39,000 please welcome Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. 1576 01:16:39,167 --> 01:16:42,000 (crowd cheering) 1577 01:16:42,167 --> 01:16:46,042 - In 2010, we did this skit on Monday Night Raw. 1578 01:16:47,542 --> 01:16:51,542 They were going to bring a three disc DVD of my career. 1579 01:16:51,708 --> 01:16:54,042 - It's going to take more than three DVDs 1580 01:16:54,125 --> 01:16:57,125 to hold your career, my friend. 1581 01:16:57,208 --> 01:16:58,042 Congratulations. 1582 01:16:58,167 --> 01:16:59,458 You've earned it. 1583 01:17:00,958 --> 01:17:04,083 - They said, "Ricky, we want to send you out, and the fans, 1584 01:17:04,250 --> 01:17:06,667 and introduce this three disc DVD. 1585 01:17:06,792 --> 01:17:08,167 We'll talk about it, and then we're going 1586 01:17:08,292 --> 01:17:10,208 to send this NXT guys up" 1587 01:17:11,833 --> 01:17:13,750 - [Speaker] The Nexus. 1588 01:17:15,000 --> 01:17:17,083 - And he said, "They're going to jump you and beat you up 1589 01:17:17,292 --> 01:17:18,333 and leave you laying. 1590 01:17:18,500 --> 01:17:20,750 And of course, you're up, and you're 57 years old. 1591 01:17:20,875 --> 01:17:24,000 It isn't like they're jumping at a 25-year-old. 1592 01:17:24,167 --> 01:17:27,292 So we're going to get a lot of heat." 1593 01:17:27,375 --> 01:17:29,000 And everybody, "Oh my God, they're going to beat Rick up." 1594 01:17:29,167 --> 01:17:31,250 You could hear the buzz and the audio. 1595 01:17:31,375 --> 01:17:32,750 Oh no, oh no. 1596 01:17:32,875 --> 01:17:34,958 They're going to, oh no. 1597 01:17:37,000 --> 01:17:39,375 - [Speaker] Oh my God. 1598 01:17:39,542 --> 01:17:41,000 This is not good. 1599 01:17:42,042 --> 01:17:43,833 - I get picked up and slammed down so hard 1600 01:17:43,958 --> 01:17:46,833 that I ended up with a brain bleed. 1601 01:17:47,000 --> 01:17:52,000 (all chattering) (dramatic music) 1602 01:17:58,792 --> 01:18:02,625 I was in intensive care for almost three weeks. 1603 01:18:02,750 --> 01:18:06,000 (machine beeping) 1604 01:18:06,083 --> 01:18:08,333 They call it a subarachnoid hemorrhaging. 1605 01:18:08,417 --> 01:18:11,333 This is down in between your two halves of your brain, 1606 01:18:11,375 --> 01:18:12,333 your left and right side. 1607 01:18:12,500 --> 01:18:14,792 You got connecting blood vessels or capillaries, 1608 01:18:14,958 --> 01:18:17,542 and they got torn apart during the G-force, 1609 01:18:17,750 --> 01:18:19,167 during the impact. 1610 01:18:21,042 --> 01:18:23,458 He said, "The problem we have is that we cannot get to it. 1611 01:18:23,542 --> 01:18:25,500 It has to stop on its own, and if it doesn't stop 1612 01:18:25,708 --> 01:18:28,250 on its own, you're going to die." 1613 01:18:29,917 --> 01:18:33,375 - I go to the hospital and I sit down next to him 1614 01:18:33,542 --> 01:18:36,292 and he doesn't recognize you. 1615 01:18:36,417 --> 01:18:40,417 He sit there and stared at me for 10, 15 seconds 1616 01:18:40,542 --> 01:18:43,333 and it freaking dawned on him that it's Victor, 1617 01:18:43,500 --> 01:18:45,292 his brother next to him. 1618 01:18:46,500 --> 01:18:50,417 That was, oh boy, such a frightening experience, 1619 01:18:54,375 --> 01:18:55,458 so heartbreaking. 1620 01:18:59,750 --> 01:19:02,208 - They were doing CAT scans and MRIs about every three days. 1621 01:19:02,375 --> 01:19:03,167 They were checking it. 1622 01:19:03,458 --> 01:19:04,708 And after about almost two weeks, they said, 1623 01:19:04,917 --> 01:19:07,542 "God, it looks like it might be fixing itself." 1624 01:19:07,667 --> 01:19:08,458 All right. 1625 01:19:09,750 --> 01:19:13,167 Meanwhile, my wife at that time was Claudia. 1626 01:19:14,542 --> 01:19:16,208 They flew her down from Charlotte. 1627 01:19:16,333 --> 01:19:20,500 She sat in that hospital room every single day 1628 01:19:20,667 --> 01:19:22,500 for almost three weeks. 1629 01:19:23,875 --> 01:19:26,083 I was in and out of it. 1630 01:19:26,208 --> 01:19:30,042 There was times that I was angry at the nurses 1631 01:19:32,417 --> 01:19:34,417 and there was a time to which I ripped everything 1632 01:19:34,542 --> 01:19:36,917 out of my neck and pulled it all out of my arms 1633 01:19:37,042 --> 01:19:38,875 and "I'm getting out of here. 1634 01:19:39,000 --> 01:19:41,083 God, I'm tired of this." 1635 01:19:42,958 --> 01:19:44,625 That was hard on her. 1636 01:19:45,708 --> 01:19:49,958 And I had an attitude of, I'm not going to say angry 1637 01:19:51,292 --> 01:19:55,083 at the world, but I had a chip on my shoulder 1638 01:19:55,917 --> 01:19:58,000 and this wore off on her. 1639 01:20:00,042 --> 01:20:04,792 So being gone for so many years and then capping off 1640 01:20:04,958 --> 01:20:08,917 with coming back home and having an edgy attitude 1641 01:20:10,042 --> 01:20:14,083 all the time culminated into us finally separating. 1642 01:20:16,208 --> 01:20:20,125 And that's when I picked up and left Carolina. 1643 01:20:22,458 --> 01:20:24,000 Hey, how you doing? - I'm like, normal. 1644 01:20:24,167 --> 01:20:25,375 - Good morning. - Good morning. 1645 01:20:25,542 --> 01:20:27,167 - I already had my coffee. 1646 01:20:27,333 --> 01:20:27,833 - Yeah? - Yep. 1647 01:20:28,042 --> 01:20:28,958 Going to make some toast. 1648 01:20:29,042 --> 01:20:30,667 You want some? - No. 1649 01:20:32,083 --> 01:20:34,667 I'm just going to have my coffee this morning. 1650 01:20:34,833 --> 01:20:36,833 Going to have my coffee this morning. 1651 01:20:37,000 --> 01:20:38,542 Oh, so sweet. 1652 01:20:38,708 --> 01:20:40,000 Always so sweet. 1653 01:20:40,167 --> 01:20:42,542 Thank you for my note, baby. 1654 01:20:42,667 --> 01:20:45,458 Ricky and I met about seven and a half years ago. 1655 01:20:45,542 --> 01:20:49,250 They had a fanboy convention in Knoxville 1656 01:20:49,375 --> 01:20:51,500 and my best friend wanted to go. 1657 01:20:51,667 --> 01:20:56,292 So we're walking through, we hear this voice go, "Hey." 1658 01:20:57,542 --> 01:21:01,000 So we take a picture together and we stood there 1659 01:21:01,083 --> 01:21:05,458 and talked, I guess 10 or 15 minutes and we walked off. 1660 01:21:07,375 --> 01:21:09,208 - I write down my phone number and I go out 1661 01:21:09,375 --> 01:21:11,208 and I search in the crowd and I find her 1662 01:21:11,333 --> 01:21:16,208 and I tap her on the shoulder and I say, "Shoot me a text." 1663 01:21:17,250 --> 01:21:21,542 - We started talking and it just went from there. 1664 01:21:21,708 --> 01:21:23,500 - You want to try another one? 1665 01:21:23,625 --> 01:21:24,958 Hmmm? 1666 01:21:25,125 --> 01:21:28,333 It might be your day if mama wasn't here, right? 1667 01:21:28,417 --> 01:21:29,375 Where's pops? 1668 01:21:29,667 --> 01:21:33,000 - Pops give you toast? - Pops give you toast, huh? 1669 01:21:33,208 --> 01:21:37,375 - Ricky is very tender-hearted, very tender-hearted. 1670 01:21:37,542 --> 01:21:40,167 I mean, he's a tough guy on the outside, 1671 01:21:40,333 --> 01:21:42,958 but he's very tender-hearted. 1672 01:21:44,208 --> 01:21:45,333 - They say if you have a stressful day 1673 01:21:45,708 --> 01:21:48,375 and you go out and sit at a dock and look out at the water, 1674 01:21:48,542 --> 01:21:52,083 it sort of just takes it all away. 1675 01:21:52,208 --> 01:21:55,542 Sandi, we've been together for seven years 1676 01:21:56,708 --> 01:22:01,375 and I wasn't doing a whole lot on the road and being away. 1677 01:22:05,333 --> 01:22:07,625 I've had past relationship and marriages 1678 01:22:07,750 --> 01:22:12,333 that the sport has made it very difficult to maintain. 1679 01:22:14,875 --> 01:22:18,458 I don't know if even she would be with me 1680 01:22:18,583 --> 01:22:21,375 if I was on the road 300 days a year. 1681 01:22:21,542 --> 01:22:25,458 It's hard for your other better half to put up with that. 1682 01:22:25,542 --> 01:22:30,000 Unfortunately for me on some of my other situations, 1683 01:22:31,500 --> 01:22:36,125 it never worked out that way and I accepted and moved on. 1684 01:22:37,792 --> 01:22:42,667 Having her there plays such a big factor in my life now. 1685 01:22:42,792 --> 01:22:45,792 You always wonder when you get into the twilight years, 1686 01:22:45,917 --> 01:22:47,500 where are you going to be? 1687 01:22:47,583 --> 01:22:50,167 Are you going to be with someone that cares about you 1688 01:22:50,333 --> 01:22:52,500 or are you going to be alone? 1689 01:22:52,542 --> 01:22:55,667 And this is so comforting to me that I know 1690 01:22:55,875 --> 01:22:57,417 that she'll be there. 1691 01:22:58,750 --> 01:23:00,708 I'm in a good spot. 1692 01:23:00,875 --> 01:23:02,208 I got a nice home. 1693 01:23:02,375 --> 01:23:04,542 I got a great wife, Sandi. 1694 01:23:04,708 --> 01:23:06,292 I got a little hoppy car. 1695 01:23:06,417 --> 01:23:08,417 - [Announcer] And Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat folks 1696 01:23:08,542 --> 01:23:09,583 right here. 1697 01:23:09,875 --> 01:23:11,125 One of the legends of the ring right here in the house 1698 01:23:11,292 --> 01:23:12,458 in Knoxville Dragway. 1699 01:23:12,667 --> 01:23:14,625 - I've had a number of cars throughout my life. 1700 01:23:14,792 --> 01:23:17,333 There were some that I was really passionate about. 1701 01:23:17,542 --> 01:23:21,083 This car is the fastest car I've ever owned. 1702 01:23:21,208 --> 01:23:24,208 (dramatic music) 1703 01:23:24,417 --> 01:23:27,458 The first time I took this car down the track, 1704 01:23:27,625 --> 01:23:31,083 it was like somebody hit you in the gut. 1705 01:23:33,708 --> 01:23:35,167 Yea 1706 01:23:41,917 --> 01:23:46,458 It was that kind of holy (beep) moment. 1707 01:23:48,292 --> 01:23:49,750 I'm over the moon. 1708 01:23:49,875 --> 01:23:51,375 I am over the moon. 1709 01:23:51,542 --> 01:23:53,833 Got the heeby-jeebies every time I went down the track. 1710 01:23:54,042 --> 01:23:57,708 For me tonight, it's like winning the world championship. 1711 01:23:57,875 --> 01:24:02,750 - [Announcer] The winner and new world heavyweight champion. 1712 01:24:04,708 --> 01:24:06,458 - Steamboat was in a league of his own. 1713 01:24:06,542 --> 01:24:09,333 - God, it seemed like he was born for it. 1714 01:24:09,500 --> 01:24:11,833 - [Announcer] What an outstanding athlete he is, with a lot 1715 01:24:12,000 --> 01:24:13,500 of natural ability. 1716 01:24:13,708 --> 01:24:16,667 - If there was ever a wrestler to be built and be molded, 1717 01:24:16,833 --> 01:24:18,250 it would be molded after him. 1718 01:24:18,375 --> 01:24:21,667 It was almost like a chess player that would think two, 1719 01:24:21,833 --> 01:24:22,833 three steps ahead. 1720 01:24:23,042 --> 01:24:24,542 - Everything he done was phenomenal. 1721 01:24:24,708 --> 01:24:26,000 Every move was crisp. 1722 01:24:26,083 --> 01:24:29,083 Every move was like poetry in motion. 1723 01:24:29,208 --> 01:24:30,208 - [Announcer] And that is poetic. 1724 01:24:30,375 --> 01:24:31,542 That is a piece of art. 1725 01:24:31,792 --> 01:24:33,292 - [Speaker] I'm just getting this picture in my mind 1726 01:24:33,417 --> 01:24:37,250 right now, just visualizing how smooth he was. 1727 01:24:39,125 --> 01:24:40,375 - [Announcer] One of the most respected 1728 01:24:40,542 --> 01:24:43,667 and talented athletes to ever compete. 1729 01:24:45,042 --> 01:24:46,458 (soft music) 1730 01:24:46,583 --> 01:24:47,625 - The only way I can look at him 1731 01:24:47,750 --> 01:24:50,583 is he was the consummate professional. 1732 01:24:50,708 --> 01:24:52,333 - Well, why you just laying there? 1733 01:24:52,500 --> 01:24:55,167 - If Ricky was in football, he'd be Tom Brady. 1734 01:24:55,250 --> 01:24:56,500 Laser focused. 1735 01:24:57,875 --> 01:24:59,792 He took his job seriously. 1736 01:24:59,958 --> 01:25:02,792 - He was that guy that the parents wanted their kid 1737 01:25:02,958 --> 01:25:07,292 to meet because this guy's doing it all right, son. 1738 01:25:08,292 --> 01:25:11,542 - My upbringing with my parents played 99% 1739 01:25:11,667 --> 01:25:13,500 of who I am today. 1740 01:25:13,667 --> 01:25:18,458 - [Announcer] This youngster's a gentleman 24 hours a day. 1741 01:25:19,542 --> 01:25:21,667 - And this comes from the bottom of my heart. 1742 01:25:21,792 --> 01:25:24,167 I'd like to give thanks to all the fans 1743 01:25:24,375 --> 01:25:26,792 that have supported me. 1744 01:25:26,917 --> 01:25:29,500 I've had ups and downs in my life, but you're missing out 1745 01:25:29,708 --> 01:25:33,458 a big part of living if you're never grateful. 1746 01:25:34,667 --> 01:25:38,542 That spins off into finding some form of happiness.