In a recent interview with WrestlingINC ahead of his return to the ring at Big Time Wrestling’s “Return of the Dragon” this Sunday at the Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, WWE Hall of Famer Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat discussed his decision to return to the ring for one more match that will see him team up with FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) to face off against Jay Lethal, Brock Anderson and a mystery tag partner.

“It was very difficult, and before I could give a final answer, this past month or so, I’ve been…Glenn Jacobs, that name ring any bells yeah, and Tom Prichard, they have a wrestling school outside of Knoxville, so for the past month or so, I’ve been venturing down to that school once or twice a week just to get some back, but I learned more so on my limitations, but you asked why. I was thinking that the longer I wait, the less chance that I will have, I’ll be 70 in February and Mother Nature does creep up on you, and the older you get, it creeps up on you faster and Raleigh’s Dorton Arena holds a special place in my heart.

So, Raleigh holds a very dear and close wrestling memory out of all of the places that I’ve been, you could go with me and Savage at the SilverDome in Pontiac, Michigan at WrestleMania 3, but this match [against Harley Race], it wasn’t filmed, it wasn’t televised, it was just what you would call a regular house show match, but what a night it was for me to be in the ring with the Champion, and then, to go 60 minutes and hold my own with him, so for that very reason, and a big thanks to all the fans in Raleigh that have come out over the years to support Mid-Atlantic. Jim Crockett was the promoter and I was there from 1977-1985, so eight years of being in one territory back in the day was a pretty good stretch.”

The full interview is available at this link.