Cowboy vs. Dragon

Keeping with our examination of Bob Orton’s war with Ricky Steamboat, here is a match that took place 7/20/85 between the Cowboy and the Dragon.

The contrast between the wrestlers’ bodies and styles is obvious.  Steamboat is tight — tight body, tight tights, and his moves are disciplined, a true martial artist.

Orton, the big cowboy, is loose, beefy and undisciplined, mostly using punches and throwing his victim by the hair.  Even his green trunks are loose and bulging.  He also fights dirty, wearing a cast in the ring supposedly due to an injury, but really to use as a weapon or the threat of a weapon.

Thanks to his discipline, Steamboat gains the early advantage with a series of Armbars.  The big Cowboy is made to beg for mercy like a wimpy coward.

Steamboat is so crisp and perfect and Snow-White that we feel glad when Orton tosses some caustic, blinding soda pop into his eyes to take over control.  Apparently throwing a blinding liquid in someone’s face is not cause for disqualification.

The best thing about Ricky Steamboat, beside his hard body, was his skill at suffering.  He loved to contort his torso to highlight the intensity of his pain, flexing his abs and twisting around after each strike to his body.  He would often bring his long legs into the act, bending and kicking them to help absorb the agony.  He was also genius at appearing vulnerable and damaged, twitching like a fish out of water and clutching his throat as if he can’t breathe.

I was always glad to see Ricky Steamboat getting in the ring, not because I wanted to see him win, but because I wanted to see him suffer, and he never disappointed.

Ricky Steamboat made a great Baby-Face in America because he was exotic and different, and very polite and honest, so we were supposed to like him (but secretly hated him).  He was Eastern, a martial artist, the hero from a karate movie.  His moves were beautiful and he fought clean.  He was so perfect, he was almost sickening, and we figure that he probably thinks he’s better than the rest of us Ugly Americans.  So part of you wanted to see him take a beating and learn humility.

Americans embrace the cowboy persona — free, untamed, and swaggering like Orton.  We all want to feel sometimes like a mean hombre, a hard-ass, a Marlboro Man.  Orton may be a villain, but Americans have a bit of rebel in their blood, so part of us wants to watch him hurt somebody.

So when they put pretty-boy Ricky Steamboat in the ring against a good old boy, a big brutish All-American Cowboy like Bob Orton, you wanted to see Steamboat beaten down by a pair of good old American fists.  It’s comfortable, like an old pair of boots.

Yes the “hero” Steamboat gains the victory in the end, teaching the kiddies that you ought to obey the rules.  But his victory is a technicality — he only won because Orton was disqualified.  So it’s a hollow victory for Steamboat, winning by default.  In the hearts of the fans, Orton actually won the battle by being more aggressive and treacherous.  Only the rules and regulations (which are hated by all Cowboys and rebels and true Americans) protected Steamboat and enabled his lame victory.  The Cowboy was not humbled at all — he remains a man to be feared and respected — and the feud wasn’t settled so they’ll have to fight again.