Ricky ‘the Dragon’ Steamboat will wrestle in his first match in 12 years on November 27th. That match is part of a special Big Time Wrestling event aptly titled ‘Return of the Dragon’.
In his return match, Ricky Steamboat will team with FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) against Jay Lethal, Brock Anderson, and a mystery partner still to be announced.
But that wasn’t the original plan. According to Ricky Steamboat himself, FTR were supposed to be his opponents for this Big Time Wrestling show. However, those plans were scuttled when AEW made a big change to FTR as a duo.
Ricky Steamboat’s Return Match Changed
Speaking to WrestlingInc’s Nick Hausman, Ricky Steamboat explained that he was originally booked to face the heel dup of FTR. But then AEW turned FTR babyface and so that match-up was no longer viable.
“This [match], for me to make a final, final decision was three or four months in the making. I just didn’t jump on it the first time I was approached from Big Time Wrestling and I have an agent guy, Tony Hunter, who also works with Big Time Wrestling, and when I was first approached, but FTR, when I was first approached were heels.
They were going to be two guys on the other side of the ring that I was going to be wrestling. AEW turned them babyfaces, turned them good guy. So they said, ‘We can’t have heels working against you, Ricky, you’re a baby face. So what would you think if we had them as your partners?'”
Ricky Steamboat also noted that he still has no idea who Lethal and Anderson’s mystery partner is.
h/t Fightful for the transcription