WWE Missed Opportunities: Richie Steamboat Unable to Further Family Legacy

There is little debate that Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat was one of the most successful professional wrestlers who ever laced up the boots. His matches with Ric Flair are legendary, and his battle with Randy Savage at WrestleMania 3 ranks up there with the greatest of all time.

But if you aren't familiar with Ricky's son, Richie Steamboat, don't feel too bad. Though Richie seemed to be well on his way to following in his father's foot steps, it never materialized.

Richie was signed to a WWE developmental contract and competed in Florida Championship Wrestling, which later became NXT. While there, he got into the ring with several members of the current WWE roster such as Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Heath Slater, Damien Sandow and Titus O'Neil, to name a few.

But he didn't just compete against those Superstars; he actually found quite a bit of success. While in FCW, Richie won every major title in the promotion. He was Florida Heavyweight champion in addition to winning the FCW 15 Championship and the FCW Tag Team Championship.

When FCW was rebranded as NXT, Richie appeared to be one of the guys around whom the shows would be built. At the inaugural NXT tapings from Full Sail University, Steamboat defeated Leo Kruger (aka Adam Rose) in a quarterfinal match of a tournament to crown an inaugural NXT champion.

In recent years, WWE has brought up multiple second- and third-generation stars to build on the legacies their families started.

In addition to veterans Randy Orton, Natalya and Cody Rhodes, Superstars such as Bray Wyatt, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel and The Usos—all of whom have famous wrestling fathers—have found success on the main roster.

It would only be a matter of time before Steamboat did the same.

But after a victory over Kassius Ohno in November 2012, Steamboat would go missing. He never had another televised match in NXT. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, via Wrestling News Source, reported in 2013 that Steamboat would need back surgery for a serious, possibly career-threatening injury.

In the below interview, Ricky confirms that the back injury brought what appears to be a permanent halt to his son's in-ring career. If not for the injury, he'd almost certainly be part of the main roster today. Instead, fans will always be left with questions of what could have been.

So what kind of legacy did the elder Steamboat leave? While Orton has far surpassed what his father, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, accomplished in his career, Richie would have had some very big shoes to fill.

Ricky is a former NWA World Heavyweight champion as well as WWE Intercontinental champion. He is a member of both the WWE and NWA Hall of Fame and is remembered as one of the most fluid, gifted wrestlers of his generation.

At WrestleMania 25, at 56 years old, he competed in a three-on-one handicap match, teaming with Jimmy Snuka and Roddy Piper to face Chris Jericho. The fact that he could still perform at a high level was not only one of the highlights of the entire event, but it also led to his facing Jericho one-on-one at the following pay-per-view event, Backlash.

It's a shame fans won't get to see Richie follow the path his father laid out. He had WWE Superstar written all over him. Richie was a slightly taller version of his father, and he had a great look. Still just 27 years old, he had an incredible future in front of him.

Instead, Richie will be remembered as perhaps the best wrestler never to be seen outside FCW/NXT. His abilities are quite evident in the match below with current WWE World champion Seth Rollins.

You can liken Richie's situation to that of a high draft pick in a professional sport never seeing the field or the court. His contributions to the professional wrestling world were cut short far sooner than they should have been.

It serves as a reminder of how suddenly the career of a professional athlete can be over. For him, it just wasn't meant to be. Instead, fans are left with what he was able to accomplish, which was filled with promise.