A Legendary Title Win But An Unmemorable Reign: Ricky Steamboat As WWE Intercontinental Champion

At WrestleMania III, in one of the most-attended professional wrestling shows of all time, Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage squared off in one of the best professional matches ever, and definitely the best match of the 1980s from the then-World Wrestling Federation (today’s WWE), as they went one-on-one for the WWF Intercontinental Championship.

The match is fondly remembered to this day, but less so is Ricky Steamboat’s actual reign with the WWF Intercontinental Title. The Dragon only ended up holding the belt for 65 days in 1987 before he dropped the championship to the Honky Tonk Man at a WWF Superstars taping. 

A legendary title win, but definitely not a legendary title reign. What exactly happened? 

Ricky Steamboat’s Early WWF Run

Beginning his pro wrestling career in 1976, Ricky Steamboat would become a staple of Jim Crocket Promotions from 1977 until 1985, during which he became a three-time NWA United States Champion, six-time NWA World Tag Team Champion, two-time NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion, and two-time NWA World Television Champion. 

In early 1985, though, Steamboat decided it was time to leave JCP shortly after Dusty Rhodes became the head booker, with Steamboat believing his options would be limited by the top babyface in the territory having the booking pencil. 

“I just saw the writing on the wall. Dusty, he’s booker/babyface. He’s the guy with the pencil, plus he’s the babyface, too. I was the babyface in that territory for several, several years. I saw the writing on the wall,” Steamboat told RF Video in 2001.

With former JCP booker George Scott working for the World Wrestling Federation, Steamboat joined Vince McMahon’s organisation, debuting on the March 2, 1985, episode of WWF Georgia Championship Wrestling from WTBS Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, with a win over Tony Russo. 

Already one of pro wrestling's most dynamic athletes and performers, Ricky Steamboat, soon to be given his “The Dragon” nickname, brought grace, science, and flash to a slower-moving WWF, and after his debut, Steamboat was undefeated in his first 73 matches for the company across WWF TV tapings and house shows until he lost to The Iron Sheik in the quarter-finals of the 1985 King of the Ring tournament. 

Steamboat’s first 18 months in the WWF saw him wrestle at the first two editions of WrestleMania, defeating Matt Borne at WrestleMania I and picking up the win over Hercules Hernandez after a planned match with Bret Hart was scrapped at WrestleMania 2. Steamboat also feuded with the likes of Don Muraco and Jake “The Snake” Roberts, with the feud win over Roberts in a Snake Pit Match on the October 4, 1986, edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event resulting in The Dragon moving into the WWF Intercontinental Title picture. 

Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage

Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage faced off for the first time in a televised match for the World Wrestling Federation at 1985’s The Wrestling Classic pay-per-view, with Savage defeating Steamboat in just three minutes with a brass knuckles shot to the face behind the referee’s back. 

Four months on from that match, Macho Man defeated Tito Santana to become the 10th WWF Intercontinental Champion, and Savage was still the champion deep into 1986, putting the belt on the line against Ricky Steamboat on a WWF Superstars of Wrestling episode that aired on November 22, 1986. 

In storyline, Steamboat had all the tools necessary to defeat Savage, and the WWF Intercontinental Champion knew it. This was why Savage attempted to crush Steamboat’s throat late in their match, first by delivering his flying axe handle to The Dragon while his neck was sprawled on the guardrail, then by landing a follow-up top rope attack on Steamboat's throat, this time with the ring bell.

The angle would give Steamboat a storyline-crushed larynx, with The Dragon returning at the January 3, 1987 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event to prevent Savage from carrying out a similarly heinous attack against George ‘The Animal’ Steele. Upon finding his voice again, Steamboat swore revenge against the WWF Intercontinental Champion, setting the stage for a collision at WrestleMania III and the best WWF match of the decade. 

WrestleMania III

Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat inside the Pontiac Silverdome at WrestleMania III had a big fight feel to it, preceded by each man delivering arguably their most iconic promos ever. History seemed to beckon the Macho Man, while the Dragon vowed to see "new horizons" with a vengeful victory.

What followed was the template for a million and one main events to come, with a slew of false finishes, well-executed dramatic beats, and some well-crafted storyline callbacks.

Savage seemingly had the match won following a ref bump, but was compelled to use the heavy ring bell once more. George “The Animal” Steele, who was at ringside to keep an eye on Macho Man, intervened and Savage paid dearly for his attempt to cheat. When an unsteady Macho tried to regain control with a scoop slam, Steamboat deftly cradled him to claim the IC title, culminating his revenge mission. To many, and to us at Cultaholic, it was the WWF's greatest match of the 1980s and still rates among the finest WrestleMania outings ever. 

Under the hysteria of the tens of thousands on hand, both parties exited ringside on the WrestleMania carts in very different spirits; Steamboat exhausted and triumphant beside an exultant Animal, while Liz consoled a dejected Savage on their ride to the curtain.

Ricky Steamboat’s WWF Intercontinental Title Reign

When Ricky Steamboat defeated Randy Savage in their epic encounter, many assumed the babyface star was going to be a long-term titleholder. By all accounts, that was the plan, with Steamboat noting in 2001 that he was told by WWF management that he would be champion for one year. 

Steamboat’s reign began well enough, too, as he defended the belt against Hercules Hernandez at the May 2 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event, while The Dragon continued to face Randy Savage at WWF house shows, often defeating Macho Man in Steel Cage matches with the Intercontinental Title on the line. 

After just one successful televised title defence, however, Ricky Steamboat found his Intercontinental Title reign coming to an end. 

In a match taped in Buffalo, New York, that aired on the June 13, 1987, edition of WWF Superstars, The Honky Tonk Man picked up a huge upset and pinned Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat to win the Intercontinental Title after just three minutes. 

The finish protected The Dragon as Steamboat had the match won with a jumping strike to The Honky Tonk Man’s head, only for Jimmy Hart to climb onto the apron and distract the official. Steamboat proceeded to dropkick Honky Tonk Man into Hart before a roll-up attempt, but the challenger quickly countered, holding the ropes to reverse the inside cradle into a 1-2-3 out of nowhere for the shock upset.

What Happened? 

Despite seemingly having plans for a long reign, it was Ricky Steamboat’s personal life and Vince McMahon’s fury that caused The Dragon to lose the WWF Intercontinental Championship after just two months. 

With the impending birth of his son, who would go on to become a wrestler in his own right as Richie Steamboat, Ricky asked for a couple of weeks off to be at home with his wife and newborn son. Vince McMahon was displeased by the request, however, so much so that he decided to punish Steamboat by having his number two babyface drop the championship post-haste. Steamboat has also implied over the years since 1987 that there may have been some friction with management due to he and Macho Man upstaging the main event of Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III.  

“It kind of hurt my feelings when I dropped the belt to him on TV. It sort of shocked all the other guys that were working for the company. I thought I was going to have the Intercontinental belt for at least a year. At least that’s what I was told. I understand Vince’s position. It’s a business decision that he made and that is I wanted to have a couple of weeks off in and around the time that Richie, my son, was going to be born. Being the Intercontinental Champion, Vince said that he could not leave that belt dormant for a couple of weeks. I think it was my first response back to Vince in a defensive manner defending myself, ‘Two weeks is too much to ask this belt to be held dormant? Sometimes we don’t make it back to some of these major cities in a month,’” Steamboat recalled to RF Video in 2001.

Originally, Vince McMahon planned for Steamboat to drop the belt to “The Natural” Butch Reed, with Steamboat and Reed having already faced off in non-title action in a match that aired on the May 17, 1987 episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge. 

In the run-up to the planned title switch, though, a weary Reed missed some house shows and WWF management decided to go with a different heel champion in The Honky Tonk Man, who at the time was being booked as a novelty mid-carder that impersonated Elvis Presley while claiming to have never heard of him. 

Unpopular as a short-lived babyface and detestable as a pesky villain, Honky could play an admirable punching bag for the good guys to wail on, but he certainly wasn’t seen as a future WWF Intercontinental Champion prior to him winning the belt from Steamboat at the WWF Superstars taping in Buffalo, New York. It was The Honky Tonk Man’s characteristics that actually made him a perfect WWF Intercontinental Champion, though, and one very much different from the mould that had been established with champions like Ricky Steamboat, Randy Savage, Greg Valentine, Don Muraco, and Tito Santana. Wayne Ferris would be the longest-reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion until his record was broken by Gunther decades later in 2023. 

Steamboat admitted in 2001 that he had reservations about dropping the belt to Wayne Ferris, and it wasn’t a hugely popular move with the locker room at the time either. 

“I had some reservations because I did not know that much about Wayne Ferris. Watched him work a little bit when he came in with the company, thought some of the things that he was doing out there was kind of hokey… but he was an okay guy and he was trying to work his ass off. I think the main reason why it surprised me was here’s a guy who’s just come into the company for a couple of months and there are several guys that are standing in line that have been working their ass off for Vince every single night that I thought deserved the opportunity to have the Intercontinental belt rather than The Honky Tonk Man. There was a couple of long faces in the locker room when everybody found out that Wayne was getting the belt. Also I think you could feel the thickness in the air with the attitude towards Wayne. Here’s this guy coming in with the glitter and this Elvis Presley haircut and guys who had just been working their butt off that I had been working with as heels. You could see it,” Steamboat added.

Ricky Steamboat’s WWF Run After The Intercontinental Title Reign

Ricky Steamboat has noted in multiple interviews that, after requesting two weeks off resulted in him losing the Intercontinental Title, he ultimately asked Vince McMahon for six months off around the date of the loss to The Honky Tonk Man. The Dragon wouldn’t quite spend that long away from TV but he certainly worked a reduced schedule until January 1988 when he competed at the Royal Rumble. 

Steamboat would then be entered into the tournament to crown a new WWF Champion at WrestleMania IV. Having looked at the bracket, The Dragon assumed he would face Randy Savage in a rematch from WrestleMania III, this time putting over Macho Man on Savage’s way to ending the night as the WWF Champion. That isn’t how it played out, though, as WWF producer Chief Jay Strongbow informed Steamboat that he would be losing to Greg Valentine in the first round of the tournament, which is exactly what happened, and it ended up being Steamboat’s final match of his first WWF run. 

Steamboat gave his notice to the World Wrestling Federation soon after, and The Dragon admitted to having his feelings hurt and seeing Vince McMahon in a different way after he was asked to lose the WWF Intercontinental Championship.

Steamboat said: “I think it did a little bit at that time. I think my feelings were hurt. We were just coming off WrestleMania III. There wasn’t a day that didn’t go by that Savage and I after that show was either getting a note or a pat on the back…. We got just so much notoriety from it and it sort of made me feel like I’m on top of the world with this company, just because of good, hard work ethics. We are a fixed figure in this company. Two months later I dropped the belt to The Honky Tonk Man. I think more than anything it hurt my feelings. It hurt my feelings in a way that you had a friend who hurt your feelings and how your outlook and attitude sort of changes towards your friend.” 

Steamboat also “kind of got the feeling that he [Vince McMahon] was maybe using me as an example or something” with how The Dragon was booked at WrestleMania IV.

WCW

After taking the rest of 1988 off, Ricky Steamboat made his return to Jim Crockett Promotions - now Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling - in January 1989, and things turned out pretty well for The Dragon. 

After becoming a world champion had alluded him so far, Ricky Steamboat was a main event player in WCW and he embarked upon what we at Cultaholic have ranked the best trilogy in the history of pro wrestling against Ric Flair.

It began at Chi-Town Rumble in February 1989, where Steamboat became the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion, defeating Flair in their best match, with the pace being off-the-charts and the action crisper and more exciting than you’re liable to find anywhere else.

The rematch took place at the sixth Clash of the Champions special under Two out of Three Falls rules, with Steamboat beating Flair two falls to one in an almost hour-long match that was very different but just as good as the one at Chi-Town Rumble. 

The trilogy wrapped up at May’s WrestleWar with another predictably amazing battle that saw Flair regain the gold.

After being asked about him requesting time off for his son’s birth, Steamboat noted to ESPN in 2017 that he believes he ended up double-dipping as he was there for Richie and his wife and it ultimately led to him having the legendary trilogy of matches with Ric Flair.

"To ask me if I would change that business decision -- I don't know. I've only got one child and didn't know back then if I would have more. But I'm glad that I decided to be there when he came into this world. You only get that one shot. In my mind, in my heart of hearts, I know I said to myself that there would be other chances, there would be other championships and opportunities. But this was something just very golden to me. You know that old saying, 'Things happen for a reason,' right? The next thing you know, I'm on top of the world again. And that being said, I was able to be there when my son was born so I double-dipped, in other words."

This feature was written by Aidan Gibbons with contributions from Justin Henry and Lewis Howse.