30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Enter The Dragon

A few hours ago, I was sitting at McCarran International Airport waiting for my flight back to San Jose playing one of those mindless games on my phone to pass time.  A little bit after I arrived, a small family walked up and sat in front of me.  The son and father were talking about WrestleMania which reminded me that it was taking place sometime this afternoon.

It's been almost two decades since I actively followed wrestling.  Back then The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were still kings of the ring.  And even then, I wasn't a diehard wrestling fan.  I watched it because my students watched it, so I wanted to be able to relate to them.  It's the same reason I binge watched Stranger Things a few years ago and know about the current drama Nikki Minaj and Cardi B.

Anyways... getting back to wrestling... there was a time when I was fully invested in watching the sport.  Back then, Hulk Hogan was a real American, Andre Giant was the 8th Wonder of the World, and the WWE was still known as the WWF.

I supported a bunch of wrestlers, but none more loyally than Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat.  I can still remember his feuds with Jake "The Snake" Roberts and "Macho Man" Randy Savage back in the mid to late 80's.

Twenty-plus years later, I decided to start putting together a little collection of his cards.  It's relatively small, but I'm not ready to dive head first into a collection featuring a retired athlete in a sport I don't even follow anymore.

2017 Leaf Originals Autographs #RS1
2017 Leaf Originals Alternate Art Autographs #RS1

These are my most recent additions to the Steamboat PC.  It's nice to finally see him appear in autograph sets on a more frequent basis.

1987 Topps WWF Stickers #15

Topps stickers from the 70's and 80's are awesome and this is a perfect example.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about my interest in graded cardsOne of the four reasons I purchase them involves cards that are too cheap to pass up.

1985 O-Pee-Chee WWF #16 and #26

These two slabbed cards were on sale over at 4 Sharp Corners for $1.73 each, so I grabbed them. 

2016 Topps Slam Attax #259

This card was generously donated to my collection by Chris over at The Raz Card Blog back in March of 2017.

2017 Topps Legends of the WWE Autographs #LA-RS
2017 Topps Legends of the WWE Relics #R-RS

I picked up these two cards when they came out a few years ago over on COMCAccording to my records, I spent $21.57 on the pair, which officially makes these cards the most expensive additions to this collection.

2009 Topps WWE Autographs #NNO

This was the first autograph of Steamboat I ever owned, which was purchased at an online card shop that closed its doors a few years ago.  I happily paid $10 for this card.  Back then, stickers didn't bother me as much as they do now.

And rounding out this post is the only figure I own of Steamboat:

2010 Mattel WWE Legends Series One

This figure has been collecting dust in my office for eight years.  I purchased it back in 2011 for $7.99 (+ $5 shipping) on eBay.  I checked out recent sales on this figure and they go for $40 to $60.  Maybe I should have collected wrestling figures instead of cards.

Today's question of the day...

Were you ever a fan of professional wrestling?  If so, who was your favorite wrestler?


Well that wraps up today's post.  I apologize for falling behind on posts this past week.  I have a few things scheduled this week, but then the following week I'll be dealing with my mom's services and catching up with family.  After that... I should slowly work my way back into reading everyone's posts, writing my posts, and shipping out the prize packages I've owed people from February and March.  I appreciate everyone's patience.

Happy WrestleMania Day and sayonara!

20 comments:

Jason Presley said...

Why does Ricky's figure come with an alligator? It feels like a missed opportunity for a feud with Skinner.

Anonymous said...

No Asuka love?

Commishbob said...

Never been a fan of pro wrestling since I stopped watching on Friday nights as a kid with my grandfather. Bruno Sammartino was his favorite.

I loved Olympic wrestling as I was a high school wrestler as a freshman (briefly). Legit wrestling seems to have died out other than at the college level to some extent. I'm not sure what killed off Olympic wrestling (and boxing for that matter).

Having said that, I did attend a pro wrestling card once when I visited a buddy in St. Louis circa 1972. Gorilla Monsoon & Bobo Brazil were part of it as I recall. It was a hoot.

Bulldog said...

Cool cards. Steamboat was always easy to like and a great pick for a collection. Good stuff .

sg488 said...

Only when I was about 11 years old,Rocky Johnson was my favorite back then.

bbcardz said...

Are there people out there who don't know why professional wrestling matches are not mentioned in local newspapers' sports section?

Billy Kingsley said...

I never got into wrestling despite it being the most popular sport at my school. Even though I never watched it I recognize most names from the 90s and early 2000s. Is Steamboat his last name or an alias?
I do have a couple of wrestling cards in my collection. Most came from other people. I did by an Alexa Bliss card on comc because I thought she was pretty.
I'm trying to get a Sgt. Slaughter autograph due to the GI Joe connection. I might have one waiting to be shipped at comc, I can't recall.

Matt said...

You and I must have followed wrestling around the same time. I still vividly recall the match where Macho Man used the wrestling bell on Steamboat.

GCA said...

Never got into wrestling. If I found it was on tv, I'd see if Macho Man and Elizabeth were on. He was fun to listen to and she was, well...
The only wrestling cards I have (and seek) are the gorgeous girls. I have a casual Paige collection going, and have some of the Bellas, Eva Marie, and Candice Michelle. Checking out this site - https://www.wwe.com/inside/wwe-divas/every-diva-ever-photos#fid-27275630 - there may be a few more I might try to find.

gregory said...

There were so many characters back then. Macho Man, Hulkster, Ultimate Warrior, Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

Chris P said...

My Grandpa used to LOVE wrestling and my Dad used to tell me how he would take him and his brothers to shows every once in a while. My grandpa got me hooked as a kid, around 1990ish just after WrestleMania VI. Back them, the obvious ones were my favorites, with Ultimate Warrior being #1, Demolition was my favorite tag team and even when the turned heel I stuck with them. I actually remember ordering Summerslam 90 and my cousin and uncle coming over (my cousin was a hart foundation fan) and I cried my eyes out when Demolition lost the titles to the Harts. I stayed a fan until about mid 1992 when I just for some reason pretty much lost interest. Maybe it was my interest gaining in the major sports (baseball, basketball, football) but I'd catch an episode of Raw here or there and I never watched WCW. Then, the day after WrestleMania XI, I flipped the channels to Raw and for some reason I got hooked again. Been watching ever since. Used to love Stone Cold and The Rock of course, Jericho was a favorite (still is and he's still active). These days I watch still, but mainly out of habit, the product has gotten really crappy but I trudge along. It's just something that will always be a part of me I guess, lol

SumoMenkoMan said...

Some nice looking cards there. Missed WrestleMania this year.

Adam said...

As you probably know from some of my posts, I'm a big wrestling fan. It's really fun to watch and WrestleMania this year was exceptionally good. But I'm so much of fan that not only did I watch WrestleMania, I ordered the big New Japan and Ring of Honor pay-per-view from Madison Square Garden (which was also an amazing show).

As far as favorite wrestlers go ... to name a few current favorites from WWE, I'd go with Becky Lynch, Finn Balor, Pete Dunne, and Alexa Bliss. Outside of WWE, it's the likes of Jay & Mark Briscoe, PCO, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Marty Scurll among others.

Some of my all-time favorites are Rob Van Dam, Jerry Lynn, Great Muta, Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Taz, and Mike Awesome.

RunForeKelloggs said...

I've never been a huge fan but my kids got pictures with a bunch of wrestlers at the National one time. I also love the episode of That 70's Show where they go to see Wrestling.

Fuji said...

jason presley - it was from one of his matches against jake the snake roberts.

anonymous - oh asuka receives her own special post in the near future

commishbob - that's one thing i've never attended... maybe one day i'll make it to a professional wrestling event. as for college wrestling, local radio talks about it from time to time, because lorenzo neal (one of the radio guys) wrestled in college... and daniel cormier (local mma guy) did too.

bulldog - thanks. he was a natural good guy

sg488 - rocky's son was one of my favorites

bbcardz - hmmm... good question. i'm sure there are a few who believe it's real. i know it took me years as a kid to figure it out

billy kingsley - according to wiki, it's an alias. i'd like to get a sgt. slaughter card for my pc too. he's another guy from my childhood

matt - yup. totally remember that. from the top rope

gca - i don't know current wrestling stuff... but i recognize a few of the ladies you listed. pretty sure i have an 8x10 signed by paige that i got last year at a show

gregory - yeah... those were the good old days (at least to me)

chris p - loved the ultimate warrior too. as far as tag teams, i was more of a british bulldogs and road warriors guy. i think demolition came along after i stopped watching... either that or my memory sucks. jericho still wrestles? that's pretty cool. he was around when i watched back in the early 2000's

sumomenkoman - me too. wait. i've missed every wrestlemania since the late 80's

adam - i've heard of a few of the ladies you listed (probably know them from your posts) as well as a few of your all-time favorites, but don't recognize over half of the other peeps.

runforekelloggs - don't think i've seen that episode of that 70's show. maybe i'll search it up.

Chris P said...

You know the cool thing about Steamboat is ironically even though he was a career good guy..his real name wouldve been a great heel name in itself..Richard Blood

AdamE said...

I lived in Western Tennessee and Southern Missouri my whole childhood. So I got local Memphis stations. Jerry the King Lawler was and is my favorite. Most people never got to see how awesome he was at throwing a fireball.

I watched all the way through the Attitude era with Stone Cold, the Rock etc. Me and my friends would get every PPV. All of them, WWE, WCW, and ECW. We would would take up a collection and rotate whose house we watched it at. Good Times.

Shortly after kids I stopped watching in the early 2000s. But right around Christmas last year I turned it on and have watched Raw every week since. My 12 year old started watching it with me now. It is a great time!!! What makes it even better is that she still has no idea it is scripted. I can see her go through the same emotions I did as a kid watching my favorites go toe to toe with guys I didn't like. It has been soooo much fun. He birthday is today, so one of her presents was Wrestlemania. She stayed up way too late but in the the end her favorite of all Becky Lynch won in the main event and she said it was the best present she has ever got.

Big Tone said...

That Is a great Steamboat figure!I loved the WWf and my fav was George the Animal Steel!

Jason Presley said...

His real name is Richard Blood. Which, honestly, would have been an even better wrestling name if he had ever been a bad guy.

Fuji said...

chris p - true. i didn't even know his real name until a few days ago

adame - first off... happy belated birthday to your daughter! that's really cool that you and her bond over wrestling. i probably would watch wrestling way more if my dad was into it.

big tone - i'm a big fan of george the animal steele as well