Davey Richards

[2.0] "A dedicated enemy of good taste. His gimmick was "I'm really strong and cool and I'm like a Japanese wrestler but I'm like a UFC guy but I'm like a boom boom boom indie guy who has all the best matches". He was a walking (if not talking) embodiment of everything internet wrestling fans misinterpreted about the industry outside of the WWE. A weird echo of Benoit, in a way, but a thousand times more self indulgent and pointless. Like if you trained somebody entirely on an old Top 20 Moves of KENTA/Low Ki/Super Dragon YouTube video. He heralded the death of the indie golden age. We're lucky that he revealed his true self and saw himself out."

[9.0] "It sucks that he has so many personal issues because he's one of the best wrestlers of his era. His idol was Dynamite Kid and it shows, in every aspect unfortunately."

[5.0] "Great wrestler, but a generic look and a mediocre promo at best. When people talk about wrestlers who "just do moves and don't tell stories", they're talking about guys like Davey Richards. The guy never managed to communicate any personality or charisma into his admittedly great in-ring work."

[8.0] "Davey Richards is a wrestler who epitomizes what it means to be a top-tier talent in the industry. One of his greatest strengths is his ability to adapt to various styles inside the ring. Whether facing a technical wrestler, a high-flyer, or a powerhouse, Richards consistently showcases his versatility and deep understanding of wrestling psychology. This adaptability, combined with his relentless intensity, allows him to deliver compelling matches regardless of his opponent's style. Another aspect that makes Richards stand out is his proficiency as both a singles and tag team competitor. As a member of the American Wolves alongside Eddie Edwards, he helped redefine tag team wrestling in Ring of Honor, delivering match-of-the-year candidates on a regular basis. Yet, when the spotlight shifted to singles competition, Richards seamlessly transitioned, proving that he could excel on his own. His unmatched cardio and endurance also deserve mention; Richards could go the distance in grueling bouts without losing a step, making him a force to be reckoned with in any match. While his in-ring abilities are nearly flawless, Richards' mic skills have often been cited as a weakness. However, in pre-taped promos, he can effectively convey his intensity and passion, adding a layer of depth to his character that complements his in-ring persona. His best work, in my opinion, came in his 2010 matches against Tyler Black and his intense series against Kevin Steen. More recently, Richards has continued to prove his worth in MLW, delivering a standout performance against Hammerstone for the MLW World Title. Overall, Davey Richards is a wrestler who brings a unique combination of skill, adaptability, and tenacity to the ring, making him one of the most respected talents in the wrestling industry."

[10.0] "Davey Richards has always been a phenomenal wrestler. Why this guy hasn't been pushed to the moon in every promotion that he's worked for (other than ROH) I'll never know. He and Bryan Danielson would have the greatest feud ever."

[6.0] "Davey is the perfect example of a wrestling equivalent to Icarus: a individual so prone to trying to reach the highest highs of wrestling quality that he ends up doing the opposite in the end. I'm fine with saying that he's had some great matches, and he's a talented performer. That also said, he's the definition of excess, as defined by his series with Eddie Edwards, which started off good, then tittered off a cliff over time because they felt that no selling + length + shitty spot sequences all make the match better. Add this about 10x times or so and you see the dregs of indie wrestling: bullshit psychology, zero pacing, and a tendency to no sell and pretend you are Kobashi after a 50 minute match in the first 20 of yours. He's so reckless as well with a lot of it that it borders on downright dumb, hurling himself through ropes and turnbuckles with little care for how it'll play for the rest of the match. He overkilled his own style in a single year: to this day no one has soured so badly in the IWC's mind than him. Great execution but his matches aren't paced for shit. Thankfully age, wear and tear, and maturity have meant that the guy simply can't go at that pace anymore, meaning we get some far better matches out of him because he's actually remembering to sell and focus in on the smaller things. His stuff since 2021 on the indies has been mostly decent stuff, and I'd love to see the guy have a second chance, because under the bad habits is someone dedicated and talented enough to be a valuable asset. So yeah, watch his early stuff, skip most of his first outing because it's just bad, watch his 2021 comeback tour stuff as well. Davey slowing down is great, him trying to be a spotshow guy is not."

[8.0] "At his peak he was an S-tier wrestler, easy. He had an intensity that rivals the likes of Benoit and Low Ki, but is hampered by a lack of immediate or consistent selling. However, I find most of his matches a joy to watch regardless. Hope he's doing well in his life with Angelina Love."

[10.0] "Davey Richards was the best wrestler in the U. S. from 2009-2011 and his intensity was off the charts. The guy went all-out in every single match, which was evident by him skyrocketing in popularity and getting the loudest pops of the night. Watch any ROH show from 2010 and it's undeniable who had the best pure wrestling matches on each show. I've always described his style as a cross between Dynamite Kid and Low Ki, and I loved how he took on an ultra-serious MMA-influenced gimmick when it seemed like everyone else on the indies was becoming as goofy as possible. Unfortunately, I do think Davey's style became excessive when he won the ROH World title in 2011. It became trendy to bash him during this era because he was constantly trying to top himself to the point where he was doing too much. His match against Eddie Edwards at Final Battle 2011 was evident of that. It went way too long, they no-sold a ton of stuff, they kicked out of every move under the sun, and the crowd wasn't into it. It was a textbook example of overkill, and the match most Richards detractors point to when bashing him. Fortunately, he reigned it in after losing the ROH title and his matches became consistently great again. I also find it odd that he got criticized for his Japanese-influenced style when it's literally what ROH was founded on, and ROH luminaries like Joe and Ki never received such backlash. I mean, Richards actually trained intensively in the NOAH dojo and worked for three major Japanese wrestling promotions, so I'm not sure how it's considered cosplay at that point. Lastly, I want to point to Davey's match with Elgin as a particular highlight. The crowd were booing and shitting on the match at the start, but they were coming unglued at the end. Everyone was standing on their feet going nuts and cheering like crazy. Richards took a crowd that was ready to crap on his match, and found a way to make them explode in cheers by the end. That's a sign of a good worker."

[10.0] "I never understood why some fans hated him so much. But I truly felt he was the best wrestler in the world in 2009-2011, his intensity was off the charts and he had a good short run in TNA. I miss Davey Richards."

[6.0] "Davey Richards was a very inconsistent wrestler, at the same time that he played incredible matches, he also played very bad matches, his psychology in the ring was not good, and his selling was inconsistent, and he was also not very charismatic."

[5.0] "Moreso than probably any of his peers, I've never been excited to see a Davey Richards match. He can certainly go and has a resume that any independent wrestler would be jealous of, but he also has a severe lack of charisma and an attitude towards jsut about everything that makes him very unlikable."

[4.0] "One of the most overrated indie wrestlers of all time. Never had much in the way of charisma or mic skills and had negative psychology in the ring. I never understood how some people thought that he was the better of the two Wolves when Edwards always was far better in the ring, on the mic, and in terms of charisma. Only gets 4 points because his negatives are mitigated in a tag team setting, which is what he worked in a lot of the time."

[6.0] "Very good but never quite reached great. I thought he was fun to watch in the ring and carried himself well, like a true bad ass you wouldn't want to mess with. He was definitely best suited in a tag team."

[7.0] "Certainly a skilled technical wrestler, and mixes that style with some impressive high-flying and MMA-style striking. As a single, his propensity for working too fast from move to move at the expense of selling and psychology - that "super indy" style - often drove me nuts, but that was often less of an issue in his tag team work alongside Eddie Edwards (and when he did sell, he was actually quite good at it). His lack of charisma and reported backstage attitude issues seemed the most major marks against him."

[4.0] "I have always thought that Davey Richards is an overrated wrestler and one of the first cases in which the internet is is responsible for exalting someone just for being anti WWE (as it happens with The Elite). He is terrible to sell, his offense is very limited and much of what he does in the ring does not make much sense most of the time."

[5.0] "Ohhhh boy you wanna talk about hit or miss. Sometimes he's shown to be a very capable singles wrestler with unmatched intensity and striking. His mma style on the indies was before it's time and got him pretty over. Other times he becomes a parody of wrestling and comes off as a Kawada/ajpw fanboy. Prefer him more as a tag guy because at least there he doesn't take himself too seriously."

[8.0] "Very capable of putting on great matches, has great intensity and striking along with a large moveset, however he unfortunately has a tendency to forego some essential things in the name of getting his shit in which can really bring a match down. Hugely talented, just needs to show some restraint."

[5.0] "I'm fan of Davey's striking and suplexs when kept to a minimum. But he rarely does and he is very indy with his offence, spamming his moves and doing stuff in times of a match where they make no sense, context wise. His selling is awful. His psychology (as sort of touched on already) isn't great and he wrestles too much like a video game player and I don't like using that analogy. He is a great tag team wrestler though."

[1.0] "Davey Richards is a lot like Kurt Angle - a guy who is capable of putting on good-to-great matches, but often fails to impress me because of his in ring style. He does too much, his 90's AJPW fighting spirit cosplay was embarrassing to watch during his ROH main event run, his selling is bad for most of the time & his offense isn't too interesting. For 99% of the time, I am not a fan of his, but he has had some great matches vs. the likes of Bryan Danielson, Kota Ibushi & most recently Bobby Lashley."

[6.0] "Davey is a guy who has had many great matches in his career vs. Strong, Danielson, Black etc. But most of his matches his selling was non existent and really annoying. He also tried too much to make his matches epic by performing big move after big move. He is definitely not bad, but not fantastic either."

[2.0] "Inadequate seems like the appropriate word. A poor understanding of the Puro concept of fighting spirit that just leads to kicking out of moves that should be killer, needless no-selling that you might get away with if you're Hulk Hogan sized & one of the biggest names in the history of the business, but just hits me as goofy as hell when you're 5'8" & pretty unremarkable. Just seems like he missed the lessons at Wrestling School on psychology and the basics of putting together a match to make people care. On top of the fact his wrestling "style" isn't at all to my taste, he's always been a pretty bland guy on the mic and that's a big part of wrestling."

[8.0] "He lacks in some things like selling or charisma, but his intensity, high pace and stiff strikes compensate his flaws. One of the few wrestlers that I can enjoy despise of not being a great storyteller."

[8.0] "I respect the hell out of the fighting spirit and iconoclastic behavior but I think he's a pussy for hiding behind a tag team, especially when Eddie made a better partner in 'Dojo Bros, ' instead of carving his own path and being as ambitious as possible for someone limited by his size. Austin Aries has (mostly) succeeded throughout his 13 year plus career; there's no reason someone with Davey's vibrant Dynamite/Benoit vibe can't achieve some great heights when placed within the specter of a goof like Gaburick who's obviously has a fetish for similarly statured dudes (J Matthews. ) Digressing... Davey's delivered some great moments over a colorful eight years that has seemingly turned beige each succeeding year after '11. I'll never forget standing in front of the dude in line at McDonald's he has a laser-like presence that in his big moments envelops (PWG "As the Worm Turns") but sometimes harried and unfulfilling (ROH "Best in the World 2011") or just vacant (PWG "BOLA" 2006 - though placed in an awkward position by S Dragon's injury. )"

[9.0] "Davey can be any type of wrestler he wants and would be the best in that category. Simply put davey is the true epitome of an allrounder. The only thing that limits him is his size and that's why he can only get a 9. sorry davey genetics f*cked you."

[9.0] "Excellent worker. He is technically brilliant, very fluent with his moves and very good with facial expressions. His only flaws are that at times he doesn't sell enough and isn't the best on the mic but despite it, he always entertains in the ring whether it's as a singles or tag star"

[6.0] "Super athletic and very high workrate, but his lack of psychology or selling makes him pretty much a caricature of the often criticised indy style. Had too many good matches to completely dismiss him, but can't rate him too high."

[10.0] "Richards’s reputation and high praise stems not from his impressive microphone ability, his look or his presence, but from what he produces inside a wrestling ring. His style may come under criticism, but when you look at it realistically, Davey Richards could be argued as one of the best wrestlers on the planet right now."

[8.0] "One of the best in the world, who throws the sickest kicks this side of the American Dragon. Not much in the way of personality or mic skills, but he never fails to excite (or incite) a crowd whenever necessary. His work in ROH is brilliant, and it's a shame he joined TNA just as they were losing TV support, because that would have been an excellent opportunity to introduce him to an even wider audience. Oh well. Whatever the future holds for Davey, you can bet it will involve championships and accolades."

[0.0] "It's one thing to look flashy and steal a show. It's another thing to constantly put yourself over, destroy a match's psychology to ensure you look tough and to no-sell for the sole purpose of looking better than your opponent. Davey is a fantastic technician, comparable to a Dynamite or Danielson, it's his ego, however, that causes him to lose respect from educated fans, promoters (guy basically gave ROH "the bird") and locker-rooms alike. I think this guy should really work on acting the part--his ego would fly in the 80s perhaps, not the modern day. I just don't see him progressing any further in the circuit with the way he carries himself around and presents in the ring."

[9.0] "Very outstanding wrestler, he has a very explosive and diverse style and very fierce in the ring and has a great match resume as well. Despite these positive traits, he's not so good on the mic."

[9.0] "When I started watching Ring Of Honor over a year ago, Davey Richards won me over when him and Eddie Edwards went all out in their epic world title match at Best In The World and I have a ton of respect for Davey and his talents in the ring and what he's been through in my life as well. Hell, I would rate him a 10, but I rate him a 9 which is at least a fair rating to give him only because of his mic skills. He lacks a lot in that department and it's such a shame because he's so talented in the ring that like I said, I would rate him a 10, but I'm not too sold on his mic skills unfortunately."