Quotes from Ricky Steamboat

The one thing I'll never forget is the fan base. Without them, there would be no WWE. There would be no wrestling.

On my wish list, a guy I would have loved to work with in our prime would have been Shawn Michaels.

I remember the first couple of years when I was coming up through the ranks, some of the old-timers would take me aside after the match and critique me.

I was one of the rare guys who never wanted to sign a contract.

I think of myself as rarity in the business, and one of the reasons is that I wrestled my entire career as a baby face.

When you get two guys that gel together, you can feel greatness in the ring.

You can feel greatness in the ring. You can get two guys that gel together and it's just like poetry or a work of art.

I learned so much from Ric Flair... just listening to him guide me early in my career.

A lot of guys would say that I was like a 'damn chameleon'. It doesn't matter who you are in the ring with, you can adjust and adapt.

Look at the talent that has broken through. Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Cesaro. There are a number of talents there. Everyone wonders if you give them the ball, are they going to score or are they going to fumble? Obviously, all the names I mentioned have scored very well.

I learned to listen as a good guy, how to fight back without throwing away the heat, and how to fight back while I was still hurting. That part would always keep you in the game and keep you in the match.

Every match should have a story in it and I see a lot of that lacking. I see a lot of guys doing a lot of good stuff, and I call it stuff, filling in the blanks in their match, but the stuff doesn't tie in.

The matches that I've been involved with as a referee, sometimes the heel likes to get up in my face a little bit and even at 65 years old, I don't put up with that crap. Most times or not, the poor guy gets chopped down a few times.

I feel that we really had some good, athletic women wrestling out there and they work just as hard as the guys and put on a heck of a show.

I just wanted to experience what it felt like on the other side of the fence. As we all know, the heels have the most fun out there in the ring.

My back hurts real bad, every day. All those bumps took their toll. But life is good and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I worked with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt. Those guys have come along and are doing very well now.

You can call me 'Tons of Lard' for all I care, as long as I get to work.

If you think of the guys that I was in the ring with, when I looked across the ring at the other guy, whether it be Randy Savage, Ric Flair, Rick Rude, Don Muraco or Jake Roberts, a carpenter is only as good as the tools he has to work with.

I've wrestled in Hamilton and Toronto and the fans have always received me well there... It's always been one of my favorite areas to come in.

I remember the first time I climbed the cage - it was almost like a challenge from Snuka. I said, 'This is crazy. This is absolutely crazy!' I went ahead and did it but I only did it a couple of times. It scared me half to death.

I remember when we were having cage matches and Superfly Snuka was the first to do this - both of us were doing dives off the top rope - but at MSG he did off the top of the cage onto Don Muraco.

I want to be remembered as one of the best entertainers that had come along. That is what I'd like fans to talk about when they mention Ricky Steamboat.

There are so many young fans out there who have only seen me wrestle on tape.