WRESTLER OF THE DAY: STEVIE RICHARDS

[RIPPA]

Okay - so far the "random luchawiki page" deal has yet to get me an actual WOTD who was a luchadore. So we try again.

 

Of course giving me the NWA World Historic Titles Page is an ominous start. Just as giving me the page for the NAG promotion (Seriously NAG???? A Chilean lucha fed???)

 

Also rejected:

Ciclon Veloz Jr

 

HA! Okay - this is turning into the best unintentional bit ever. God - I never thought I would get Stevie Richards page but here we are.

 

 

[odessasteps]

Baron Von Stevie!

[J.T.]

Raven / Stevie vs. the Pit Bulls.  

 

Dog... Collar... Match....

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOrZlG1eyJc

[RIPPA]

God does that match not hold up well

[J.T.]

God does that match not hold up well

 

The blood is still awesome.  The million billion run ins really suck.

[odessasteps]

I quickly looked at lunch but didnt find the BWO as Kiss.

I loved a lot of the stevie/meanie segments, esp the fabs, the bluebloods and them in NYC.

[cool arrow]

I quickly looked at lunch but didnt find the BWO as Kiss.

I loved a lot of the stevie/meanie segments, esp the fabs, the bluebloods and them in NYC.

 

The first appearance of Bluedust was hilarious too.  It used to be on Youtube but it seems to be gone now.

[Greggulator]

Stevie Richards is maybe my all-time favorite wrestler. The guy was so awesome in every role he was expected to play.

 

I think the Double Dog Collars match is the best match in ECW history. The context of it was so remarkable. Dean and Eddy and Benoit took off for WCW. Sabu was gone. There were so many questions about the promotion and if it had any legs. Instead, they turn out their best card yet. Rey and Psychosis made their US debuts and introduced American Lucha, which elevated aerial wrestling to prominence and gave us a Hall of Fame guy in Mysterio.

 

But the Raven/Richards vs. The Pitbulls match put a bunch of homegrown guys (not that Levy was homegrown, but the character was) in a friggin' blood bath that also saw Raven nearly decapitated on a powerbomb from the top through a table. And then adding in all of the stories -- all that were so fresh at the time -- of Dreamer looking to get revenge, Alfonso allowing the chokeslam since it benefited the heals, allowing 911 to finally get his mitts on him, etc.

So many matches tried to ape what Raven/Richards vs. The Pitbulls tried to do. Most of them are overbooked shmozzes. But some of them are just fantastic. Do we have Daniel Bryan going through The Authority and crooked ref w/o that match? How about Big Show punching Roman Reigns in the face as an act of revenge after being forced to knock out Dusty, giving the Rhodes Boys the titles while surrounded by Daniel Bryan's YES! chant? Something like Vince vs. Shane McMahon at that WrestleMania (where Trish wheels out Linda, to reveal she degraded herself to earn their confidence so Linda can get out of a coma to take back the company) certainly doesn't.

I also loved the bWo and the Rise of Stevie Richards. I really wish that story was finished since it was awesome. The dork in the Poison belly shirts who got turned down for the prom gains confidence as a class clown and gets comeuppance against his mentor, who was actually a bully who abused him is such a great morality play. Unfortunately, someone dropped a railing on Stevie's neck and WCW came with a paycheck right around the same time.

Stevie also did some great promos in his short-lived WCW days. I loved him trying to negotiate a contract for Raven, which included rental cars with a tape deck. "OWWW, I MEAN WELL!"

[Web Conn]

Here is some Dr Stevie

[Brian Fowler]

The Double Dog Collar match is one that only works in context.  Without it, it's just an overbooked disaster.

 

Stevie was pretty damn versatile, switching from comedy to serious on a dime.  I was never a huge fan of his work, but he was always solid.

[cool arrow]

In memory of Extreme Rising, here's Stevie (their first and only champion) vs. Luke Hawx.

 

[Web Conn]

Stevie Richards vs Randy Savage

[Curt McGirt]

The powerbomb with Raven's head hitting the edge of the table is one of the most painful looking goddamn things ever.

[BobbyWhioux]

I think Richards has to be my favorite "comedy wrestler" since as I recall I thoroughly enjoyed his schtick and laughed every time he was trying to get a laugh.

 

To the point where I was thoroughly in his corner whenever he got serious and wanted him to get further than he ultimately invariably did.

 

Even today I've watched that Von Raschke Claw clip a half dozen times and chuckled each time.

[BobbyWhioux]

I also loved the bWo and the Rise of Stevie Richards. I really wish that story was finished since it was awesome. The dork in the Poison belly shirts who got turned down for the prom gains confidence as a class clown and gets comeuppance against his mentor, who was actually a bully who abused him is such a great morality play. Unfortunately, someone dropped a railing on Stevie's neck and WCW came with a paycheck right around the same time.

Stevie also did some great promos in his short-lived WCW days. I loved him trying to negotiate a contract for Raven, which included rental cars with a tape deck. "OWWW, I MEAN WELL!"

 

I never actually saw the story play out in ECW until years after the fact, but I loved that eyeblink Stevie had in WCW.  I must've, because even that slight glimpse was enough inspiration/enough of a launching point that I unwittingly ripped off/recreated from scratch that ECW Raven/Richards dynamic for about a year's worth of e-wrestling content (true story, ask Lawful Metal)

[CastleVania Rey]

Stevie Richards is one of the most underrated wrestlers in history. I've always defended him when people shit-talked him. Someone once was so mad about my refusal to admit Richards actually sucked (after I said I preferred Richards over Triple H during Triple H's post-quad tear run) that he waited months until the group owner went on leave, got moderator controls, and then barred me from posting. I don't regret it because Stevie Richards is still awesome, even all these years later when my wrestling tastes have become way different. Though I also don't regret it because that "group" was terrible.

 

I was fanatically pro Right to Censor just because Steven Richards was the leader. I was also really pumped for Stevie in his final run on the ECW show and was so disappointed when he didn't win the title. I'm still disappointed now, actually.

 

That ECW dog-collar match was fine (despite the Pit Bulls) until the hideous Heyman over-booking ruined it.

[Jingus]

I still like the booking of the dog collar match, and Greggulator did a masterful job of laying out why.  Shit, that match was so tight that even fuckin' Scott Keith gave it the full five snowflakes, and he was as big an ECW hater as you'll ever find.  

 

My personal favorite gratuitously overbooked ECW epic match involving Stevie, however, was this one unfairly forgotten six-man cage match from Heatwave 1996.  It was Dreamer/Sandman/Terry Gordy vs Raven/Stevie/Brian Lee, and... I'm sorry, words fail me.  Just watch it.  Unfortunately it's not on Youtube, but I did at least find a Dailymotion link: 

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1l3q9_ecw-team-raven-vs-team-sandman_sport

 

 

Stevie's comedy needs no belaboring from me.  But he was a pretty good wrestler at one point; that singles match with Sabu was way better than it had any right to be.  And lots of people seemed to seriously think that he might win the title at Barely Legal, which is amazing for a two-note comedy gimmick wrestler in Philadelphia in the 90s.  

Unfortunately, after he cut his hair and went RTC, it seems like his workrate just slowly shriveled up.  That gimmick ate him alive and he never really recovered, it Doinked his career.  Really, it kinda ruined EVERYBODY in the stable, didn't it?  All good talents (well, except Godfather) and none of them ever really got past that.  Val Venis was stuck in the "uptight prick" mode, poor Bull Buchanan never got over doing anything else, and I can't even remember what Godfather and Ivory did afterwards which really says it all.  And then Stevie hurt himself even more when he and Tomko managed to crap out one of the worst matches in modern PPV history.  I loved the guy's characters, he always fearlessly gave it his all, but in the ring it seemed like he needed it to be a tag match for him to deliver anything above par.  

 

Stevie Richards is one of the most underrated wrestlers in history. I've always defended him when people shit-talked him. Someone once was so mad about my refusal to admit Richards actually sucked (after I said I preferred Richards over Triple H during Triple H's post-quad tear run) that he waited months until the group owner went on leave, got moderator controls, and then barred me from posting. I don't regret it because Stevie Richards is still awesome, even all these years later when my wrestling tastes have become way different. Though I also don't regret it because that "group" was terrible.

Sounds kinda WKO-ish, but which board are you referring to?  

[cwoy2j]

 

Unfortunately, after he cut his hair and went RTC, it seems like his workrate just slowly shriveled up.  That gimmick ate him alive and he never really recovered, it Doinked his career.

 

Wasn't he coming off some kind of injury at that point? I remember he was a little bulkier than he normally was at that point but then again it could've just been the gear he was wearing. I remember he got into pretty good shape for the Stevie Night Heat run.

[Ace]

He was definitely bigger at the time. I actually even liked his Dr. Stevie run in TNA.

[GojiColin]

If I had a House Show Hall of Fame, for dudes that gave that extra bit in matches that didn't really mean squat, Stevie Richards would be first ballot for me.  While lots of dudes were happy to just do their thing and get out of the ring, Stevie would always try his hardest to get the crowd fired up and if he found an area that was super into it he'd pretty much put a match on for them.  

 

I realize that's nothing super revolutionary, but we were lucky to get one house show a year, so it was a big deal for my friends and I to go see it.  Thus any extra effort was appreciated.

[odessasteps]

He worked for a while in MCW when i was there. Had good team thwen feud with earl the pearl.

[cwoy2j]

If I had a House Show Hall of Fame, for dudes that gave that extra bit in matches that didn't really mean squat, Stevie Richards would be first ballot for me.  While lots of dudes were happy to just do their thing and get out of the ring, Stevie would always try his hardest to get the crowd fired up and if he found an area that was super into it he'd pretty much put a match on for them.  

 

I realize that's nothing super revolutionary, but we were lucky to get one house show a year, so it was a big deal for my friends and I to go see it.  Thus any extra effort was appreciated.

 

Sounds like a great idea for a new thread.

[RIPPA]

I remember when watching Barely Legal - and Richards had that serious promo looking in the mirror about how it was his time and he was going to take advantage of it - and all of us were all HOLY SHIT! THEY ARE GOING TO PUT THE TITLE ON RICHARDS!!!

 

And then he was the first guy eliminated...

 

I wish I could find that promo on the interwebs

[Jingus]

Wasn't he coming off some kind of injury at that point? I remember he was a little bulkier than he normally was at that point but then again it could've just been the gear he was wearing. I remember he got into pretty good shape for the Stevie Night Heat run.

 

Yeah, Stevie's one of those poor guys who was perennially injured, just the walking wounded out there.  But he always seemed to struggle with getting people to take him credibly as a physical threat.  This is all crystallized in his finisher: yeah, it's a funny rib that the Steviekick is an even lighter version of the lightest wrestler in the world's finish, but it certainly didn't help sell him as a badass.  He was such an effective stooge that people tended to forget he could do anything else, something that guys like Cabana and Santino occasionally struggle with.  

 

 

 

If I had a House Show Hall of Fame

 

Sounds like a great idea for a new thread.

 

 

I concur.  Sabu's first on MY ballot, and ironically his nise version Crowbar would be second, but there's a lot of great things to talk about there.  

[GojiColin]

Ask and ye shall receive!