Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Although he was never as well known as Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin, his impact on many huge superstars is on par with any wrestler to ever set foot in a ring. He’s often best remembered for his time in WCW, but also wrestled for WWE on and off through the late '80s and early '90s.

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With a career that has mostly gone completely under the radar, a ton of Steamboat‘s greatest achievements have either been undersold or forgotten. His career might not even be over as of 2022. This list will examine 10 things fans forget about Ricky Steamboat's WWE career.

10 He Never Competed For The WWE Championship

Although Ricky Steamboat was always one of the best WWE wrestlers when he was on the roster, he somehow never competed for the company‘s most coveted prize, the WWE Championship. He put on classic after classic with every top star of his era but was for some reason never awarded a title shot.

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The closest he ever got to a championship match was when he competed in the tournament for the vacant WWE Championship that happened at WrestleMania 4. He was defeated by Greg Valentine in the first round of the tournament and never got another shot at the title. Steamboat is easily one of the most talented wrestlers to never earn a true title shot.

9 He Never Wrestled Hulk Hogan

There was no bigger star in the WWE or wrestling during Steamboat’s time in the company than Hulk Hogan. He was a juggernaut mega star reserved for the biggest names in the company. He was never able to wrestle on par with the likes of Ricky Steamboat, but the matchup between the two of them would have been interesting.

We will never know how well Hogan and Steamboat would have delivered in the ring since they never wrestled a single match against each other in WWE. It seems that Steamboat was not only never considered championship material but he was also never truly given the main event shine that could’ve catapulted him to the top of the company. He did however team up with Hogan a few times but was never an adversary in the ring.

8 He Is The First Person To Ever Win The Intercontinental Championship At WrestleMania

The Intercontinental Championship has had an up-and-down trajectory in WWE. With Triple H as the new head of creative in the company, it seems the title has been given a renewed status. During Steamboat's time in the company, the Intercontinental Championship was a coveted piece of gold, and it was also the only gold he held in WWE.

Something that makes Ricky's one and only title run special is he is the first person to win the title at WrestleMania. Although the title had been up for grabs at WrestleMania 1 and 2, it changed hands for the first time when Steamboat defeated Randy Savage in a WrestleMania 3 in a match that has gone down as a classic.

7 Steamboat Wrestled On WWE Raw, But Never On WCW Nitro

Ricky Steamboat competed in WCW and WWE before the Monday Night Wars began. He had mostly retired from wrestling by 1994 and therefore never competed on either Raw or Nitro during the battle between WCW and WWE.

29 years after his WWE debut, he did finally wrestle on Raw. Teaming with CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, John Cena, and Rey Mysterio, Steamboat defeated the team of Chris Jericho, Edge, Kane, Matt Hardy, and the Big Show in his one and only match on Raw.

6 Defeated Drew McIntyre In His Last Official WWE Match

Steamboat did have one final stint with WWE where he wrestled a few matches in 2009. Most of these were multi-man matches with him working as a legend, but he also competed one-on-one at a few house shows during his 2009 run with the company.

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He added another huge name to his long list of wins in WWE when he defeated Drew McIntyre at a house show in Massachusetts. The win against the future World Champion was Ricky Steamboat‘s last-ever match in WWE.

5 Ricky Steamboat And Roddy Piper Were The Only Men To Wrestle At WrestleMania 1 and WrestleMania 25

Ricky Steamboat competed in the first four WrestleManias. He only lost once during that run, at WrestleMania 4, which was the last time he competed at the event until returning for the "25th Anniversary" (which was actually the 24th!) in 2009. Along with Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat teamed up with Jimmy Snuka in a three-on-one handicap elimination match against Chris Jericho.

The three were unable to beat Y2J but two of the men who competed in the match earned a huge accolade. Roddy Piper and Ricky Steamboat were the only men to wrestle at both the first WrestleMania and the 25th. It was also the last WrestleMania match of Ricky Steamboat's illustrious career.

4 He Never Competed In The Royal Rumble Match

Ricky Steamboat competed at the very first Royal Rumble where he defeated Rick Rude via DQ. This was also the last time Steamboat would ever compete at the Royal Rumble event. He was never given a spot in the 30-man Royal Rumble because he left the company in 1988.

He’s often regarded as one of the best wrestlers of all time to never compete in the WWE‘s famous 30-man Royal Rumble event.

3 Steamboat Became "The Dragon" In WWE

Most people know Ricky Steamboat by his nickname “The Dragon.” Steamboat didn’t enter the wrestling world with the nickname, however. It was given to him when he joined WWE in 1985. Although he didn’t wrestle his entire career in WWE, the nickname did follow him for the rest of his time in the ring.

During his return to WWE for a short stint in 1991, Steamboat wrestled exclusively under the ring name “The Dragon” dropping Ricky Steamboat altogether.

2 He Didn't Lose A Televised Match In His Last Major Year With WWE (1991)

Along with wrestling exclusively under the name "The Dragon", Ricky Steamboat never lost a single televised match in 1991. Considering that he wrestled almost 30 televised matches in 1991, this was a huge feat for Steamboat.

To be honest, he didn’t compete against the top names on the WWE roster in this era, but any undefeated streak in the WWE is something to hang your hat on. It seems the company did not want Steamboat to lose but they also failed to push him as a top star. His career trajectory in WWE is honestly one of the most confusing experiences of Steamboat's entire wrestling career.

1 Randy Savage Handed Steamboat His First Televised Pinfall Loss

Although he wrestled a one-off tag match in 1980, Steamboat's true WWE career began in 1985. Upon his arrival to the company, Steamboat went on a big-time winning streak. Although he technically lost his first match to The Magnificent Muraco, this loss occurred via DQ and Steamboat didn’t suffer a pinfall loss until he battled Randy Savage at The Wrestling Classic 1985, WWE's inaugural pay-per-view event.

It was the first high-profile match of his career and also his first loss. Overall, the match is nothing special and doesn’t even remotely compare to some of the classics Savage and Steamboat would have in the future.