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Savage vs Steamboat II?

Dan from New York checks in with a question about The Madness & The Dragon...

"I am 31 and started watching wrestling in 1986-87.  The greatest period of booking and wrestling I remember is the build to the Mega Powers angle from Post Wrestlemania III - Wrestlemania V.  Here's one question from that era:


On SNME after WM III, Steamboat has his first IC Title defense against Hercules and Savage is on commentary spazzing out at the chance someone other than him will get "HIS" title back from Steamboat.  He actually does a run in and then saves Steamboat from a post match beatdown.  They were obviously building toward a rematch from WM III with Savage obsessed over the IC Title.  Now I've long heard rumors that Steamboat only lost his hard earned title because he asked for time off to be with his kids and HTM was in the right place at the right time to get the shot.  This allowed them to turn Savage face with the same agenda, try to get HIS IC Title back. 


Here's the question: What is Steamboat doesn't take time off?  What if he decides to run with the title rather than go be with his family?  Does Savage stay heel and feud with him all year?  Steamboat's title loss and departure in 1987 paved the way for two years of angle making with the rise of face Savage, the rise of HTM as IC Champ, which ends up creating the Mega Powers.  So what is Steamboat stayed around?   Thanks in advance."
Yeah, that was basically it. Steamboat truly was the anti-Flair in terms of gimmick & personal life. He wanted time off, the brass was pissed because they wanted to build him as a long-term IC champion. Which I assume they didn't change the plans at all when Honky was inserted. Anyway, so Steamboat went away, came back, and management was still pissed, thus no real push to speak of. 

If Steamboat never left, I see him as one of the pillars of the WWE, and a future World Champion. The guy was loved by everyone, had a great look, could back it up in the ring, and didn't mind doing hokey shit like training for a match by fighting ninjas. The same ninjas I assume attacked Mike "Major Guns" Quinn during his posing routine at the 1992 WBF Championship. 

But then again, aside from a rematch with Savage, things may have stayed the same. Hogan would have definitely seen Steamboat as a threat, and perhaps done what he could to hold him back. Steamboat is such a nice guy he probably would have paid it no mind, and continued having fantastic matches in the mid-card.

How say you guys?

Any others that just want to see their question in the bright lights of the BoD, and don't mind if Scott may not answer, send'em on in to CaliberW@hotmail.com

Comments

  1. I'm pretty sure Ricky Steamboat wouldn't even have been allowed to say "WWF Champion" so long as that blonde guy with the bandana and yellow trunks was around.

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  2. Its a good thing it played out the way it did because if Steamboat didnt leave we never get the epic Steamboat/Flair matches.

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  3. No kidding, so disappointing. However, we did get the "real" Steamer back in WCW in 1994 and it was awesome.

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  4. Hogan, still being quite popular in 87, was making everyone on the cards he was on huge piles of cash. No one else needed to carry the belt. And the babyface/heel dynamic was different in the WWF compared to the NWA.


    Steamer as IC champ would've been all he would've been able to attain in WWF. He was a more natural fit for NWA/WCW, anyway.

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  5. Zero chance Steamboat ever won the WWF title. He couldn't cut promos on a competitive level with Savage, Hogan, Warrior, etc. He was a much better fit for WCW/NWA champion, but in the height of the WWF's popularity, he wouldn't have fit in the world champion role at all.

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  6. We got Steamboat as a tag wrestler in WCW during 1993. The matches between the Hollywood Blonds and Steamboat/Douglas/Zenk were awesome!

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  7. Evad Sullivan? Sorry, the devil made me do it.

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  8. In hindsight steamboat made the right move. He was tailor made for the late 80's nwa

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  9. If he had stayed his career would have had a similar trajectory as Greg Valentine's and Tito Santana's, a tag team title run after his Intercontinental title reign but no real shot at the world title as long Hogan was around. After that he would eventually become a jobber to the stars, since he probably would have outstayed his welcome and he is not the flashiest of personalities

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  10. If he didn't take time off, maybe they would have done a face vs face Savage/Steamboat match in the tournament. Maybe. That's about it.

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  11. Savage doesn't save him from a beatdown. He lets Hercules complete his beatdown and THEN he adds the flying elbow afterwards.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXhAZM8kJX8

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  12. In WWF, Steamboat was the perfect candidate for long-term IC champion. Maybe a tag team mentor for someone later on. Probably would have ended up on our usual Hennig/Dibiase/Rude "guys who might have been world champ" discussions. The NWA run was for the best

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  13. Given the way they meticulously planned the WM match and the innate talents of both guys in their prime, I have no doubt Savage & Steamboat would have continued to hit ****+ every time out, like Flair-Steamboat.

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