Former WWE and ECW star Stevie Richards recently spoke with Memorabilia Guy and below are some interview highlights:
Crowds “hijacking” shows:
“I think guys work harder than they ever have, unnecessarily. Crowds can hijack shows nowadays; they can take control with their own chants to get themselves over. It’s counterproductive. I’m not saying people need to be spoon-fed and fall in line like the wrestlers do, but it’s like these people go to the show to not have a good time. They tried to sabotage the shows. These guys work every bit, if not, harder than we did back in the day. But we were able to lead the people in to the story lines we wanted and they could sit back and enjoy the ride. Now these people are trying to drive the car. I wouldn’t say there is a huge difference between the talent and the product. There is a difference between society and they way people react to this type of entertainment.”
On WWE and Vince McMahon not understanding a unique talent like Shinsuke Nakamura:
“I heard somewhere that Hunter [HHH] said he wasn’t ready for the main roster. I mean the guy had Tokyo Dome shows countless times. I think sometimes Vince [McMahon] doesn’t understand something a bit different. There is a part of me that thinks Nakamura will be an emperor or something stupid like that when he goes to the main roster. Nakamura is so charismatic. Vince might say – I don’t know why he saunters around like he has no bones in his body. Well the fans are paying attention. I think that’s something that he just doesn’t understand.”
If Impact Wrestling is good enough to compete with WWE:
“Going back to the ECW thing before, you shouldn’t want to compete. You should be doing your own thing or watching WWE and saying – lets do something completely different. That’s why the Broken Hardy’s were so over. It was so different. It got people outside of wrestling talking. When was the last time something like that happened? You know, you have The Rock showing up in WWE, but when was the last time you had mainstream media talking about TNA? I don’t think that’s happened. Vignettes are what are missing from wrestling. When was the last time you saw a really cool vignette in which you cared about the character? Probably the Wyatts. It was like wow, this is interesting. The vignettes are what made the Hardy’s stuff really compelling and interesting to fans and people outside of wrestling. That’s how you make money. Nowadays they just debut characters, put them out there, and give them a title run and they fall away after a year. One year in today’s business was like 4 in my era. You would build up talent. Randy Savage didn’t get the world title until three years in to the company, maybe more. I miss that stuff. I miss the six months to a year of really caring about a character.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
