Davey Richards Talks More About His WWE Tryout, Was He Surprised They Weren't Signed?

Davey Richards recently spoke with Brian Fritz of The Orlando Sentinel to promote TNA's Lockdown pay-per-view. He talked more about the WWE tryout he and Eddie Edwards had recently:

You mentioned the short time you had with WWE and you had an opportunity to come to the Performance Center in Orlando. You were there for about a week and had a match on NXT. What was that experience like for you?
It was great. We were brought down and put in Billy Gunn's class. He runs the advanced classes. It was fun and I can't say enough good things about everyone there. The place is obviously unreal. I t was a good time but it was just different strokes for different folks. It was kind of creepy to me that everyone was walking on eggshells, everyone is really scared for their job. I don't know. It wasn't like everyone was having a whole lot of fun down there or maybe they're just nervous because there's a lot of eyes on you. Obviously what they are doing has been successful. They're doing a great job with it. We were treated respectfully and we were taken care of.. I knew then and I know now that their schedule is not for me. I'm glad I got to experience it but I'm glad I found a home with TNA.

Are you surprised they didn't offer you and Eddie anything more?
I don't know. You never really know what they're thinking. The original plan was to do three weeks of NXT and then go to Smackdown but then we got the email that basically what it said was you guys are great but we have a lot of Davey's and Eddie's right now. So we'd probably just put you in developmental to start out and we wouldn't do that when you've already been around the world making a living so you're free to pursue other interests. I thought at least they're being honest because they could have been yeah, you're in developmental and it's going to be great. Then you're down there for three years. I thought it was really respectful of them. Obviously it worked out for them and it worked out for us. We're both happy. It didn't really surprise me. I'm thankful for it.

You mentioned about how they said they have enough Davey's and Eddie's. Are you surprised that the size factor is still such a big thing in wrestling in this day and age?
Yeah, it's an old world idea, it's an old school mentality that's just obsolete in my opinion. Case in point Daniel Bryan. Even (CM) Punk isn't a big guy. I'm not saying there aren't big guys who are over and making a lot of money but the case in point is I don't think size is relevant. Obviously if you go out there looking like a 15 year-old kid it's going to be kind of hard promoting that you're beating someone up who's 6'5", 250 (pounds). But people know what an athlete looks like. There's a lot of different guys who are great wrestlers and tough dudes and 100% athletes and size notwithstanding they're entertaining and people are going to watch them. It's just an outdated idea in my opinion.

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2014/0308/572015/davey-richards-talks-more-about-his-wwe-tryout/#K2Tq2lbOKD4BT8xO.99

Another interview on him that has mostly new topics:

- NewsDay has an interview with Davey Richards, who was promoting tomorrow's Lockdown pay-per-view. During the interview, Richards discussed receiving a WWE tryout and said that they were sent an email from WWE talent development director Canyon Cemen, which stated that Triple H felt that "our work was good enough to be on TV, but he already had a lot of Daveys and Eddies."

"That place is so weird, man. It gave me the creeps," Richards said. "Everyone's just walking around on eggshells. It's just bubble.

"Personally, I wanted to go to TNA anyway. I was trying to convince Eddie the entire time. After [WWE] told us they were not going ahead with the rest of the tryout, we had a deal signed with [TNA] within 20 minutes."

- Brian Fritz also has an interview with Richards at The Orlando Sentinel. In the interview, Richards talked more about his time with WWE developmental, while also discussing his breakup with ROH.

"We're not talking," Richards said of ROH. " We're not on good terms. I have no respect for them whatsoever. I strongly dislike management there like with the exception of Jeff Jones who is a great guy. But the booker (Hunter Johnson) is completely inadequate at his job and he got his job more for being spineless than being talented. And the owner (Joe Koff) is even worse, he could care less about wrestling. He just wants to do television. To me, it's just not something I agree with but I'm not there anymore and they do their own thing. And for the talent and the fans I wish them nothing but the best of luck.

"That company is in business not because of stellar booking and stellar management. They're in business still because they'they're spineless. The talent there is phenomenal. They're top notch and great. But the management from the booker to the owner it's definitely shut up and do what you're told and drink the Kool-aid. I made a joke when I was there I called it Jim Jones wrestling. Just shut up and drink the Kool-aid and do your job. In private, people are going this sucks this sucks this sucks and I'm the one who came out and said this is terrible. I worked for that company and gave them everything I had for seven years. I think I earned my right to an opinion. Once that got out, it was like you're going against the stream? You're not here to have an opinion, just shut up and do your job and get your paycheck. I'm sure you can find someone else to do that for a lot less money than what you're paying me so I'm just going to go about my way. Best decision I ever made and I have no desire to go back, ever.

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2014/0308/572003/davey-richards-reveals-what-triple-h-felt-about-him/#gozVgGdSYRTE5XHx.99

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