Ric Flair on Ricky Steamboat’s in-Ring Return: ‘At Any Level, he’s Better Than 50% of Today’s Wrestlers’
Ric Flair has given his take on Ricky Steamboat’s return to wrestling.
It was announced last week that the pro wrestling legend would be stepping back into the ring on November 27 for Big Time Wrestling, although his opponent has yet to be confirmed.
Steamboat turned down the offer to compete in Ric Flair’s final match at Starrcast V in July. Flair teamed with son-in-law Andrade instead against Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal.
While speaking on To Be The Man on AdFreeShows, Flair praised one of his greatest rivals:
“He’s going to be in a match soon. I’m happy for him. It’s great. Steve Perkins is a great promoter. I wish them all well, whoever is involved. I don’t know the situation, but it’s great. It’s one of those deals where nobody is ever going to be Ricky Steamboat so they might as well watch them while they can and enjoy the opportunity. There will never be another Ricky Steamboat. At any level, he’s better than 50% of the guys in the business today. He wouldn’t get in the ring if he wasn’t. He holds himself to a very high standard. I imagine he’ll probably look better than the guys he is in the ring with. He’s always in great shape,” he said.
The last time Steamboat competed in professional wrestling was in a tag team bout in 2010 against Caylen Croft and Trent Barreta of The Dudebusters.
At WrestleMania 25 in 2009, Steamboat made his first appearance in the ring in 15 years. He competed against Chris Jericho in a three-on-one handicap elimination match with Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka. Later that month, he also worked a singles bout against Jericho at the Backlash pay-per-view. Due to a back problem, Steamboat had already retired in 1994.
