Richard Blood , Jr . Richard Blood , Jr . ( July 7 , 1987 ) is an American retired professional wrestler , better known by his ring name Richie Steamboat . He is known for wrestling in WWE ' s developmental territories Florida Championship Wrestling and NXT Wrestling , and was the second FCW Grand Slam Champion having won the Florida Heavyweight Championship , Florida Tag Team Championship , and Jack Brisco 15 Championship . Professional wrestling career . Training and early career ( 2008 – 2009 ) . Blood trained with George South in Charlotte , North Carolina for several months . He later trained with Harley Race for approximately four months . Blood made his professional wrestling debut on July 25 , 2008 , using the ring name ' Ricky Steamboat , Jr . ' , when he defeated George South , Jr . at a Premiere Wrestling Showcase . The following month , Steamboat debuted for the Exodus Wrestling Alliance , when he defeated Mr . Florida to win the EWA Florida Heavyweight Championship on August 9 . Just under a month later , on September 4 , Steamboat vacated the championship . That same month , Steamboat debuted for Harley Race ' s World League Wrestling ( WLW ) promotion , teaming with Naomichi Marufuji to defeat Bao Nguyen and Takeshi Morishima on September 19 . He went on a winning streak in WLW , defeating Darin Waid and Tommaso Ciampa , before defeating Terry Murdoch to win the EWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship at a WLW show on October 31 . On November 15 , Steamboat appeared at an Independent Wrestling Association Mid - South show , where he lost to Prince Mustafa Ali . Steamboat defeated Bobby Eaton to retain the EWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship on November 25 , and defeated Eaton in a rematch later that night to win Eaton ' s EWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship , making him a double champion . On December 5 , Steamboat defeated South with a roll - up in Greensboro , North Carolina . The following night , he defeated Jake Manning at Vance High School in Charlotte , North Carolina . In January 2009 , Steamboat vacated both the EWA Missouri Heavyweight and the EWA Georgia Heavyweight Championships in order to wrestle in Japan . In April 2009 , Steamboat began wrestling for NWA Charlotte . After suffering an injury the previous night that required fourteen stitches , he was unable to wrestle at " Final Destination " in April , but was challenged by Vordell Walker . He lost the match to Walker on May 23 and teamed with Zack Salvation in a loss to The American Gangsters ( Frank and Nicky ) the following week . On July 9 , 2009 , Steamboat was part of the WLW show held in conjunction with the Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame induction ceremony . The following day , Steamboat wrestled in a three - way match for the WLW Heavyweight Championship , but the match was won by Superstar Steve . On July 11 , Steamboat wrestled on an NWA Mid Atlantic card , unsuccessfully challening Ricky Nelson for the NWA Mid - Atlantic Junior Heavyweight Championship . His made his final independent circuit appearance on November 13 , defeating Jake Manning at a Northeast Wrestling show . Overseas ( 2009 ) . Blood lived and trained at the Pro Wrestling Noah Dojo in Japan for three months , beginning in January 2009 . He made his Pro Wrestling Noah debut under the name ' Ricky Steamboat , Jr . ' on January 23 , 2009 , in a loss to Makoto Hashi . On February 15 , Steamboat teamed with Buchanan in a loss to Akira Taue and Taiji Ishimori . Three days later , Steamboat , Buchanan , and Roderick Strong were defeated by Kotaro Suzuki , Mohammed Yone , and Takeshi Rikio . On February 21 , Naomichi Marufuji and Atsushi Aoki defeated Steamboat and Doug Williams , and the following night , Steamboat and Ippei Ota lost to Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Kotaro Suzuki . His final appearance for Pro Wrestling Noah was on March 1 , when he teamed with Tamon Honda and Jun Izumida in a loss to Takuma Sano , Kentaro Shiga , and Kishin Kawabata at Budokan Hall . On March 8 , Steamboat wrestled at a Kensuke Office show , where he teamed with Ippei Ota in a loss to Katsuhiko Nakajima and Takashi Okita . In mid - 2009 , Steamboat wrestled for the World Wrestling Council ( WWC ) in Puerto Rico . He made his WWC debut on July 24 , by defeating Ricky Reyes . He went on to defeat Tommy Diablo , before losing to Orlando Colón on July 31 . He then began to feud with Hiram Tua . The pair exchanged victories in singles matches , before Steamboat teamed with his father Ricky Steamboat to defeat Tua and Colón on August 15 . He also trained in Europe for a few months , and toured England with All Star Wrestling ( ASW ) in October 2009 . He debuted in ASW on October 2 , and defeated Mark Haskins . Victories over Karl Kramer and Mikey Whiplash followed , and on October 18 , Steamboat teamed with Gladiator Goliath to defeat the team of Jamie Gardner and Steve Allison . Two wins over Jimmy Jacobs were followed by further victories over Mikey Whiplash , and tag team victories over Doug Williams and Nick Aldis , and Gardner and Allison . World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE ( 2009 – 2015 ) . Blood signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) in December 2009 , and was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling ( FCW ) , WWE ' s developmental territory . Blood debuted in FCW on February 18 , 2010 , under the ring name ' Richie Steamboat ' and lost to Heath Slater in his first match for the promotion . His first victory in FCW came at the television tapings on February 25 , when he defeated Donny Marlow . He went on to wrestle against Derrick Bateman , Wade Barrett , Curt Hawkins , Alex Riley , and Johnny Curtis , before suffering a torn Posterior cruciate ligament in March , which sidelined him for several months . Following his return , he teamed with his father to defeat The Dudebusters of Trent Baretta and Caylen Croft on June 20 . In August , he unsuccessfully challenged Mason Ryan for the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship . Throughout late 2010 , he competed against wrestlers including Jinder Mahal , Roman Leakee , Michael McGillicutty , Lucky Cannon , and Byron Saxton . In December 2010 , Steamboat formed a tag team with Seth Rollins , with the pair defeating Jacob Novak and Mahal in their first match as a team . On January 6 , 2011 , Steamboat and Rollins challenged Titus O ' Neill and Damien Sandow for the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship , but were unsuccessful . At the Miami - Dade County Fair on March 25 , Steamboat and Rollins defeated O ' Neill and Sandow to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship . They held the championship until May 12 , when they dropped it to the team of Calvin Raines and Big E . Langston . In late 2011 , Steamboat interfered in a fatal four - way match for the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship , and accidentally superkick ed Husky Harris . On the following episode of FCW television , Steamboat attacked Harris again , after finding him standing over Aksana , and believing Harris had attacked her . As a result , Steamboat and Harris began feuding , with their first match ending in a no contest . Leo Kruger later defeated the pair in a triple threat match to retain the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship , and the following week , Steamboat lost to Harris in a No Hold Barred match . After the pair continued to attack each other backstage and during matches , both men were suspended for 30 days . Upon their return , Steamboat lost to Harris in a Bullrope match to end their feud . On January 13 , 2012 , at the FCW television tapings , Steamboat defeated Damien Sandow by two falls to one to win the FCW 15 Championship . In mid - 2012 , WWE rebranded FCW into NXT Wrestling . In May , Steamboat debuted for " WWE NXT " at the inaugural tapings from Full Sail University , defeating both Rick Victor and Leo Kruger in separate matches . The latter match was a quarter - final in the Gold Rush tournament to determine the inaugural NXT Champion . On the August 15 episode of " NXT " , Steamboat was eliminated by Jinder Mahal in the semi - finals . Steamboat then started a feud with Kassius Ohno ; Steamboat defeated Ohno twice , but Ohno conducted successful post - match assaults on Steamboat . Ohno then injured and pinned Steamboat during a six - man tag match while teaming with the Ascension against Steamboat and the Usos on the October 17 episode of " NXT " . Steamboat returned from injury and decisively pinned Ohno on the November 21 , 2012 episode of " NXT " to end the feud . This was his final televised match after suffering a back injury for which he required surgery . More than a year later in December 2013 , it was reported Blood had been released from his WWE contract in 2013 . This was contradicted by later reports , which stated he remained under contract . On April 15 , 2015 , WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat confirmed that Richie will not be able to wrestle anymore due to his back injury and subsequent surgery . Personal life . Blood ' s father , Richard Blood , Sr . , is also a professional wrestler , known as Ricky Steamboat . Blood began participating in amateur wrestling at the age of five . Blood often competed against Reid Fliehr in wrestling competitions during his high school years . Blood won four state titles and two national titles in amateur wrestling , and was a member of the Ohio All - Star team . He was offered a place on the Junior Olympic wrestling team , but turned it down . Blood also played football in high school as a linebacker and tight end , and played four years of varsity football at Lake Norman High School . Blood has completed two years of a college course in International Business , and plans to return to finish his degree .