I voted Ricky Steamboat 24th in 2016 and I feel good about that. Steamboat is one of those folks who was never worse than good and was usually great. I expect him to take a hit based on some of the names below him but I can't see him out of the top 50. I don't know what else to say about Steamboat. Its Steamboat, he's awesome 

I had Steamboat at 23 in 2016, and that's probably a little higher than he'll finish in 2026, but he's still Steamboat and still awesome and still arguably the greatest long-time babyface in US wrestling history. I'm kind of surprised that some of his goofier selling has never really bothered me, but it hasn't and I rarely find it hammy. Or at least too hammy, I guess. Even if it's over the top I can get a kick out of Steamboat EMOTING all day. An amazing face in peril and a bit of an underrated hot tag, plus he has one or two decent singles matches on his resume as well. The WWF run that was maybe right in his prime probably wasn't as good as it would've been had he stayed in Crockett, but I like the Jake feud a lot and the Savage stuff is great. The Japan run has some good stuff, but is probably a bit disappointing on the whole. Retired as one of the best wrestlers in America; maybe the world. Doesn't have as effective karate as Stan Lane but I suppose it's not a big deal. 

 

RICKY STEAMBOAT YOU SHOULD WATCH:

w/Jay Youngblood v Sgt. Slaughter & Don Kernodle (JCP, 3/12/83) 

v Tully Blanchard (JCP Starrcade, 11/22/84)

v Jake Roberts (WWF, 6/27/86)

v Randy Savage (WWF, 2/14/87)

w/Eddie Gilbert v Ric Flair & Barry Windham (NWA World Championship Wrestling, 1/21/89)

v Ric Flair (NWA Chi-Town Rumble, 2/20/89) 

v Ric Flair (NWA Clash of the Champions VI, 4/2/89)

v Terry Funk (NWA Clash of the Champions VII, 6/14/89)

v Lex Luger (NWA Great American Bash, 7/23/89)

w/Dustin Rhodes v Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko (WCW Clash of the Champions XVII, 11/19/91)

w/Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff v Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko (WCW Saturday Night, 5/23/92)

v Rick Rude (WCW Beach Blast, 6/20/92)

v Steve Austin (WCW Clash of the Champions XX, 9/2/92)

w/Shane Douglas v Hollywood Blonds (WCW Clash of the Champions XXII, 1/13/93)

v Steven Regal (WCW Fall Brawl, 9/19/93)

I’ve been thinking about personal all-timers, judged from within the span of their careers I watched, and I so value how on top of it he appeared in WCW, right to the end. I think he could have an appreciable effect on the WWF if he’d stayed but unless they put him right on top he wouldn’t have had the quality of talent he was put with for those three years he was with Atlanta.

I remember an article in one of the Apter mags he was interviewed for and he was asked if he wished he ever had a heel run and he said it would have been nice once in awhile to tell the fans to shut up. That’s such a human response that it wouldn’t have made me dislike him any less, but he seems to be in that rare company of good guys who are actually good people, if the word of many of the people he worked with counts. Maybe it’s just getting older but I see a lot more value in that, than maybe I did as a young child watching him. 

Steamboat will rank high for me. Along with a couple others, the perfect proof you don't have to work both sides of the mat to be one of the best ever. An unrelenting peak more or less from his first title win to initial retirement, and then a glorious nostalgia tour in 2009.

15 hours ago, Owen Edwards said:

 Along with a couple others, the perfect proof you don't have to work both sides of the mat to be one of the best ever.

The term you're looking for is "exception to the rule". 

11 hours ago, Mantaur Rodeo Clown said:

The term you're looking for is "exception to the rule". 

There are many exceptions to the rule (and none prove the rule). I might rank something like 20 "pure faces" on my list. It's a misleading rule. It has its strongest salience in America, and much less importance in plenty of historic Japanese contexts. It essentially has no applicability in the WoS British era. It's a useful way of showing a great American wrestler's range, basically.