Davey Richards

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[BillThompson]

No

[concrete1992]

I'm not afraid to say I absolutely loved him in 2009-2010. May have been my favorite wrestler. He just went 100MPH and things like his super reckless dive that he totally shouldn't have done landing him in the 3rd row. Even as close as last year he had a performance I really liked. Truly not sure if there is a wrestler I HATE to the point where I see no value in them. The performance in question was against Chase Owens that may have been helped by him doing his traditional "put over the other guy at the end of the show" shtick but instead going full heel.

 

My tastes in wrestling have changed DRASTICALLY though since 2009-2010. But obviously I see why people would like him based on how fast he goes.

[tim]

I remember liking him for a time in 2007 when he was a heel and seemed to dial it down to work his character more.

[Jmare007]

I'm not afraid to say I absolutely loved him in 2009-2010. May have been my favorite wrestler. He just went 100MPH and things like his super reckless dive that he totally shouldn't have done landing him in the 3rd row. Even as close as last year he had a performance I really liked. Truly not sure if there is a wrestler I HATE to the point where I see no value in them. The performance in question was against Chase Owens that may have been helped by him doing his traditional "put over the other guy at the end of the show" shtick but instead going full heel.

 

My tastes in wrestling have changed DRASTICALLY though since 2009-2010. But obviously I see why people would like him based on how fast he goes.

 

I still enjoyed the indy overkill style in 2009 and Davey was one of my favorites in 07'-09'.

 

But by 2010 the style wasn't as enjoyable anymore - unless it was in a match held in Reseda - and I felt Davey started doing all the things from the previous years 3x times faster and in an over the top manner that went from annoying to just plain funny. It was ridiculous how "intense" his character was and I went from really looking forward for his matches to despising him.

 

No chance of making my list.

[NintendoLogic]

Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards at Best in the World is by far the worst match I've ever seen that's been pimped as great. Just comically bad on every level. MST3K-worthy. And I hear that their match at Final Battle (which I believe is where the infamous superplex gif comes from) is even worse. Someone should upload it for the lulz.

[Jmare007]

 

The most I remember from the BITW match was how little the crowd cared about every single nearfall or submission they did. Didn't watch the FB one.

[MJH]

Well, OK, Davey is far from the worst wrestler I've ever seen, let's not get carried away. To defend him (temporarily), some of the tag matches are alright as the structure is harder to fuck up, and there's an ROH match with KENTA (from '09?) where the first 2/3rds is a really strong match - they mirror each other well, the execution is as expected, it builds well - and then KENTA hits a Falcon Arrow off the apron. If from that point on Davey is out of it and it's only a matter of time before KENTA finishes him I'm more than fine with that, it would have been a very good match, perhaps heavy on the bombs for some people but I'm cool with that provided it's laid out effectively (which it would have been). Alas... I think it's a minute before Davey's firing up to go on offence and isn't selling it at all (for, if memory serves, a fucking Texas Cloverleaf). So, um, yeah.

[Matt D]

I will watch any Davey Richards match that Parv, Charles, Bill, and Dylan all agree that I should watch. Past that, I'm not watching anything.

[DylanZero]

I will watch any Davey Richards match that Parv, Charles, Bill, and Dylan all agree that I should watch. Past that, I'm not watching anything.

I think that's all any reasonable person could ask for from this candidate. I'm with you.

[BillThompson]

I will watch any Davey Richards match that Parv, Charles, Bill, and Dylan all agree that I should watch. Past that, I'm not watching anything.

 

This, I agree with.

[W2BTD]

The most unfairly criticized wrestler of recent vintage. You could make a argument he was the best wrestler in the world for a solid three year period during the stretch where he was pumping out MOTY contenders at a rate nobody else could match. The problem, is he dropped off of a cliff after he lost his motivation. I still like him for what he is, but he isn't nearly the wrestler he used to be.

 

Loved the Elgin match and agree it's five stars. Loved the two Edwards matches. The LOL GIF is a spot I popped for live and I don't have any problem with it. I don't mind a no sell spot now & then, and this one was creative & looked cool, so shoulder shrug.

 

He'd probably make my list just based on the sheer volume of amazing matches he produced over a 30 month period or whatever it was, but he lacks meat before and he lacks just about anything since. Thinking lower part of my list, but he could be much higher or even completely off if others jump up. A real wildcard.

[Venegas]

 

Loved the Elgin match and agree it's five stars. Loved the two Edwards matches. The LOL GIF is a spot I popped for live and I don't have any problem with it. I don't mind a no sell spot now & then, and this one was creative & looked cool, so shoulder shrug.

 

It's stupid. Show that gif to any non-wrestling fan and I'll guarantee you it'll be met with laughter. That's the thing, though. People who share similar tastes to you look at posters on PWO/WKO etc. and assume that they're being over-analytical but it's really just using common sense. That's a stupid, business exposing spot that makes no sense, especially when you consider they were a half hour into their match.

[WingedEagle]

 

 

Loved the Elgin match and agree it's five stars. Loved the two Edwards matches. The LOL GIF is a spot I popped for live and I don't have any problem with it. I don't mind a no sell spot now & then, and this one was creative & looked cool, so shoulder shrug.

 

It's stupid. Show that gif to any non-wrestling fan and I'll guarantee you it'll be met with laughter. That's the thing, though. People who share similar tastes to you look at posters on PWO/WKO etc. and assume that they're being over-analytical but it's really just using common sense. That's a stupid, business exposing spot that makes no sense, especially when you consider they were a half hour into their match.

 

 

A non-wrestling fan will find that match and every other ridiculous and likely laugh at it. I know non-wrestling fans who respect the fact that I watch wrestling, but I've yet to find those who are not fans but open to wrestling in general. You're either in or out.

 

That spot in the GIF is absolutely business-exposing. If I saw a show full of that I'd probably be yawning and looking at my watch by the end of the night. But once? I don't want all my wrestling to be true to logic, realistic and believable. That's UFC and I'm burned out on it. I want wrestling to be realistic, feature mat-wrestling, brawling, flying, hot finishes, selling, no-selling, sprints, spots, comedy, blood and storytelling. I just don't want all of that at once or non-stop, whether it be on a 3 hour Raw, a 4 hour comp or a house show. Keep it diverse and throw different elements so the audience is on their heels and constantly seeing different things as effective. Once it all fits the same homogenized profile you've dug yourself a pretty deep hole.

[concrete1992]

 

 

Loved the Elgin match and agree it's five stars. Loved the two Edwards matches. The LOL GIF is a spot I popped for live and I don't have any problem with it. I don't mind a no sell spot now & then, and this one was creative & looked cool, so shoulder shrug.

 

It's stupid. Show that gif to any non-wrestling fan and I'll guarantee you it'll be met with laughter. That's the thing, though. People who share similar tastes to you look at posters on PWO/WKO etc. and assume that they're being over-analytical but it's really just using common sense. That's a stupid, business exposing spot that makes no sense, especially when you consider they were a half hour into their match.

 

They probably look at a post like this and say "I don't wanna be here anymore" The spot I feel is pretty dumb but the posting of the gif feels worse at this point.

[Steenalized]

It deserves to be memorialized as a testament to Davey Richard's being the embodiment of all of today's worst habits.

[W2BTD]

That spot is no less "stupid" or business exposing than Lawler pulling down the strap or the Hogan no sell shake. And far less cartoonish than either.

 

That spot didn't bother anybody who doesn't mind a well placed no sell spot. It bothered everybody who hates no sell spots. And around & around we go.

[DR Ackermann]

You're right. It isn't less stupid or business exposing.

[Shining Wiz]

The term "exposing the business", when used on an internet form by (I presume) a non-wrestler is kind of hilarious.

 

As for Richards, I was underwhelmed when he showed up in ROH, started to enjoy him in his No Remorse Corps role, and fell off the Richards wagon when he turned into the badly tattooed guy with the Napoleon complex. That being said, really athletic guy who has a ton of moves, who very often fails to put it together in a good package.

[Jmare007]

As I said before, I didnt watch the FB match. Did the crowd react to the spot? I doesn't look like it in the gif but it's only a couple of seconds. I say it because Hogan and Lawler's "hulk ups" brought the crowd to their feet and had people going crazy when they did them.

[Dylan Waco]

Lawlers comebacks were prolonged and built to over the course of the match. They were momentum swimging moments. I also don't recall Lawler ever "no selling" a high impact move and going straight into another high impact spot on offense.

[Exposer]

Davey Richards has good execution and is athletic. He doesn't do anything else well. In fact, he does other things poorly, if not at all. I've seen the Elgin match. I'm pretty sure there are three or four occasions in the match where a high impact spot is done, no sold,followed by another high impact spot from the other person. I don't like that stuff at all. None of the moves in that match meant anything. There was no rhyme or reason to what was being done. It was just a bunch of moves, near falls, and submission trading sequences to pop the crowd. I've seen a Moondog match in a warehouse in East Ridge, Tennessee in 2002 where he chews on his bone and stalls that is better.

[Steenalized]

To Davey's credit: Edwards is really the worse offender in that gif since he actually takes the superplex. Davey is more the enabler.

[dawho5]

Two words for this thread.

 

Lead

Balloon

[funkdoc]

joe, my feeling on this is that there are certain moves that just LOOK like they should end the match or at least put the opponent in serious danger. this is like the discussion on tiger mask vs. dynamite kid when they no-sell the tombstone piledriver on the floor, and i'm one of the people who can't stand that at all either.

 

i think pol has said some interesting stuff here - basically, IIRC, wrestling has its own internal logic & lore and he doesn't like spots that don't fit that. the hulk-up is an established Special Ability for lawler & hogan, and just something you have to deal with if you wrestle those guys. davey richards-style no-selling doesn't really fit that profile. he doesn't have wolverine's healing powers or anything, so it just comes off as corny while other "cartoon bullshit" FEELS like it makes more sense.

 

i don't 100% agree with all of this myself (hulking up after finishers can get fucked imo), but it's a less common argument that i can appreciate.