In my mind, Ricky Steamboat is one of most underrated performers  in wrestling history, long overdue for the full-on DVD treatment.

 

Think about it: The guy was one half of not one, but four of the perennial "greatest match of all time" candidates - the famous WrestleMania III clash with Randy Savage, and the trilogy of 1989 NWA World Title matches with Ric Flair . Won all but one of them, too.

 

He's one of the only characters (if not THE only) to work as a face throughout a career that spanned decades and included major championships. And if that's not enough, authorities ranging from Flair to Steve Austin to Chris Jericho rank Steamboat in that vaunted "favorite performer" category.

 

So why did "The Dragon" have to wait until 2010 to get the famous three-disc treatment from WWE? Legal problems were part of the issue (allegedly ex-wife Bonnie Steamboat held the merchandising rights to his name for some time), but part of me wonders whether Vince McMahon was reluctant to get behind Steamboat after he walked away from the company at his peak in the mid-80's. Maybe that's just a nutty conspiracy - who knows?

 

The DVD documentary begins with Steamboat's amateur wrestling background and how, once he graduated from Verne Gagne's training camp, he couldn't use his birth name of Richard Blood because it sounded like a "heel" moniker. (In one of the extras, Steamboat refers to himself as Dick Blood -- you're telling me Vince Russo wouldn't have had a field day with that particular handle?)

 

Instead, he's christened Ricky Steamboat as the nephew of former West Coast wrestling legend Sam Steamboat. With his Hawaiian look, chiseled physique (he'd spent time as a bodybuilder) and quick mastery of the wrestling business, Steamboat quickly conquers the Carolinas.

 

Footage is shown of his early battles with Ric Flair, and to WWE's credit, they show archived Flair interviews on the subject, despite the fact that he had left the company by the time the documentary was created.

 

In fact, the DVD has a wide range of "talking heads" that aren't normally used on WWE productions, including George "The Animal" Steele, Tony Atlas, Steve "Skinner" Keirn and former WWF and NWA booker George Scott, as well as current superstars such as Jericho, Edge, Christian and Kofi Kingston.

 

The documentary then covers Steamboat's main WWE feuds, namely those with Don Muraco, Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Savage. What made those three issues all that more amazing was how much Steamboat put over his opponents, something a lot of top faces in any era wouldn't have allowed.Steamboat (23-year-old spoiler alert) captures the Intercontinental Championship from Savage at WrestleMania III and shortly thereafter decides to take some time off to start a family.

 

Vince orders Steamboat to lose the I-C Title to The Honky Tonk Man, and it's only a matter of time before The Dragon heads back to the NWA to resume his classic feud with Flair. The three-match Flair series is covered in depth and gushed over appropriately by current and former competitors for blurring the line between (as Jim Cornette puts it) "an entertaining sport and sports entertainment". Steamboat complains that he was never given a rematch with Flair after the series ended, and instead his spot was given to Terry Funk.

 

Steamboat then returns back to the WWF as "The Dragon", complete with fire-breathing and the ridiculous dragon costume. That stint didn't last long, however, as Steamboat was promised a main-event spot and instead ended up jerking the curtain with Haku, so it was soon back to WCW for him. Candidly, Steamboat admits he hated the fire-breathing gimmick, and needed several quick gulps of water to wash the taste away.

 

In one of the more interesting cover-ups in recent WWE history, Steamboat then talks about his first partner back in WCW, namely "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes. A brief clip is then shown from an interview with "Former WCW Superstar Dustin Rhodes". Um... you guys couldn't have admitted that he's Goldust now? It's not like he's working for a different company or anything....

 

The next section of the DVD focuses on Steamboat's remaining time in WCW, including a partnership with Shane Douglas, and feuds with Rick Rude and William Regal (sorry, I meant to say former WCW superstar Lord Steven Regal). Following a memorable program with Stone Cold Steve Austin (former WCW Superstar Stunning Steve Austin) in 1994, Steamboat suffers a devastating injury and decides to retire while he can still walk away from the business.

 

After a brief mention of Steamboat's life outside the ring (the divorce from Bonnie, the sale of his gym business, and spending time with his son Richie Steamboat) brings us to 2004, when John Laurinitis (former WCW superstar Johnny Ace) hires Steamer back as a "producer" (the position formerly known as "road agent"). Kingston and others sing his praises. Interestingly enough, there's a brief clip of Steamboat teaching the finer points of the business to Wade Barrett and David Otunga. If only he knew what was going to happen later on!

 

Like many WWE DVD releases, the documentary plays up Steamboat talking about his Hall of Fame induction in 2009, and then segues into his brief 2009 comeback against Jericho. While Y2J admits Steamboat (at 56 years of age) stole the show during their three-on-one match at WrestleMania, he does mention that their Backlash singles bout was "good" but not quite as memorable.

 

The documentary closes with Steamboat looking to his son Richie's budding wrestling career. Instead of starting him in FCW (where he is now), the elder Steamboat sent him to camps in the Carolinas, Missouri, Japan and Puerto Rico to make sure he wanted it badly enough. I'd be shocked if Richie doesn't end up in a future NXT class, assuming the show continues on for another season or two. Of course, he'd probably get saddled with a name like Stinky McFeatherbottom.

 

The matches section is the real meat of this DVD. From a tag team match against The Brisco Brothers to house show matches against Muraco, Roberts and Cowboy Bob Orton, to high-profile encounters against Flair, Savage, Jericho and Lex Luger, there's a wide variety of matches that must be seen for any serious wrestling fan.

 

During two matches (a near hour-long bout with Flair at an event known as Boogie Jam, and his Clash of the Champions XX battle with Austin), Steamboat and Matt Striker provide commentary. Instead of just calling the action, it ends up being a mini-shoot interview, with Steamboat talking about everything from always working face to what would have happened if he'd faced Shawn Michaels during their respective primes. Definitely a very cool feature.

 

The non-match extras are mostly skippable (interviews on TNT and Jesse Ventura's Body Shop), but I do have to point you to "Becoming The Dragon", a Bruce Lee-esque series of vignettes in which Steamboat recalls to Mean Gene Okerlund how he fought off assorted ninjas in what I'm assuming is Vince McMahon's backyard garden or something. Incredibly campy, and very much in line with the mid-80's WWF fare.

 

Overall, I'd highly recommend this collection. Ricky Steamboat has been in the news lately following his internal injuries, but that shouldn't overshadow a phenomenal career that many of today's wrestling fans aren't all that aware of.