Victor Blood made his professional wrestling debut on December 7, 1986, adopting the ring name Vic Steamboat from his first match on. In mid-1987 he worked for the Dallas, Texas-based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) as a low level wrestler. On September 7, 1987 he was part of the 1987 Labor Day Star Wars major show, losing to Vince Apollo in the second match of the night.[1][2] A few months later he was part of WCWA's Thanksgiving Star Wars, losing to Killer Tim Brooks in the first match of the show.[3][4]
International Championship Wrestling / International World Class Championship Wrestling (1988–1991)
After spending some time wrestling in Texas Blood moved to the North Eastern united states, making his debut as Vic Steamboat for the Boston, Massachusetts based International Championship Wrestling (ICW) promotion. In ICW he formed a regular tag team with Joe Savoldi, known as "The S & S Express". In September 1988 the S & S Express defeated Moondog Spike and The Dungeon Master to win the ICW Tag Team Championship.[5][6] Their first run with the titles ended on March 5, 1989 where the S & S Express was defeated by a team known as "the Dynamic Duo" (Phil Apollo and Eric Sbraccia).[5][6] The S & S Express regained the championship on July 1, 1989 and held them until December 11 of that year where they lost to "The Undertakers" (Henchman and Punisher).[5][6] When then champion Eric Sbraccia did not show up for a scheduled title match Steamboat teamed with Phil Apolo, only to lose the championship to The Lethal Weapons (Dennis Condrey and Doug Gilbert).[5][6] Later on ICW was renamed International World Class Championship Wrestling (IWCCW). On July 24, 1990 Vic Steamboat won his first singles title, as he defeated Tony Atlas to win the IWCCW Heavyweight Championship, becoming the top wrestler in the federation.[7][8] His run at the top lasted until April 19, 1991 where Atlas regained the championship.[7][8]
^"Historical Cards: Laborday Star Wars (September 7, 1987. Ft. Worth, Texas)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 172. 2007 Edition.
^"Historical Cards: Thanksgiving Star Wars (November 26, 1987. Ft. Worth, Texas)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 172. 2007 Edition.
^ abcdeRoyal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "Boston: International Championship Wrestling Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN0-9698161-5-4.
^ abcRoyal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "Boston: International Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN0-9698161-5-4.