YMMV / Ricky Steamboat

• Audience-Alienating Era: His 1991 return to WWF. He came to the ring dressed in a dragon costume and breathed fire, was referred to as simply "The Dragon" (though his original name was dropped a few times) his previous run in WWF was rarely acknowledged, and he wrestled mostly jobbers and midcarders after being promised a main event run. Ricky left soon after and returned to WCW under his old gimmick, but still brought back the fire-breathing towards the end of his career and wore only the "wings" portion of his old Dragon costume.
• Retroactive Recognition: He had one in the The A-Team episode "Body Slam" along with Davey Boy Smith.
• Sacred Cow: Talking negatively about him is not wise. Notable for being one of the few still-living wrestlers to attain this status.
• Spiritual Successor: He may not be the first, but he's the most fondly and well remembered "Martial-artist" wrestler in the last 50 years or so. Every performer, Face or Heel, from Steve Blackman to Glacier and even Mortis can trace their roots to him.