Friday 26 August 2011

Why Davey Richards is the best WRESTLER in the world.

Davey Richards - Current ROH Champion

"I am the best WRESTLER in the world" - CM Punk on Raw (27/06/2011)

 The reason I posted the above quote was to argue CM Punk's statement from the memorable worked shoot on Raw just two months ago. Maybe it was just myself, but that statement Punk made got to me in a way. Don't get me wrong, I have watched those last 5:30 minutes of Raw now countless times, but CM Punk is not the best wrestler in the world. That title belongs to the current ROH World Champion Davey Richards. Now I understand on a global scale there would be a 1000:1 ratio on people's knowledge of Punk compared to Davey Richards, but that has no relevance to who is the best wrestler in the world.

CM Punk was obviously not going to say; "I am the best wrestler in the world ... After ROH World Champion Davey Richards" nor would I expect him to. But as a wrestling fan I am in complete disagreement with Punk's statement. Sure you could argue that WWE's style is 'Watered down' which makes Richards look superior. But all you have to do is look back at Punk's independent days in ROH, PWG, FIP etc. and see that in comparison Davey Richards is just an all round better wrestler. Sure Punk was good, No Punk was great and to this day is still ONE of the top guys in this industry but he is no Davey Richards and was not in Richards caliber when he was an 'Indy' guy.

But I want to move away from CM Punk for a bit and focus on the guy who this article is all about, "The Lone Wolf" Davey Richards. Richards has been all around the Independent and International circuit. Most notably Ring Of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Full Impact Pro Wrestling and Dragon Gate USA. Even though he has not been THAT successful Internationally, he has dominated the Independent circuit since 2006. Firstly, His successful Tag Team ventures with Super Dragon and Eddie Edwards which saw some of the greatest tag team matches I have witnessed. Especially when Richards and Edwards were ROH tag team champions. Just look up The American Wolves vs Generico & Steen from ROH on HDNet March 30th 2009 and you will see how great Richards is within a Tag Team and just as an overall wrestler.

Davey Richards performing one of his innovative submission maneuvers.
But once again, This is irrelevant in trying to prove how Richards is the greatest wrestler today. So firstly, I wanna talk about his style. There is no possible way to describe it. I could say he is a Technical wrestler for his endless repertoire of submission maneuvers, or maybe I could describe him as a high flyer for his patented Shooting Star Press, Springboard clotheslines and dropkicks and various aerial maneuvers. Or I could classify his styles as a striker for his stiff kicks and other various striking techniques. All in all, He cannot be categorized for his style. The man is a modern day Chris Benoit and that isn't a sick joke. He is just an all round perfectionist when it comes to his in ring work and he has an endless supply of maneuvers. Nobody on the Independent scene has out performed him. Even in many matches where he has lost, You still walk out thinking "Damn, Davey Richards put on a great show". That is what makes a wrestler great and that is what Davey Richards is every single match. I challenge anybody to find me a bad Davey Richards match. I bet it cannot be done.

Now onto what alot of the Indy "Smarks" love to mock Davey Richards for. His selling. All the time I read how the guy doesn't sell enough, Personally I see no flaws. It's not as if he is receiving a double arm facebuster and getting up straight away and doing some Ultimate Warrior bullshit. The guy sells just like any guy in WWE. The problem Indy fans have is that he doesn't over react the selling like say El Generico or PAC. So to the Independent Wrestling fans its to different to what they're accustom to so it is instantly deemed "Poor" in their books.

Eddie Edwards (c) vs Davey Richards. One of
ROH's greatest matches.

The last thing I want to talk about when it concerns Davey Richards in the ring is his match with then ROH World Champion Eddie Edwards at Best In The World on June 26th. I was not fortunate enough to see this match until late July as I am from Australia and had to search all over the internet for it but I must say that it is quite possibly the best 40 minute of Pro Wrestling I have witnessed in a very long time. The match from start to finish was action packed and it was one of those matches that told a story. It was just everything you could ever want in a wrestling match. It was a perfect 10/10 match and not many matches come to mind when I think 10/10. Maybe Angle vs Benoit Royal Rumble and 2003 and Angle vs Michaels at Wrestlemania 21 but thats it. This match had it all and I strongly recommend anyone to watch it. I don't expect people after reading this blog post to say "Damn, Davey Richards is the greatest wrestler today" but if you are fortunate enough to witness this match then I think you just might.

Just once again, Davey Richards showing why he is the best. By the way, If you were unaware of the result and wanted to know who won. SPOILER ALERT!!!!It was Davey Richards. Who broke down in tears after the match and delivered a fantastic speech. Which leads to my final category of this blog.



Davey Richards on the Mic, One of his many great aspects.
In 2006, Davey Richards was nothing special when it came to promo's and segments. He let his voice be heard within those ropes. He was like John Morrison on the microphone for you WWE fans. Over the years though, Since being thrown with Factions and Tag Teams he has rapidly developed to one of the top guys on the microphone in the wrestling industry. I will tip my hat to CM Punk when it comes to the microphone but Davey Richards is not that far behind. His promo's have that power behind them that get the hairs sticking up on the back of your neck.

Since his partnership with Eddie Edwards, I would say he is the greatest Independent worker on the microphone and probably top 5 in the world behind maybe CM Punk, Robert Roode and a few others. Either way, In a few short years Davey Richards may be the greatest at this also. We all know he has the other bases covered, Can he really get any better?

So now, I hope you see why Davey Richards from a wrestling standpoint is superior to anyone else in the world. Sure, Other wrestlers have personal quality's which make up a wrestler but no one has so many great quality's about them like Davey Richards has.


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