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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Davey Richards – The American Wolf – Disc 1

May 26, 2015 | Posted by TJ Hawke

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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Davey Richards – The American Wolf – Disc 1

Destiny
June 3, 2006
East Windsor, Connecticut

Davey Richards vs. Jimmy Rave (w/ Prince Nana)

This was Davey’s ROH debut. I believe he was supposed to debut by defeating Bryan Danielson in a non-title match, but Bryan was hurt.

Davey dominated Rave for a while. Rave cut off Davey eventually and then worked him over. Davey was able to come back after hitting a tope suicida. They went back and forth a bit too much given that this was Davey’s debut and that Rave didn’t really need to look strong. Davey survived Rave’s Lightning Spiral and then finished Rave with the DR Driver: 1…2…3

Dave Prazak tried to sell it as a major upset.

I would have had Davey quickly finish Rave after he started to come back, but that’s not how ROH did things. It was still fine (and the crowd was fairly hot for Davey), but it just wasn’t more than inoffensive.

Match Rating: **1/2

Glory By Honor – Night 2
New York City, New York
September 16, 2006

Davey Richards vs. Jack Evans

Jack did some flippy things at the beginning. Davey got fed up and killed him with a yakuza to cut him off. Davey then worked him over. Evans was able to come back after a Space Flying Tiger Drop. Davey managed to block the 630 though. Evans survived the Stretch Muffler. Davey hit the Alarm Kick, a powerbomb, and then went back to the Stretch Muffler! Evans tapped out!

It just took two matches, but it’s already clear that Davey is a billion times better at controlling than he is when he works from behind. He doesn’t have to sell; he just has to kick hard and whatnot. These two had an odd chemistry that just worked. Do more matches between these two exist?

Match Rating: ***1/2

Final Battle
New York City, New York
December 30, 2007

Davey Richards vs. Naomichi Marufuji

I’m not too optimistic about this one.

After a lengthy feeling-out process, Fuji attacked Davey’s left leg to get control. Davey cut him off with an STO. Fuji came back because it was time to come back. Davey started to come back. He hit his tope con HELLO into the crowd. I look forward to watching that spot a dozen times on this DVD. (Not joking tbh.) They went back and forth. Actually, Davey was getting a ton of offense. Fuji was desperately trying to get the shiranui. Fuji eventually kicked his way out of a tombstone and hit he Shiranui!

This was surprisingly fun. I would have guessed that these two would have gone overboard and killed my interest in the match. That didn’t happen though! Yay!

Match Rating: ***1/2

Without Remorse
Chicago Ridge, Illinois
January 26, 2008

We saw the final fall of the Ultimate Endurance match to crown the new ROH World Tag Team Champions. Davey Richards and Rocky Romero took on Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries for the titles. Davey eventually used a pinning combination on Aries to get the victory and the titles. It’s hard to judge a match without the full footage, but this fall didn’t seem worked in a way to make the NRC seem like the better team.

Bedlam in Beantown
Boston, Massachusetts
April 11, 2008

Davey Richards vs. Kota Ibushi

Davey dropped Kota on the apron with a Divorce Court to cut him off. He then went to work on the left arm. Kota made a comeback after connecting on his moonsault to the floor. After a few minutes, Davey put a stop to Kota’s momentum with a superplex. They started going back and forth. A couple of moments were not the smoothest. Kota survived a kimura. Davey avoided a Phoenix Splash and then hit a tombstone: 1…2…NO! Kimura! Kota tapped out!

Kota’s standard spots were so fresh at the time that everything he did got a great reaction. These two have always gelled in the ring and produced fun matches. This was not the exception.

Match Rating: ***1/2

Supercard of Honor
Houston, Texas
April 3, 2009

KENTA(c) vs. Davey Richards [GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship]

Davey got control early on by going after the left leg. KENTA started to fight back, but Davey sent him to the floor and hit the wild tope con HELLO into the crowd. Back in the ring, KENTA came back after avoiding a superplex. They started going back and forth soon enough. The action was quite fun. KENTA hit a Busaiku Knee, but Davey then reversed a GTS into a Cloverleaf on the injured knee! KENTA survived but ate a DR Driver for a very weak nearfall. Davey avoided another GTS and then handspringed onto KENTA’s shoulders. After a very awkward cut (more on that in a second), Davey inexplicably dropped onto KENTA’s knee, face-first: 1…2…3

These reported botched an inverted (?) GTS twice in a row before just ending the match on a regular GTS.

While the finish and the half-hearted knee story took this down a tad, I still really enjoyed it all these years later. Davey always did better in singles matches that were action heavy and ended before they went on too long. This match managed to accomplish both of those things.

Match Rating: ***3/4

Never Say Die
Boston, Massachusetts
May 8, 2009

Davey Richards (w/ Shane Hagadorn) vs. Kevin Steen [Anything Goes]

Steen attacked Davey from behind to start the match. Steen put him through a table. They brawled in the crowd for a while. They made their way back to the ringside area, and Steen took out a ladder. Steen dominated Davey for a while. After Hagadorn interfered, Davey gave Steen a superplex onto a bunch of chairs. Davey was then in control. Steen got busted open. Steen fought back and took out a table. He stacked up two tables on the floor. They climbed the ladder on the floor. Davey sent him off the ladder and through the stacked tables. Steen fought back and hit a package piledriver through a table! Steen dragged Davey back into the ring and pinned him: 1…2…3

Eddie “Eddie Edwards” Edwards attacked Steen after the match. Alex Payne failed to make the save.

This was a really fun plunder match. Some of the furniture setups were a bit labored, but the match was mostly able to overcome it. It’s a real testament to this feud that the crowd was so hot for this. 2009 ROH is largely considered to be a failure (and it’s certainly true to an extant), but they did this feud well.

Match Rating: ***3/4

Death Before Dishonor
Toronto, Ontario
July 24, 2009

Davey Richards & Chris Hero (w/ Shane Hagadorn) vs. Kevin Steen & Lance Storm

Steen and Storm got the early advantage. Storm eventually got caught with a rolling elbow from Hero, and he was then worked over. Storm escaped. Steen ran wild for a bit. Steen got cut off and then worked over. Storm ended up making the real hot tag of the match. The Canadians did stereo sharpshooters. Steen and Davey ended up on the floor. Storm caught Hero in the rolling Calgary Crab. Hagadorn tossed Hero the loaded elbow pad. He accidentally hit Davey with it though. Storm hit Hero with a superkick, and the Canadians then finished Hero with The Hart Attack.

This was a solid tag match that ended up peaking at the perfect time to bump it up a bit. Storm did not look especially comfortable in the ring, but he made up for it by working hard (and still looking the part of a wrestler).

I was glad to revisit this match, but Davey played a very insignificant role in it. Moving on…

Match Rating: ***1/2

Final Countdown Tour: Dayton
Dayton, Ohio
September 18, 2009

Davey Richards (w/ Shane Hagadorn) vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Technically, this was a heel vs. heel match. The crowd was already starting to rally behind Davey though. Claudio eventually got control and worked Davey over for a while. Davey came back after a superplex. He hit the tope con HELLO into the crowd. They started going back and forth. Claudio reversed the handspring enzuigiri into the UFO for a fantastic nearfall. Claudio injured his shoulder. Davey got the kimura. Claudio escaped, but Davey got it again. They’re going a handful of minutes too long. Things picked back up again, and Davey eventually reversed a Ricola Bomb into a Yoshi Tonic: 1…2…3!

It’s somewhat crazy how amazing the chemistry was between these two. They always did great stuff whenever they interacted in the ring (even in the atrocious Kings/Wolves tag matches). This was a matchup that ROH could have (and should have) explored more.

Match Rating: ***1/2

Final Countdown Tour: Boston
Boston, Massachusetts
September 25, 2009

Davey Richards vs. Bryan Danielson

This was the “passing the torch” match. The fact that Davey and Jim Cornette would unknowingly conspire to bury said torch at the bottom of the ocean is neither here nor there.

Davey was heeling it up early on. Neither man could get firm control for a while. Davey finally did though, and he targeted the left arm. Boston fans were loving their homophobic chants on this night. Bryan eventually made a comeback. This has been much more enjoyable than the long matches Bryan worked from 2004-2005. Bryan then went after the left leg. Davey came back with his tope con HELLO into the crowd. They went back and forth in the ring. They battled on the apron. Bryan won that one and then did his springboard dive into the crowd. They started going back and forth again in the ring. Bryan seemed to have all the momentum, but he aggravated the arm Davey briefly targeted earlier in the match. Davey then went after the arm again before hitting the SSP: 1…2…NO! KIMURA! Bryan tapped out!

If they went home shortly after the Bryan dive into the crowd, you probably end up with a much better match. If Davey has a glaring weakness at this point, it’s going too long between the initial comeback and the finish. Everything else though is super fun to watch.

As a story, I think the match suffers from the finish. Bryan should have won this one. Sure, Davey was the future at the time, but I think he would have “won more for losing” (for wont of a better phrase). This is certainly a very notable match in his career though and is worth a look.

Match Rating: ***1/2

Watch Davey matches for free!

Davey Richards vs. Kota Ibushi

Davey Richards vs. Jushin Liger

Davey Richards vs. El Generico

Davey Richards vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Davey Richards vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Davey Richards, Chris Hero, & Eddie Edwards vs. KENTA, El Generico, & Kevin Steen

Davey Richards vs. Sami Callihan

Davey Richards vs. Jonathan Gresham

Davey Richards vs. La Sombra

Davey Richards vs. Robbie E