The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast with Davey Richards
Hosts: John and Chad
Interview available at Tmptow.podomatic.com
How has his recovery from his recent injury on the TNA UK tour been thus far: It’s going well. I had surgery February 17th. I tore my left ACL and it’s just of those things that it’s weird but it’s funny to see fans write and say that me and Eddie are injury prone and it displays their innocence but obvious ignorance. It’s weird. My whole stint in Ring of Honor I was never hurt and I never got hurt in Japan and my only two injuries I’ve ever had in wrestling which are breaking my leg (which is not a serious thing, it was a hairline/tiny fracture) and blowing my ACL both happened to happen in the span of one year. You take a twelve year career and I’ve got hurt twice and it just happened to be in the same year. It was a long time coming and to be kind of honest I am glad it happened and I know that sounds weird but there have been a lot of things wrong with my movement and my body and not that I was beat up it was a lot of things that were off balance. Knowing how predisposed I was to injury I was really lucky because I could have done some very serious damage to my body with how imbalanced I was.
Is the reported timetable for his return accurate: I literally blew my ACL on January 31st in Birmingham and on February 17th had surgery. On February 15th I did 500 squats. I’m recovering now and nobody can believe that I am recovering as fast as I am. I laugh when people say I may be out 6-9 months and I kind of say, yeah, we will see because if you understand the science of it you understand that the body is giving it the fuel to repair itself. I also had a really great orthopedic surgeon and have great physical therapist.
Whether Daniel Bryan’s forced retirement hit closer to home given his own injury: It is absolutely just terrible and it just sucks! There is just no other word for it and I’m trying to be diplomatic here but it just sucks. At the same time I am happy because before he had to retire he got to the top and he got to main event a WrestleMania and on top of that as bad as injuries got, it could of gone a lot worse. With me having a medical degree I’ve seen how bad head injuries can get and so he got out and it sucks but at the same time he is alive and is going to be okay and it could have been a lot worse. It’s sad on one hand and happy on the other.
Does Davey himself have a history of concussions: I know I got knocked out and when I woke up I didn’t know where I was but that was back in my ever first month of training when a fat dude dropped a leg on my head. But I’ve never been knocked out in TNA. In Ring of Honor when I won the title from Eddie at Best in the World I got knocked out. Other than that just one time in Japan and those are the only three times that I’ve ever had it happen. I’ve never experienced a traumatic brain or post-concussion symptoms at all and believe me if I did that right there would have been my last match. I get my blood work done every three months and get my hormones tested because hormonal abnormality will show things like a traumatic brain injury or post concussive syndrome symptoms so I’m pretty diligent about getting everything tested for that and everything is always good and within the normal limits.
Kurt Angle’s recent TNA departure and the reaction in the locker room: As far as I’m concerned it was one of gratitude because when you really truly care for someone like how that locker room cares for Kurt and Kurt cares for that locker room it’s always sad to him go. He’s got to do what is best for him and his family and his body. He’s done all he needs to do and he needs to go and be with his family and heel up. He’s the one guy I really wanted to wrestle and I did not get that chance and that really sucks. As it is going to play out he gave me a very special gift which people will see soon. I am sad to see him go but it is for the best.
TNA’s transition to POP TV: It’s been fine with me. I came in at the very end of Spike TV but it seems like right before me and Eddie got there TNA kind of left a bad taste in people’s mouths which is unfortunate but I had nothing to do with that and I don’t want to and simply don’t know the whole circumstances behind that because it kind of is what it is. With Destination America, they started off really good and I think they just thought all pro wrestling (not just TNA) on their channel was going to do gangbusters and when they saw that it wasn’t they turned their back on pro wrestling. Us getting with POP they’ve done everything they said they were going to do and have been very gracious with us and it’s been smooth sailing. It’s been an absolutely positive experience for me personally but the thing with me is and I’m probably not the best person to ask. TNA has been a positive experience for me because I wasn’t there in what people say was the “dark” time like with Bischoff and Hogan and what other people say are “dark” times with Vince Russo. Everyone has their own dark period and I haven’t experienced that.
The Wolves matches with The Hardyz and The Dudleys in TNA and performing with big name talent: The match with the Hardyz surprised me with how it all came together. Those two guys you would never know and maybe they don’t know or think they knew how famous they were when you put together a match with them. They are just so giving and they want to make everyone look good and are very unselfish. Jeff Hardy literally had zero regard for his own body and it was a lot of fun working with those guys, it was very easy and they carry a certain aura about them. Bubba is the kind of guy and kind of wrestler that I was trained to wrestle against. When (Paul) Orndorff trained me I was always taught first and foremost you have to earn your respect in the ring and that is the very definition of Bubba. He is hard, but he is fair. When you go out and do your job you don’t have problems with him and thank god we never had any problems. It’s funny because when we started the whole “Best of 5” he didn’t want to hear our ideas and they took care of the match and said just do your spots and take this and by the end of it and in the last match he’s telling jokes in the ring and he’s doing our ideas. He will probably kill me for saying this but he’s tough as nails in his exterior but he is a big teddy bear and a really nice guy. D-Von I only knew just in that feud and he is a super, super nice guy and I have nothing but good things to say about all four of those guys. It was a blessing.
Other topics include his biggest feuds and matches in TNA, his time in ROH, feud with Eddie Edwards, becoming a tag team, wanting a singles push, wrestling in Japan and loving the atmosphere, The Dynamite Kid, and training with Paul Orndorff.
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