"You're gonna make your debut on the day of the show" - WWE legend was surprised by Vince McMahon's decision (Exclusive)
Ricky Steamboat recently revealed that he was surprised to learn Vince McMahon and WWE had no plans to have him and "Macho Man" Randy Savage compete even once ahead of their WrestleMania III match.
The wrestling business has witnessed several influential matches over the years. However, only a few come close to what Steamboat and Savage achieved at WrestleMania III. The Intercontinental Championship bout was way ahead of its time, with the two performers executing the kind of spots that fans seldom saw.
In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Bill Apter, Ricky Steamboat revealed how the match came to be. The WWE Hall of Famer disclosed that after his and Randy Savage's feud was set up, he went up to Vince McMahon to ask if they had some practice matches lined up ahead of their WrestleMania III clash.
However, to the utter surprise of Steamboat, Vince McMahon said he and Savage would directly step inside the ring at The Grandest Stages of Them All.
"We did the angle in December of 1986; he ["Macho Man" Randy Savage] came off the top rope to my throat with the announcer's bell, which put me out... Around February, I went to Vince and said, 'Are Savage and I gonna have any tune-up matches, getting ready for WrestleMania 3?' Usually, you work with the guy a few times, and you try a few spots to see what works and what doesn't, right? But he said, 'No, you're gonna make your debut on the day of the show," said Ricky Steamboat. [0:48 - 1:20]
Check out the full video below:
WWE legend Ricky Steamboat on how Tony Khan is different from Vince McMahon
In the same interview, Ricky Steamboat also detailed how Tony Khan was a much different person from others like Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff.
The WWE Hall of Famer explained that Khan paid attention to what he had to say instead of simply being adamant about wanting to do things a certain way.
"No, this is a totally different guy as compared to Vince McMahon or Eric Bischoff. He's very open-minded, and when I was telling him the psychology of why I think we should do it the way I'm suggesting, I could see it in his eyes; he was taking everything in, and he was actually roleplaying everything in his mind... This is not a guy that's just gonna say, 'Well, we're gonna do it the way I wanna do it because I think that's the way it's going to be.' He was very open. I would make a suggestion on some things to do, and then I would also explain why, and then we move on to the next thing," said Steamboat.
Steamboat recently made a handful of appearances for AEW, where he was involved in an angle with Ricky Starks.
What's your favorite match of Steamboat's WWE career? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the YouTube video if you use quotes from the first half of this article.