Ricky Steamboat Interview: Talks about new book, Road Agent position
On Monday, December 26, 2005 at 5:58 PM EST The following was transcribed by Dan “Ho-Ju” Kriegbaum:
Former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, former WWE Intercontinental Champion, current WWE Road Agent, and one of the authors of "The Professional Wrestlers' Instructional & Workout Guide" (along w/Harley Race, Les Thatcher, & Alex Marvez), Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, was a special guest on this past week's live edition (12/19/05) of Monday Night Mayhem, which can be heard in streaming audio every week (and live from 7-9PM ET every Monday night) exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network (www.MondayNightMayhem.com, www.MondayNightMayhem.com, www.ObsessedWithWrestling.com, www.RadioWrestling.net, & www.AudioWrestling.com -- your official home of “The Spring Break Incident” Video-On-Demand, featuring WWE SmackDown Diva & the hottest member of ABC's "Dancing With The Stars," Stacy Keibler!
The interview with this MNM Hall Of Famer is now available to hear for FREE in Real Audio!
The Big Mosh opened with a weather report, saying it's cold & snowy in Buffalo (as it normally is during the winter), then asking Steamboat what it's like in Charlotte, NC. Ricky said it was 35 degrees, but no snow. Enough of the damn weather, and on to some wrestling!
The Big Mosh plugged this past Monday night's WWE "Tribute To The Troops" special, in which Ricky said that he was not on this year's trip, but heard it was one of the most memorable tours that the wrestlers have been on. Ricky mentioned that the wrestlers went to a variety of bases and had nearly 5,000 military people watch the show. The Big Mosh described some of the visuals he had already seen including Vince McMahon in a Black Hawk helicopter, Triple H's emotional reactions to meeting some of the injured soldiers, and many more. Ricky believes that they'll be going back next year, and has already put in his name to go over in 2006.
The Angry Hero then inquired about the book that Ricky co-authored, "The Professional Wrestlers' Instructional & Workout Guide," (available at www.SportsPublishingLLC.com & all major retail stores and bookstores) and asked about why it's so short, but more info-filled, and what he might've added had the book been slightly longer. Ricky said that each wrestler that wrote in it had a set number of pages to write about (Harley Race & Les Thatcher), and that Alex Marvez tied it all together. Ricky explained that they never thought that it wasn't enough information, and they had thought the amount that they had was enough for the content of the book. Steamboat said that it's a good & easy read for hardcore wrestling fans, along with people trying to get into the wrestling business -- with a few professional indy & backyard wrestlers as well. He likes how Alex put the book together in order to make it into an easy read.
The Angry Hero then asked about how hard it was for wrestlers to maintain a diet & weight training on the road, and if he would recommend it to somebody not in wrestling to use to get into shape. Ricky said he thinks that the book would be good for anybody that wants to get into shape or athletes. About how hard it is to stay in shape, Ricky believes that there is a gym in every city that they travel to, and restaurants now also favor people who want to watch their weight -- with various low-fat or fat-free foods. He said that wrestling all week long was also an easy way to stay in shape, and avoiding IHOP's at 2AM in the morning before bed without being able to work it off also helped.
When asked about how he got his WWE Road Agent job, he said that John Laurinitis called him up, in return for the favors he did for John in World Championship Wrestling, watching his matches & giving him advice. Ricky said that he turned away John's first offer, and the second time was a three-week trial, before John asked him a third time to come aboard full-time. Ricky believed that he was brought aboard to the agent team because they needed more babyface aspects of things, with a team of agents that worked as heels for a long part of their career -- including Steve Keirn, Michael Hayes, An Anderson, and several others. Remember fans, Steamboat's first meeting with WWE officials was last November, in of all places, Buffalo, NY -- the hometown of The Mayhem.
Coming off of the heels of Tim White's "suicide" at the Armageddon Pay-Per-View, The Angry Hero then asked Ricky the tough question of why fans should be excited to watch the WWE today, to which Steamboat answered by saying that the agents have a major role in dealing with the fans and what we see on TV. He added that they try and give their best shot at what us fans see as the final product. Ricky said that they don't have the depth & luxury that they had back in the days of territories when there were countless main event guys, which they can only use a handful of guys to fill those spots now. He went back to when he wrestled, and how 90% of the locker room were seasoned, well-worked wrestlers -- with only a few rookies. He says the percentage now is 70% of people still learning in the business, while the other 30% is the Triple H's, Shawn Michaels', Chris Benoit's, and Kurt Angle's. Steamboat feels that as agents they have been told to keep things rolling and begin to pass the torch, which can be seen now with the champions being John Cena & Batista. Ricky doesn't single out names, but said that the wrestlers that are green will have the chance to improve and be on in the spotlight.
Blade asked Steamboat if he personally prefers more wrestling than backstage segments with a few matches. Ricky said that there are a group of people on the staff, known as writers. Writers do their job, which is to write, while the agents job is to produce the wrestling aspect of it. Blade mentioned the fact that the writers don't have a background in wrestling, which Ricky countered saying that he & the rest of the agents are there for that reason. Speaking of on camera roles & segments, Ricky said that once he came aboard he had no ambitions about being on-camera, but at 52 years of age now, he has an urge to get back in the ring and wrestle on occasion. Ricky thinks that if he can get back into 80% as shape that he was, he thinks he can do it again, -- but watching his fellow legends like "Rowdy" Roddy Piper & "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka still wrestle, he cringes. He then said there's another side of it from a fan's aspect, that he wants fans to remember him how he was, not how he'll be if he returns to the ring. He ended the thought by saying that "he's turning 53, and not 25 again."
The Big Mosh then brought up one of Ricky's legendary opponents -- the current WWE Intercontinental Champion, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. The question was posted to Steamboat, with regards to Ricky wishing to get back in the ring, and if he had a match, if it would be against Flair -- to recreate the magic. Steamboat said that there has been some thought between the two of them, but they have not approached Vince about it just yet. Ricky also believes that they throw stuff to each other regarding it on television from time-to-time, and he doesn't think it would be too hard to convince "the promotion" that it would still draw on a part of a Pay-Per-View. He said "not to count it out," and if he can get back into shape, and get 10 minutes in front of a camera to evaluate himself, he would make a decision. Ricky then said that it takes his breath away that although they are old, that fans still want to see the two of them square off one more time. He doesn't think it would headline a WrestleMania, but being a part of it is something he believes could happen in the near future.
The Angry Hero then asked who (besides Flair) that Steamboat would like to have a match against, in which Ricky answered that he'd like to wrestle Kurt Angle, simply because he has the ring presence & the ability to carry himself. Angle keeps him "on the edge of his seat" today when he watches Kurt in action.
Other topics of discussion in this stellar 45-minute interview include: some of Ricky's favorite WrestleMania moments (including how he views what "The Macho Man" Randy Savage has done with his career after their epic WM III match), his personal thoughts on CM Punk being the future of the WWE, why he views TNA as being good for the business, but not competition for the WWE, whether or not he has thought about the possibilities of being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame next April (and who he would like to see his fellow inductees be if that were to happen), and Steamboat puts to bed the issue of there being any heat between himself & The Honky Tonk Man over dropping the WWE Intercontinental Championship! These topics of discussion are so hot (in addition to Ricky's answers), that it will melt any snow over the holiday season! And who says WWE-contracted talent are boring in interviews -- not us!
To purchase "The Professional Wrestlers' Instructional & Workout Guide," log onto www.SportsPublishingLLC.com or check out any of your local retail stores & bookstores.
And to listen to the entire 12/19 "Merry Mayhem Christmas Special" (featuring Dennis DiPaolo, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Brian Knobbs, & Diamond Dallas Page, head on over to The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network (www.MondayNightMayhem.com, www.WrestlingMediaNetwork.com, www.ObsessedWithWrestling.com, & www.AudioWrestling.com). From fine Italian food, to two of Jimmy Hart's finest singing "Jingle Bells," and for the latest on why Jay-Z is involved in wrestling discussions, we encourage you fans to download this epic show!
On tonight's show (12/26/05):
Tonight, we say goodbye to 2005 & farewell to one of The Mayhem's longest associates & colleagues, Shawn "The Angry Hero" Walters -- a special three-hour year-end edition of "Your Home Of Wrestling Radio," Monday Night Mayhem (special time of 6-9PM ET). A stacked lineup is set for this historic & memorable night, as former WWE superstars & Mayhem guests, Matt Morgan & Mark Jindrak will be aboard the program to promote their new online reality show (debuting in January, only at www.MarkAndMattLive.com) -- in addition to the head booker for Ring Of Honor, Gabe Sapolsky will recap the year that was in ROH & preview their upcoming January events, the Head Of Talent Relations for TNA, Terry Taylor, will break down the biggest year ever for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling & preview the company's huge night lined up for this Saturday night, New Year's Eve -- two special editions of Impact, one at 8PM ET & the other at 12 midnight to ring in the new year of 2006! Also, two close personal friends of the show will return -- the architect of the Ballpark Brawl events, Christopher Hill, and the former host of No DQ Radio & the senior wrestling writer of Niagara Sports & Leisure Magazine, Ivan The Impaler, will join the program to send The Angry Hero off into the sunset.
E-mail your questions/comments for all of our scheduled guests and your well-wishes to The Angry Hero to MondayNightMayhem@hotmail.com or post them on the MNM Uberfun Message Board (located at www.MondayNightMayhem.com).
In addition, we will close out our special "Merry Mayhem Christmas Giveaway," by opening up the MNM Prize Vault one final time in 2005. Also, we encourage all of you fans to join Monday Night Mayhem, as we will announce the winners of the 2005 Grenier Awards -- named this year in honor of former World Tag Team Champion, Sylvain Grenier. The fans have voted, and the worst moments of professional wrestling & sports-entertainment of 2005 have been tabulated. Who will walk away with a Grenier? You have to tune in to find out!
This is going to be an unforgettable night in Mayhem history -- and we invite wrestling fans throughout the world to tune in & listen live this Monday night, starting at 6PM ET/5PM CT, along the airwaves of The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network.