Former ROH World Champion Davey Richards Shares His Strong Opinions Of Today’s Pro Wrestling

Today’s pro wrestling is riddled with the debate of old school vs. new school. While the old school heavily desires the lost art of storytelling in angles and matches, the newer wave of pro wrestling fans clamors over high spots and false finishes. Although the debate may never end, each side feels that they have a justifiable reason for why their style is better.

While names such as Will Ospreay and The Young Bucks are the proverbial poster children of the new generation of wrestling style, names such as Booker T and Vince Russo have repeatedly voiced their opinion of wrestling no longer having the element of storytelling.

One of the biggest examples of this is the feud between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant in 1987. After spending over a decade of his career as a beloved babyface, Andre the Giant was coerced by villainous manager Bobby “The Brain” Heenan to come to the darkside, due to telling him that his efforts are being overshadowed by Hogan’s long title reign.

The battle lines were drawn when Andre yanked the shirt and cross chain off Hogan after being introduced by Roddy Piper and Jesse Ventura, leaving him devastated.

List This! - Legends of the Fall No. 4: Andre the Giant

Former Ring of Honor World Champion Davey Richards recent shared his thoughts on today’s era of wrestling.

https://twitter.com/RichardsWesley/status/950127392005206016

He would go on and say that the “emotional capture” is the essence of professional wrestling, and it should include elements such as “struggle, dominance, overcoming.” He would also agree with a comment which stated state the goal should be for crowds to invest in victories, which make matches memorable.

While competing full-time in pro wrestling, Richards would gain his biggest level of popularity while being a part of the American Wolves tag team along with Eddie Edwards.

The duo would win the ROH Tag Team Championship on two occasions, and the Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championships five times. Individually, both have one reign as ROH World Champion, and Edwards has one reign as Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion.