Ricky Steamboat Confirms How Long He Plans To Take Pro Wrestling Hiatus

As one of the legendary figures in wrestling history, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat has been at it for a long time. The soon-to-be 70-year-old former NWA, WCW, and WWE star has seen and done it all as a wrestler, producer/agent, and trainer, and arguably put a bow on his legendary career recently with an independent match in November, where he and FTR defeated Brock Anderson, Jay Lethal, and Nick Aldis.

And while Steamboat's health has been in question in recent years, he revealed, in an interview with Bill Apter and Sportskeeda, that he's still feeling great, crediting his opponents in his most recent match for helping with that.

"Even with the brain bleed, I feel that my health is pretty darn good," Steamboat said. "And I had a big hesitation on doing the match I recently did. I told the guys 'I'm not going to take any bumps. I'm not gonna jar the noggin.' So they were good guys, they understood."

Steamboat is satisfied with that final six-man tag match, which is why he took the time to deliver a message to the fans, and reveal that he's going to take a break from wrestling-related activities for the next little while.

"I wouldn't have any of this, none of this, the house and the hobbies with the cars, without the fans that have come out over the years," Steamboat said. "Even when I finished wrestling, they continued to come out and support me, at WrestleCon, at the conventions, Comic-Con, Dragon-Con. 

"It's kept me busy. So finally, after 47 years of going somewhere and doing something for the business, I'm taking next year off. I'm going to stay busy. I like to do landscaping and work on my car, stuff like that."

If you use quotes in this article, please credit WrestleBing with Sportskeeda and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription