10 Best Ever Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat Matches

It's February 28, which means that today is Ricky Steamboat's birthday!

The Dragon turns 68 today, though you wouldn't know it if you've seen him within the last couple of years because he's still in great shape and I bet he could deliver an arm drag better than most of the active wrestlers out there.

On his day, Ricky Steamboat had no equal. A tremendous athlete, he put on blinders everywhere from the NWA to WWE to WCW and beyond, earning a reputation as one of the best workers ever, as well as being one of the nicest men in the business.

A career babyface, Steamboat was so likeable that he never embraced the darkside and turned heel (despite an interest in doing so at various times throughout his career). Promoters didn't think fans would boo Ricky, given the effort he routinely put in and the sympathy he was able to elicit as a hero.

He retired in 1994 and was made a WWE Hall of Famer in 2009, just before he made an unlikely comeback in his mid-50s and proved that there was still some steam left (pun intended) in a series of matches with Chris Jericho.

A former WWE Intercontinental and NWA World Heavyweight champion, Steamboat's biggest legacy is the plethora of classic matches he had.

And with the great man blowing out the candles today, what better way to honour The Dragon than by poring though his back catalogue and looking at the best of the very best?

10. w/Shane Douglas Vs. The Hollywood Blonds - Clash Of The Champions XXVII

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Upon his return to WCW in the early 90s, Steamboat eased into a veteran role and found success teaming up with young upstarts like Dustin Rhodes and Shane Douglas.

One of his best programmes from this era was his and Douglas's dispute with Steve Austin and Brian Pillman, AKA the Hollywood Blonds.

A lot of people are partial to the Slamboree Steel Cage match from May of 1993, where Steamboat teamed with a masked Tom Zenk (substituting for Douglas, who had left to join ECW).

Personally, however, I think this match from January's Clash of the Champions XXII edges it and is good enough to warrant a place at number ten on this list.

It is simply classic tag team wrestling, with two fiery babyfaces going up against two underhanded heels, The Dragon being the man to hold the whole thing together and putting on another masterclass in selling and psychology as he gets worn down by his opponents and they tease the hot tag to Douglas.

The action builds to a crescendo as everything breaks down. The only thing that is likely stopping people from appreciating this one more is the disqualification finish, but as the first match in what turned out to be a lengthy rivalry, it really set the tone for what was to come and you cannot fault the work.

9. Vs. Steve Austin - WCW Clash Of The Champions 28

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A year finishing up with the Blonds, Steamboat found himself in a singles rivalry with Steve Austin over the WCW United States Championship.

Ageing like a fine wine, The Dragon may have been in the winter of his career but he hadn't lost a step and still made everything he did look effortless.

The pair had a few notable battles over the title in the summer of '94, but I think their match from August's Clash of the Champions XXVIII is their best bout together.

Stunning Steve had notably stepped his game up after working extensively with one of the best to ever lace up a pair of boots and looked like a real ring general as he went move for move and counter for counter with Steamboat.

They started with some great mat wrestling before Austin took control and worked his opponent over. Steamboat kept fighting back and showed real fire in his comebacks, a staple of his wrestling persona.

The whole finishing sequence, with a series of airtight near-falls, is exquisite professional wrestling and Ricky's title-winning victory was a true feel-good moment that the fans in attendance clearly enjoyed a lot.

Incredibly, Steamboat wrestled much of the match with a seriously injured back, an injury he suffered when taking a bad bump off the second rope. It was so bad that this was actually his last (televised) match for almost fifteen years as he threw in the towel and called it a career just days later.

If you're going to go out, you may as well go out on a match as good as this one.

8. Vs. Tully Blanchard - NWA Starrcade 1984

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Two wrestlers who were absolutely made for each other were Steamboat and Tully Blanchard, and let's thank the professional wrestling Gods that they had this high-profile singles match when both were firing on all cylinders.

Blanchard had injured Steamboat's ribs going into this NWA Television Title match at Starrcade 1984. However, a rule had been implemented that Tully's title would be forfeited if the referee ruled that he was stalling, since the Horseman had gained a reputation for dragging contests out and holding on for time-limit draws and the like.

Naturally, both of those factors played into the psychology of the match, which was as spot-on as you would imagine and added intrigue into what would have been a grand match even without the extras.

Blanchard was the solid heel, working over plucky Dragon's midsection and taunting him before eventually going one step too far and spitting on his challenger, which is never a good idea.

Steamboat was not best pleased with the saliva spray and came back with high-impact offense, including lots of stiff chops and looked to have the match won, before Tully grabbed a foreign object from his tights and decked him for the tainted victory.

Based on this, it would have been nice to have gotten even more big matches between this combination, but it was not to be.

7. Vs. Jake Roberts - WWE At The Boston Garden (August 9, 1986)

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The Dragon versus The Snake - it's just a natural feud, isn't it?

The rivalry between Ricky Steamboat and Jake Roberts kicked off with a bang. That 'bang' being the sound of Steamboat's skull hitting the concrete after Roberts dropped him with a DDT on the floor during their match on the May 3, 1986 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event.

That set up a spring and summer programme where the two worked together extensively and, thankfully, many of those matches were taped and can be found on the WWE Network.

They had a decent bout at the Boston Garden on June 27, but their return match on August 9 was even better.

It started off surprisingly slow for a supposed grudge match, but it was all part of the psychology of the match, as Jake looked like he had Ricky well scouted and it built up anticipation for when things inevitably kicked off.

Which they did when Steamboat started up with his chops, before Roberts cut him off and began methodically wearing him down before it turned into more of a brawl.

The ref was bumped and The Snake thought he had the match won with a gutbuster, only for The Dragon to roll him up for a very popular win.

Post-match, Jake tried to unleash Damien before Dick Slater and Ted Arcidi prevented it.

Again, Ricky Steamboat and Jake Roberts were both masters of their craft and had distinct characters and styles that played off each other perfectly, and this was a phenomenal slow burner and a great encapsulation of what made their rivalry so compelling.

6. Vs. Terry Funk - WCW Clash Of The Champions 7

Styles make matches and sometimes clashes of styles can make for great matches, too.

After finishing a famous trilogy with Ric Flair, Steamboat's next task was taking on the altogether different Terry Funk. The two met in the main event of Clash of the Champions VII, with The Dragon defending his contendership and avenging his former rival after Funk had taken the Nature Boy out with a piledriver on a table.

There was no catch-as-catch-can wrestling here, as this was much more like a fight, with the strikes really being laid in as the advantage was traded.

Funk, during what would turn out to be the start of his stunning comeback, put on a tour de force and did everything within his power to make his opponent look good, flipping and flopping around the ring with glee.

Steamboat, typically, sold his backside off and put in a spirited performance.

There was a great near-fall at the end when the ref was knocked down and Funk nailed a piledriver on the concrete floor, rolling Steamboat back in but only getting a two count.

With that not working and Ricky fighting back, Funk got desperate and nailed him with a microphone for the DQ. An unsatisfactory ending, until the post-match melee which saw Lex Luger turn heel on Steamboat before Sting made the save.

A tremendous piece of business that got Funk ready for Flair and moved Ricky into a programme with the Total Package, while also delivering a worthy main event for a major show.

5. Vs. Rick Rude - Iron Man Match (WCW Beach Blast 1992)

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Ricky Steamboat and Rick Rude had a memorable feud in WWE, which resulted in a match at the 1988 Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Their best work together, however, came years later in WCW.

Their 1992 series of matches were phenomenal and proved that both guys could still very much go in the squared circle even as the 80s faded into the rearview.

And if you have any doubts about that, go back and watch their 30-Minute Iron Man match from Beach Blast, which for years was the standard as far as Iron Man matches were concerned (and still holds up well today).

This was the culmination of their long-running dispute and was a true challenge for both. Iron Man matches were not exactly commonplace and their conditioning, as well as how they laid the match out, had to be on point.

Luckily, it was, as the two paced themselves and planned it out expertly. Rude was ahead 3-1 about a third of the way in, but Steamboat rallied and eventually made it 4-3 in his favour with under a minute to go.

That set up a molten hot finish where Ravishing Rick tried everything in his power to tie the scores, hitting The Dragon with move after move for a flurry of nailbiting near-falls.

In the end, Steamboat weathered the storm and held out to see his hand raised.

4. w/Dustin Rhodes Vs. The Enforcers - WCW Clash Of The Champions 17

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Despite having done some of the best work of his career in the years before in WCW, Steamboat's 1991 return to WWE didn't go exactly as planned.

He came back with an elaborate costume and a fire-breathing entrance but wasn't pushed too far above opening match, and he ended up quitting the company after being asked to do two stretcher jobs at the same television taping (find the logic in that one).

So it was back to WCW, where he showed up as the surprise partner of Dustin Rhodes, stepping in for an injured Barry Windham in a Tag Team Title match against The Enforcers (Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko) at Clash of the Champions XVII.

The reveal was superbly done and the match that followed was a total barburner, as it looked like The Dragon wanted to make up for the many months he wasted wrestling the Paul Romas and Brooklyn Brawlers of the world.

The match was all-action and everyone played their parts perfectly, with Anderson and Zybszko doing much to put over Steamboat on his first night back with their reactions and willingness to bump around for him.

Ricky did what he does best, taking a beating and building up sympathy and heat while firing up when required and making the hot tag when the time was absolutely right.

And Steamboat got the W in his grand return with a high crossbody, making him a tag team champion, which I'm sure tasted better than all of that kerosene he'd be glugging for Vince's circus.

As well as being a sterling professional wrestling match with great pacing and intense crowd heat, this is also one of the best 'mystery partner' payoffs ever.

Savio Vega, eat your heart out.

3. Vs. Lex Luger - WCW Great American Bash 1989

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You probably wouldn't expect Lex Luger's name to show up so highly on any kind of 'best of' list, but The Total Package could work when he wanted to.

Or when he had to because, let's face it, he simply had to put a shift in when he was booked against Ricky Steamboat in 1989.

The Dragon had enjoyed one of the best half-years ever, with the epic Flair trilogy and then the Terry Funk match under his belt. Luger posed a new sort of challenge, but Steamboat was up for it and the two worked together magnificently.

Lex threatened to walk away from the match before the bell even rang unless the No DQ rule was waived, which was a neat touch and totally fit his prima donna character.

Not that the stipulations being called off had any impact on the match quality or the intensity of the action, because this was ten minutes of non-stop, back-and-forth brilliance.

It got more and more intense as it went on, the crowd begging for Luger's blood every time that he cut off their hero with his brute force and power.

Eventually, Lex tried to grab a chair but was cut off and then The Dragon uncharacteristically used it himself, drawing the disqualification.

No simple carry job, Luger held up his end and looked as good as he ever had. He later gave Steamboat credit for letting him call spots in matches, something he had never done before but which helped him grow as a worker.

2. Vs. Randy Savage - WrestleMania 3

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Though Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage had worked together many times before, they knew WrestleMania III was going to be different.

The pressure was on, because theirs was a featured bout on what was, at that time, the biggest American wrestling show ever. Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant may have been headlining and drawn the house, but The Dragon and Macho Man's Intercontinental Title showdown was also hotly anticipated too.

Savage, ever the perfectionist and determined to have the match go off without a hitch, planned every move and mannerism weeks in advance and would supposedly call a number to Steamboat at random times on their travels and Ricky would have to call back the corresponding sequence.

It was not the done thing at the time, since most wrestlers still preferred to plan little and call the majority in the ring, but the strategy certainly paid off, as Randy and Ricky had one of the best matches in WrestleMania history.

There had been good, fast-paced wrestling matches with lots of near-falls before, but none had been done with such incredible intensity and crispness. Fans were well into the action and the overall storyline, which also involved Mizz Elizabeth, George 'The Animal' Steel.

The big moves and counters and wild bumps came thick and fast until the referee was waylaid and Savage grabbed the ring bell, likely wanting to crush Steamboat's throat as he had in the run up to the match.

He was stopped by Steele and, thrown off his game, was left exposed and ended up getting pinned with a small package as 93,173 fans collectively lost their minds.

Or 87,000 fans or however many fans you want or believe were there - bottom line, nobody remained seated when the three was counted and there were a lot of folks in the Silverdome that day.

This match is timeless and has been cited as a favourite by a generation of wrestlers since. These two were way ahead of their time and did absolutely everything they could to steal the show.

If you've never seen it, remedy that at you earliest convenience.

1. The Flair/Steamboat Trilogy (WCW 1989)

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Alright, so I am cheating by having three matches in the number one spot, but I didn't want to clog up the entire list with Flair versus Steamboat and, honestly, I couldn't pick just one bout from their epic 1989 trilogy.

Cited as some of the best matches ever, the three Flair versus Steamboat contests demonstrated what two premier performers who had unrivalled chemistry with one another could do when given the time and the stage to work their magic.

Their first match at the Chi-Town Rumble on February 20 was the one with the fastest pace and had the most shocking ending, as Steamboat won in the same way he had against Savage at WrestleMania III.

It was also the shortest, at around 17 minutes in length, but they packed everything they could in, including countless false finishes.

The second match was a 2 out of 3 Falls affair at Clash of the Champions VI on April 2, which aired on cable and went directly up against WrestleMania V on pay-per-view (in a bid to try and hurt their buyrate).

The match was a breathless, almost one-hour long masterpiece and is Steamboat's personal favourite of the trilogy. Despite winning the match two falls to one, the replay showed that Flair's foot was under the rope on the decisive fall, necessitating a rematch.

And really, who's going to complain about more Flair versus Steamboat? Idiots, that's who!

At WrestleWar on May 9, The Dirtiest Player in the Game won the World Heavyweight Title back to end the rivalry and then segued into a feud with Terry Funk.

All three matches are must-watch and show pure professional wrestling done by two of the best ever. The technique and timing and psychology are unmatched and it's no wonder people still hold them in such high esteem to this day.

Incredibly, both wrestlers have gone on record as saying that they probably had many even better matches against each other when cameras weren't rolling.

It's really something when the 'best matches ever' aren't even your best ever matches.