 Steamboat in April 2010 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Richard Henry Blood Jr.[1] (1987-07-07)July 7, 1987 (age 38)[1][3] |
| Family | Ricky Steamboat (father) Vic Steamboat (uncle) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Richie Steamboat[1] Ricky Steamboat Jr.[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2] |
| Billed weight | 213 lb (97 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Charlotte, North Carolina[2] |
| Trained by | George South[1] Harley Race[1] Pro Wrestling Noah[1] Ricky Steamboat[1] |
| Debut | July 25, 2008[1] |
| Retired | December 2013 |
Richard Henry Blood Jr. (born July 7, 1987) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring nameRichie Steamboat. He is known for wrestling inWWE'sdevelopmental territoriesFlorida Championship Wrestling andNXT, and was the secondFCW Grand Slam Champion having won theFlorida Heavyweight Championship,Florida Tag Team Championship, andJack Brisco 15 Championship.
Blood's father, Richard Blood Sr., is also a professional wrestler, known asRicky Steamboat.[2] His uncle,Vic Steamboat, is also a professional wrestler. Blood began participating inamateur wrestling at the age of five.[4] Blood often competed againstReid Fliehr in wrestling competitions during hishigh school years.[5] Blood won four state titles and two national titles in amateur wrestling, and was a member of the Ohio All-Star team.[4] He was offered a place on the Junior Olympic wrestling team, but turned it down.[4] Blood also playedfootball in high school as alinebacker andtight end, and played four years of varsity football atLake Norman High School.[4] Blood has completed two years of a college course in International Business, and plans to return to finish his degree.[6]
As a child, under the gimmick name The Little Dragon, Blood appeared atWrestleMania IV,[7] and later inWorld Championship Wrestling, accompanying his fatherRicky Steamboat to thering.[1] When he was older, he trained withGeorge South inCharlotte, North Carolina for several months.[8] He later trained withHarley Race for approximately four months.[8][9]
Blood made his professional wrestling debut on July 25, 2008, using thering name 'Ricky Steamboat Jr.', when he defeated George South Jr. at a Premiere Wrestling Showcase event. The following month, Steamboat debuted for the Exodus Wrestling Alliance, when he defeated Mr. Florida to win the EWA Florida Heavyweight Championship on August 9. Just under a month later, on September 4, Steamboatvacated the championship. That same month, he debuted for Harley Race'sWorld League Wrestling (WLW)promotion, teaming withNaomichi Marufuji to defeatBao Nguyen andTakeshi Morishima on September 19. He went on a winning streak in WLW, defeating Darin Waid andTommaso Ciampa, before defeating Terry Murdoch to win the EWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship at a WLW show on October 31. On November 15, Steamboat appeared at anIndependent Wrestling Association Mid-South show, where he lost to Prince Mustafa Ali. Steamboat defeatedBobby Eaton to retain the EWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship on November 25, and defeated Eaton in a rematch later that night to win Eaton's EWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship, making him a double champion.[1] On December 5, Steamboat defeated South with aroll-up inGreensboro, North Carolina.[10] The following night, he defeated Jake Manning atVance High School inCharlotte, North Carolina.[11] In January 2009, Steamboat vacated both the EWA Missouri Heavyweight and the EWA Georgia Heavyweight Championships in order to wrestle in Japan.[1]
In April 2009, Steamboat began wrestling for NWA Charlotte. After suffering an injury the previous night that required fourteen stitches, he was unable to wrestle atFinal Destination in April, but was challenged byVordell Walker.[12] He lost the match to Walker on May 23 and teamed with Zack Salvation in a loss to The American Gangsters (Frank and Nicky) the following week.[1] On July 9, 2009, Steamboat was part of the WLW show held in conjunction with the Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame induction ceremony.[13] The following day, Steamboat wrestled in athree-way match for theWLW Heavyweight Championship, but the match was won by Superstar Steve. On July 11, Steamboat wrestled on anNWA Mid Atlanticcard, unsuccessfully challenging Ricky Nelson for the NWA Mid-Atlantic Junior Heavyweight Championship.[1] His made his finalindependent circuit appearance on November 13, defeating Jake Manning at a Northeast Wrestling show.[14]
Blood lived and trained at thePro Wrestling Noah Dojo in Japan for three months, beginning in January 2009.[6][15] He made his Pro Wrestling Noah debut under the name 'Ricky Steamboat Jr.' on January 23, 2009, in a loss toMakoto Hashi.[1] On February 15, Steamboat teamed withBuchanan in a loss toAkira Taue andTaiji Ishimori.[16] Three days later, Steamboat, Buchanan, andRoderick Strong were defeated byKotaro Suzuki,Muhammad Yone, andTakeshi Rikio.[1] On February 21, Naomichi Marufuji andAtsushi Aoki defeated Steamboat andDoug Williams, and the following night, Steamboat and Ippei Ota lost toYoshinobu Kanemaru and Kotaro Suzuki.[17] His final appearance for Pro Wrestling Noah was on March 1, when he teamed withTamon Honda andJun Izumida in a loss toTakuma Sano,Kentaro Shiga, andKishin Kawabata atBudokan Hall.[18] On March 8, Steamboat wrestled at aKensuke Office show, where he teamed with Ippei Ota in a loss toKatsuhiko Nakajima and Takashi Okita.[1]
In mid-2009, Steamboat wrestled for theWorld Wrestling Council (WWC) inPuerto Rico.[1] He made his WWC debut on July 24, by defeatingRicky Reyes. He went on to defeatTommy Diablo, before losing toOrlando Colón on July 31. He then began tofeud withHiram Tua.[1] The pair exchanged victories in singles matches, before Steamboat teamed with his fatherRicky Steamboat to defeat Tua and Colón on August 15.[1][19]
He also trained in Europe for a few months, and toured England withAll Star Wrestling (ASW) in October 2009.[1] He debuted in ASW on October 2, defeatingMark Haskins. Victories over Karl Kramer andMikey Whiplash followed, and on October 18, Steamboat teamed withGladiator Goliath to defeat the team of Jamie Gardner and Steve Allison. Two wins overJimmy Jacobs were followed by further victories over Mikey Whiplash, and tag team victories over Doug Williams andNick Aldis, and Gardner and Allison.[1]
Blood signed a contract withWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in December 2009, and was assigned toFlorida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE'sdevelopmental territory.[20]
Blood debuted in FCW on February 18, 2010, under the ring name Richie Steamboat and lost toHeath Slater in his first match for the promotion.[21] His first victory in FCW came at the television taping on February 25, when he defeatedDonny Marlow.[21] He went on to wrestle againstDerrick Bateman,Wade Barrett,Curt Hawkins,Alex Riley, andJohnny Curtis, before suffering a tornPosterior cruciate ligament in March, which sidelined him for several months.[1][21] Following his return, he teamed with his father to defeat The Dudebusters ofTrent Barreta andCaylen Croft on June 20.[21] In August, he unsuccessfully challengedMason Ryan for theFCW Florida Heavyweight Championship.[21] Throughout late 2010, he competed against wrestlers includingJinder Mahal,Roman Leakee,Curtis Axel,Lucky Cannon, andByron Saxton.[21]
In December 2010, Steamboat formed atag team withSeth Rollins, with the pair defeatingJacob Novak and Mahal in their first match as a team.[21] On January 6, 2011, Steamboat and Rollins challengedTitus O'Neill andDamien Sandow for theFCW Florida Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful.[22] At the Miami-Dade County Fair on March 25, Steamboat and Rollins defeated O'Neill and Sandow to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship.[23] They held the championship until May 12, when theydropped it to the team of Calvin Raines andBig E. Langston.[23]
In late 2011, Steamboat interfered in afatal four-way match for theFCW Florida Heavyweight Championship, and accidentallysuperkickedHusky Harris.[24] On the following episode of FCW television, Steamboat began a heel turn when he attacked Harris again, after finding him standing overAksana, and believing Harris had attacked her.[25] As a result, Steamboat and Harris began feuding, with their first match ending in ano contest.[26]Leo Kruger later defeated the pair in a triple threat match to retain the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship, and the following week, Steamboat lost to Harris in aNo Hold Barred match.[27][28] After the pair continued to attack each other backstage and during matches, both men were suspended for 30 days.[29][30][31] Upon their return, Steamboat lost to Harris in aBullrope match to end their feud.[32] On January 13, 2012, at the FCW television taping, Steamboat defeatedDamien Sandow by two falls to one to win theFCW Jack Brisco 15 Championship.[23][33] On July 20, 2012, at a live event, Steamboat defeatedRick Victor to win the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship.[34] He was the final FCW champion.
In mid-2012, WWErebranded FCW intoNXT.[35] In June, Steamboat debuted forNXT at the inaugural taping fromFull Sail University, defeating bothRick Victor and Leo Kruger in separate matches.[36] The latter match was a quarter-final in the Gold Rush tournament to determine the inauguralNXT Champion.[37] On the August 15 episode ofNXT, Steamboat was eliminated byJinder Mahal in the semi-finals.[38] Steamboat then started a feud withKassius Ohno; Steamboat defeated Ohno twice, but Ohno conducted successful post-match assaults on Steamboat.[39][40] Ohno then injured and pinned Steamboat during a six-man tag match while teaming with the Ascension against Steamboat andthe Usos on the October 17 episode ofNXT.[41] Steamboat returned from injury and decisively pinned Ohno on the November 21, 2012 episode ofNXT to end the feud.[42]
This was his final televised match after suffering a back injury for which he required surgery.[43] More than a year later in December 2013, it was reported Blood had been released from his WWE contract.[44][45] This was contradicted by later reports, which stated he remained under contract.[46] However, in April 2015, his father stated that due to the injury and subsequent surgery, he would be unable to wrestle again.[47]
Blood also racedLegend Cars andBandoleros under his ring name for several years atCharlotte Motor Speedway in the annual Summer Shootout Series.[48] In March 2023, Ricky revealed that Richie is married to his wife, Anna, a lawyer, and together, they have four children.[49]
Media related toRichie Steamboat at Wikimedia Commons
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