Ricky Steamboat's Final Match Affected By AEW Booking

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat is set to return to the ring for the first time in 12 years this Sunday when he teams with FTR to take on Jay Lethal, Brock Anderson, and a mystery partner at a Big Time Wrestling show in Raleigh, N.C. Steamboat recently spoke with Wrestling Inc. Senior News Editor Nick Hausman and discussed how his tag team partners and opponents came to be for what is being billed as his final match.

Steamboat, 69, stated that when he was first approached by Big Time Wrestling for one more match, AEW stars FTR were heels and were going to be on the opposite side of the ring from the WWE Hall of Famer. FTR's subsequent babyface turn in AEW obviously altered plans.

"AEW turned them babyfaces, turned them good guy," Steamboat said. "So they said ... 'What would you think if we had them as your partners?' And I thought it was great, too, because they were at the school [in] WWE back in the day when I was a trainer, and I'd work with them in the ring and I know they're good hands and I'm glad how they've grown in the business with AEW. And so the adversaries, the Jay Lethal and then old Arn Anderson's boy, Brock, and they still got a mystery partner, and I haven't been privy to the mystery partner. Can you believe this? It's coming up this week."

Big Time Wrestling: Return of The Dragon will stream live on FITE at 5 p.m. EST on Sunday.