Brian Fritz passed this along.
TNA Wrestling’s Davey Richards talks with Brian Fritz about this Sunday’s Lockdown PPV where he will be a part of Tean MVP with Eddie Edwards, MVP and Jeff Hardy against Team Dixie which includes Bobby Roode, Austin Aries and the BroMans in a Lethal Lockdown cage match, what the last few months have been like for him, why TNA Wrestling was the place for him and Edwards right now, his tryout with the WWE and why they didn’t end up there, his nasty breakup from Ring of Honor, why he is forever tied to Japan and thinks he will die there, coming close to retiring, the perception from some that he is a jerk, stay in shape on the road eating squid jerky and more.
You can read the entire interview transcript on The Orlando Sentinel at this link.
You can listen to the entire interview at the Between The Ropes podcast at http://www.betweentheropes.com/2014/03/08/tnas-davey-richards-lockdown-dying-japan-squid-jerky/
Subscribe to Between The Ropes on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/between-the-ropes/id652853185 or on Stitcher at http://app.stitcher.com/browse/feed/23725/details.
Here are some portions of the interview:
What went into the decision of joining TNA and why was that the right place for you and Eddie right now in your careers?
“The schedule for WWE and moving down to Orlando to join their Performance Center is just not conducive to my lifestyle. I work out of a pure love as a paramedic. I like doing that and am not giving that up. I’m in medical school. I don’t want to give that up. Eddie is engaged and lives in Boston. Then TNA offered us the opportunity to come in and wrestle rather than having to go back to wrestling school so we were just thrilled. The talent there is awesome and we thought we would fit right in and it turns out we were right and it’s gone smoothly. We’re extremely happy there.”
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. It 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.”
How bad was the breakup with Ring of Honor?
“We’re not talking. 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.”