Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat Talks Mentoring A Young Steve Austin In WCW, Today's Wrestling

WWE Hall of Famer, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, was a guest on the In The Room podcast this week discussing his legendary career in sports entertainment. He took some time during the interview to compliment both Shane Douglas and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for their eagerness to learn back in early WCW days.

"[Shane Douglas] was a young man that was eager to respectfully learn," Ricky said. "You could see his eyes light up; that was the light bulb clicking in his brain. He was very coachable, like a sponge. Austin was the same way. I said to the office that [Austin's] got it and you need to do more with him. It wasn't too long after that he moved to the WWE and became 'Stone Cold', and the rest is history."

Steamboat has continued to train talent as time rolls on, and he mentioned how an emphasis on storytelling is one aspect that his students sometimes struggle with. He believes that every move and hold that a performer does during a match should contribute to the overall story they're telling inside the squared circle.

"Most times than not, the guys and girls come up short [in telling a story]. They understand what I'm trying to say: you just don't put moves and holds in your match for the sake of filling in time," Steamboat explained. "You need to be able to connect the dots. Fans watching need to be able to connect the dots in your match and the story that you're trying to tell."

Steamboat is amazed at the risky nature of today's high-flying superstars, noting how their willingness to throw caution to the wind is likely going to result in shorter careers.

"This generation has taken all of that high flying to different levels?these guys are falling out of the sky," Steamboat said. "As we know, it does take a toll on their bodies. I honestly think that we're getting away from the basic structure of wrestling and it causes wrestlers' careers to come up short because of injuries."

Ricky's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of a recent episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. Featuring Steamboat discussing his memories of working Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, working with Randy Savage at WrestleMania 3, Andre The Giant's spirit ahead of WrestleMania 3, which 80s heel he wished he'd have feuded with, how he spit his fireballs, the craziest thing he was ever asked to do, AEW's launch, his 2009 feud with Chris Jericho and more.

You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.