Former WWE Superstar and ECW Original Stevie Richards recently took some time to participate in an in-depth interview with PWMania.com. Richards spoke on several topics from breaking into wrestling, his working relationship with Vince McMahon, if he’d return to WWE or TNA, DDP Yoga, ECW and more. Here are some highlights:
On his working relationship with Vince McMahon: It’s tough to say, because it’s one of those things where he would call you in to give you the usual critique and say “You should have done this or you should have done that.” But the fact is, he’s so busy, that if he does take the time to pull you aside and talk to you, it’s usually not a very good thing. So I didn’t get that too many times, but I did everything to the best of my ability. Vince did pull me aside for good things. But most of the time, for bosses in general, if you do a good job, it’s not going to get the boss’ attention as much as if you really screwed up a plan that he or she has. The bottom line is this: I was contracted to do a job. When that contract ended, they didn’t owe me any money and I didn’t owe them any labor. That was it. Nobody stays in WWE forever. Everyone’s contract ends at some point. Sure they might come back, but nobody is there for 20-30 years. I think that’s a good thing because it keeps you sharp, it keeps you hungry and hopefully it will motivate you to save your money, because sooner or later, that money runs out.
How he felt about his WWE run: I’m one of those guys where as long as you tell me what you want in a match, I’m cool with that. When I was in WWF, the agents used to come up and tell me “We need Val Venis over in 8 minutes, do it however you want.” And to me, that’s very complimentary that they can trust me. That’s a very good stamp of approval to have from the office. They knew I was talented, but I think there was a point where someone said “This guy doesn’t draw enough money, let’s bring somebody else in who can bring something to the table.” But that doesn’t matter, because to me, the money looks the same. When I go to cash my check, the bank’s not going to tell me, “Oh you’re only making such and such dollars and you’re a jobber, we’re not going to cash your check.” One of things I wish I would have done was had the work ethic of Diamond Dallas Page, who’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever known. And I wish I was business savvy like Kevin Nash. Now, I know that may not sound popular, but I think Kevin has a good perspective on business and he’s a really decent guy to be around. Now, I feel like I’ve learned from both DDP and Nash; it may be late, but I still learned.
If he’d return to WWE or TNA again: That’s a tough question. It would have to be financially worth it to go back to either company. I have a bunch of other stuff going on like DDP Yoga and my T4 website. If I went back to WWE, I would have to give that up because there would be no time for it. And I’m not sure how long I would be there, because a contract in wrestling is not really a contract. You can get cut at any time for any reason, so I don’t know if I’d be willing to make that leap of faith again.
Richards also speaks on his future plans, the Right to Censor gimmick, motion motion capturing for WWE video games, Extreme Rising and more. You can read the in-depth interview in its entirety at this link.
