Naturally, first thing that comes to mind when one mentions Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion is WrestleMania 3 and his victory of "Macho Man" Randy Savage.
For many it is still the greatest WrestleMania match of all time, and the one that was the most talked about for decades. Many, like myself, remember watching the build towards the match, the heinous Macho Man dropping the ring bell onto Steamboats throat numerous times from the top rope. The damage to the larynx of the perennial fan favorite. The vignettes of long recovery and and learning to speak again.
These are very prominent memories for me, but you know what isn't, his title reign. I recall one tv match where Steamboat wrestled Hercules and Savage ran down and grabbed Hercules ankle in a awkward moment to prevent him from beating Steamboat. The next thing I knew The Honky Tonk Man was the Intercontinental Champion. Until I started this post I had never seen the match where he lost the title.
Steamboat held championship for a mere 64 days from March 29, 1987 to June 2, 1987. Let's take a look at the matches.
WrestleMania III
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat with George "The Animal" Steel pinned Intercontinental Champion: Randy "Macho Man" Savage with Miss Elizabeth to win the Championship
April 23, 1987 Worcester Centrum, Massachusetts
WWF Superstars - Aired May 5, 1987
Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated Tiger Chung Lee
April 24, 1987 New Haven Coliseum, Connecticut
Wrestling Challenge- Aired May 3, 1987
Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated Terry Gibbs
April 24, 1987 New Haven Coliseum, Connecticut
Wrestling Challenge- Aired May 17, 1987
Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Natural" Butch Reed by count-out
April 25, 1987 Baltimore Arena, Maryland
"Macho Man" Randy Savage defeated Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
by count-out
April 26, 1987 Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
April 27, 1987 Columbus, Ohio
Elimination Match: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Billy Jack Haynes & Jake "The Snake" Roberts defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage, The Honky Tonk Man and Hercules
April 28, 1987 South Bend, Indiana
Saturday Night's Main Event - Aired May 2, 1987
Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated Hercules by disqualification
April 29, 1987 Syracuse, New York
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 1, 1987 Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, New York
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 2, 1987 Rosemont Horizon, Illinois
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 3, 1987 Cobo Hall, Detroit, Michigan
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 4, 1987 Peoria, Illinois
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 7, 1987 Cincinnati, Ohio
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 8, 1987 Springfield, Massachusetts
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 9, 1987 Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 10, 1987 Kansas City, Missouri
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 11, 1987 Oakland, California
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 12, 1987 Anaheim, California
WWF Superstars - Aired May 30, 1987
Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat pinned Dusty Wolfe
May 13, 1987 San Diego, California
Wrestling Challenge - Aired May 24, 1987
Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat pinned "Iron" Mike Sharpe
May 15, 1987 Houston, Texas
Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 24, 1987 Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 25, 1987 Verdun, Quebec, Canada
"Macho Man" Randy Savage defeated Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat by count-out
May 26, 1987 Lake Placid, New York
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 29, 1987 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 30, 1987 St. Paul, Minnesota
Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
May 31, 1987 California, Pennsylvania
Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage
June 2, 1987 Buffalo, New York
WWF Superstars - Aired June 13, 1987
The Honky Tonk Man with "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart pinned Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat to win the championship
This match with Honky Tonk Man was short just under 4 minutes, Steamboat went for a small package near the ropes, Honky grabbed the ropes reversing it and holding on through the three count.
Steamboat defended the title 26 times from coast to coast and in 3 Canadian provinces. As you can see the schedule was demanding and all over the place. Allegedly Steamboat asked for time off the home for the birth of his son and it angered McMahon who was going to have him drop the title to Butch Reed, but he no showed the card so instead he lost to the Honky Tonk Man. In an interview Steamboat said Hogan was mad at him for outshining Hogan and Andre at Mania.
Steamboat was not pushed through the remainder of his run in the WWF and finished up at WrestleMania IV losing to Greg "The Hammer" Valentine in the opening round of the WWF Championship tournament.
Steamboat was one of the all time best wrestlers, except for the build to WrestleMania III I really feel he was wasted in the WWF during this 3 year run and his short return in 1991. The NWA territories is where he really was able to shine.
Thank you for reading, please leave a comment, check out my other posts, and if you want like my blogs Facebook page. You can also head over to Amazon and pick up a copy of my book the 2024 Limitless Wrestling Almanac, or any of my other books.
Until next time!
