Davey Richards' future gets more interesting by the day.
A few weeks ago it was revealed that he was to be part of an extended WWE
tryout, wrestling on NXT and SmackDown, alongside his tag partner Eddie
Edwards. This in itself was peculiar as it hinted at a new way for wrestlers to
potentially enter the company or, at the very least, that WWE were showing
uncharacteristic flexibility.
But WWE's hiring policies have been dwarfed by the news
that Davey Richards and Ring of Honor have parted ways. The reason for the
split is an interview given by Richards to British wrestling magazine-website
Total Wrestling (never 'eard of 'em). 'The Lone Wolf' trashed the current
direction of the promotion he's called home for seven years, stating that the
tag titles "don't mean anything anymore", that the booking of the
world title has been "substandard and screwy" leading to the championship's
devaluation, and that he doesn't care about the promotion's much discussed iPPV
woes.
I agree with most of this. The booking of the world
championship <has> been shoddy for a number of years. I'm not sure how
long Richards believes this has been the case but I think the belt's dropped a
notch since Gabe Sapolsky left. There have been peaks in that time, such as the
shock victory of Edwards and the reigns of Kevin Steen and Tyler Black, but
mostly the title doesn't mean as much as it once did. I feel Richards was a
little too hard on the tag belts. They've dropped in meaning too, but not to
the same extent and reDRagon have done a good job of providing a focal point
this year.
But as right as Richards is he remains an employee.
Wrestlers in these situations have to able to tow the company line. The can
tactfully acknowledge that things have been better or that they'd take a
different approach but they still need to remain broadly positive. Openly
trashing the promotion that pays your wages isn't a smart move, and if Richards
doesn't understand that (and this episode indicates that he doesn't) he's going
to have a hard time in WWE.
On Tuesday morning Gabe Sapolsky involved himself. He
tacked on the question of whether or not he should call Richards to a Dragon
Gate USA newsletter, also whacking it up (because he's a social media guru) on
Facebook and Twitter. Amongst those to send a positive reply was Wesley 'Davey'
Richards.
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| Future challenger to the Freedom Gate title? |
The relationship between these two is made out to be more
complex and fraught than it is by many people, but it's complex and fraught
enough to warrant a brief recap. When Sapolsky first set up EVOLVE he intended
to build it around Davey Richards. 'The Lone Wolf', not then as big a name as
he is now but still highly regarded, wrestled on the first EVOLVE show
(defeating Kota Ibushi in the main event) but never went back. There are two
reasons for this. The first is that he was contracted to Ring of Honor and they
decided, as was their right, that they weren't happy with Richards working for
Gabe's outfit. The second is that Sapolsky told Richards that he'd set up
EVOLVE (and Dragon Gate USA, presumably) to put ROH out of business. Richards,
not liking the negativity or the goal of putting people out of work, decided
he'd rather not return.
This scenario led to Sapolsky referring to "trust
issues" when he asked if he should contact Richards. I can see his point:
he'd wanted to build EVOLVE around Richards and only found that he was
unavailable after the promotion was up and running. But ultimately the
situation was of his own making. He knew Richards had a contract elsewhere and
gave pretty questionable reasons for starting his promotion(s).
Things are, of course, different now. Richards is a free
agent with some time available before he heads to WWE. EVOLVE has become a known
entity in its own right, without regular input from Richards. While it’s not a
promotion he’s linked with its one held in high enough regard by fans to be a
fitting place for Richards to wrestle his farewell indy match or matches, assuming
he goes to WWE and does well enough that he never leaves of course.
Sapolsky would be spoilt for choice when picking
opponents for Richards. The obvious name at the top of the list would be Open
the Freedom Gate champion Johnny Gargano. He’s the man that Sapolsky pits
against any outside talent that comes his way because he’s not only the roster’s
greatest US-based all-rounder but also but also because he’s become the
wrestler that shows are constructed around. That second fact would add
something to a Richards v Gargano match: the man who was going to be the
centrepiece against the man who became it naturally.
Akira Tozawa, Chris Hero, Chuck Taylor, CIMA, and
Ricochet would all have great, headline-worthy matches opposite Richards too. How
many we’d see would depend on how many matches Davey worked in the company. I’m
hopeful that it happens. Outside of ROH EVOLVE and Dragon Gate USA are the best
option to host Richards’ farewell match(es). In a way it’s a shame that he’s
heading to WWE: Richards is just the shot in the arm that Sapolsky’s feds need.
