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| WWE-bound or not, I have to respect his popularity Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
At the St. Louis Anarchy show Friday, Davey Richards, after his match with ACH, announced to the crowd that he was "headed to Connecticut" to prove he was the real best in the world there. As with anything Richards says, I took it with a grain of salt and made the wanking motion with my right hand. However, I started to ponder whether WWE would be able to "fix" him. It was after I had announced my intention to write a column on that subject on Twitter that I reconsidered it and felt like such a goddamn douchebag. Let me explain.
Richards is one of the most polarizing wrestlers in any promotion right now. Those who hate him despise him for whatever reason. Fans of his are devotees of his matches as if they were the best wrestling has ever been or ever will be. Yes, both are exaggerations, but you get the point, I hope. Anyway, it stands to reason that the biggest divide about his wrestling ability is on his use of situational no-selling. As a card-carrying member of the hater brigade, my case against him is based around the fact that not only does he sell less than the old-school Undertaker at his worst, but his ability to produce offense out of that style of wrestling is all wrong. Ayako Hamada, ACH, and others whom I like a lot wrestle that kind of style a lot, but their sense of timing is way better. They seem to know how to pace a match, and thus it works in the grand scheme of things. With Richards, it feels like a bunch of traded strikes, grunting, constipated faces, and no real ear on how to make the match flow. I'm sure someone has a rebuttal for why Richards' abilities are suitable to their tastes. Hell, a lot of people probably have them because the man keeps getting booked on every show he can make it on, including in Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.
Where my own arrogance comes in is that I assume that just because he's going to WWE means he's going to be reprogrammed, or that he even should be reprogrammed. I've preached the mantra that wrestling is a buffet, and there's something for everyone. This idea explains why John Cena continues to be THE CHAMP even after a portion of fans in our little meta-community have grown to hate him with the fire of a thousand suns. Cena reaches a different set of fans, while those who loathe Cena get healthy doses of CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and Dolph Ziggler to sate their thirsts. I think it's a clear fact that Davey Richards is not for me. It's exceedingly haughty for me to think that he should have to change just because he's entering a company whose styles are different than the one he's used to working.
That isn't to say he wouldn't change. But then again, there's a new regime in charge in WWE's talent relations department. Triple H has signed a bunch of dudes and dudettes with varying backgrounds, and for the most part, he's let them go out and retain a lot of their identity, for better or worse. I mean, say what you want about Sin Cara, but he wasn't tasked with learning a COMPLETELY different style. His lucha game was toned down, sure, but he was still a luchador. Who's to say that Richards won't come in as some variant of the strong-style dude who does MOVEZ with little or no regard to selling? It's not like WWE is foreign to having that kind of deal in its matches. Just look at Triple H vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVII (think of it as a Davey Richards/Eddie Edwards match in SUPER SLOW MO), or Rock vs. Cena this year.
What I'm trying to relay is that you don't have to like Richards. But for anyone, myself included, to expect that he would have to change because the only style of wrestling that's palatable to the masses is the kind I like is a bit arrogant. I don't think Richards is good by any stretch of the imagination. And who knows, he may not even be headed to WWE because hey, remember when he was going to quit wrestling all those times to be a paramedic? I'll believe he's in WWE when the ink is dry on the developmental deal. However, if he does go there, I probably won't still like him or think he's any good. But learning to be okay with that fact and to be okay with people who do dig him is all part of growing as a fan and a human being. It's healthy.
Richards is one of the most polarizing wrestlers in any promotion right now. Those who hate him despise him for whatever reason. Fans of his are devotees of his matches as if they were the best wrestling has ever been or ever will be. Yes, both are exaggerations, but you get the point, I hope. Anyway, it stands to reason that the biggest divide about his wrestling ability is on his use of situational no-selling. As a card-carrying member of the hater brigade, my case against him is based around the fact that not only does he sell less than the old-school Undertaker at his worst, but his ability to produce offense out of that style of wrestling is all wrong. Ayako Hamada, ACH, and others whom I like a lot wrestle that kind of style a lot, but their sense of timing is way better. They seem to know how to pace a match, and thus it works in the grand scheme of things. With Richards, it feels like a bunch of traded strikes, grunting, constipated faces, and no real ear on how to make the match flow. I'm sure someone has a rebuttal for why Richards' abilities are suitable to their tastes. Hell, a lot of people probably have them because the man keeps getting booked on every show he can make it on, including in Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.
Where my own arrogance comes in is that I assume that just because he's going to WWE means he's going to be reprogrammed, or that he even should be reprogrammed. I've preached the mantra that wrestling is a buffet, and there's something for everyone. This idea explains why John Cena continues to be THE CHAMP even after a portion of fans in our little meta-community have grown to hate him with the fire of a thousand suns. Cena reaches a different set of fans, while those who loathe Cena get healthy doses of CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and Dolph Ziggler to sate their thirsts. I think it's a clear fact that Davey Richards is not for me. It's exceedingly haughty for me to think that he should have to change just because he's entering a company whose styles are different than the one he's used to working.
That isn't to say he wouldn't change. But then again, there's a new regime in charge in WWE's talent relations department. Triple H has signed a bunch of dudes and dudettes with varying backgrounds, and for the most part, he's let them go out and retain a lot of their identity, for better or worse. I mean, say what you want about Sin Cara, but he wasn't tasked with learning a COMPLETELY different style. His lucha game was toned down, sure, but he was still a luchador. Who's to say that Richards won't come in as some variant of the strong-style dude who does MOVEZ with little or no regard to selling? It's not like WWE is foreign to having that kind of deal in its matches. Just look at Triple H vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVII (think of it as a Davey Richards/Eddie Edwards match in SUPER SLOW MO), or Rock vs. Cena this year.
What I'm trying to relay is that you don't have to like Richards. But for anyone, myself included, to expect that he would have to change because the only style of wrestling that's palatable to the masses is the kind I like is a bit arrogant. I don't think Richards is good by any stretch of the imagination. And who knows, he may not even be headed to WWE because hey, remember when he was going to quit wrestling all those times to be a paramedic? I'll believe he's in WWE when the ink is dry on the developmental deal. However, if he does go there, I probably won't still like him or think he's any good. But learning to be okay with that fact and to be okay with people who do dig him is all part of growing as a fan and a human being. It's healthy.