As one legendary indie tag team, Motor City Machine Guns, was silenced due to one member heading of to med school (Alex Shelley), another could be reuniting due to it’s med student returning. Former American Wolves member Davey Richards announced on Twitter today that he would be returning to wrestling.
https://twitter.com/RichardsWesley/status/1043633877921742848
Davey Richards last wrestled in the summer of 2017, with his final appearance being the loss of both his Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) World Heavyweight Championship and DEFY Championship to Shane Strickland at CZW Evilution. Earlier that month, he finished up with IMPACT Wrestling after competing in the IMPACT Super X Cup. In late June of 2017, he announced via Twitter he was departing pro wrestling to concentrate on his final year of Med School.
https://twitter.com/RichardsWesley/status/889573195212349441
With Richards returning to wrestling to make up any lost dates over the past years due to his school schedule, it’s most likely he’d pick up additional bookings along the way. If anything, he could be planning an official farewell tour before heading to become a full time doctor.
https://twitter.com/RichardsWesley/status/1043482097128820736
Davey Richards debuted in the Northwest indie scene in 2004, starting with Washington’s Pro Wrestling WAR and Vancouver’s Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW). The following year, he headed to the West Coast, making his debut with California’s Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). In 2006, he signed with Ring of Honor (ROH), spending the next few years splitting time between PWG, ROH and Japan’s Pro Wrestling NOAH. He became a tag team specialist, but spent his time winning titles with multiple partners, including reigns with Super Dragon and Roderick Strong in PWG. In 2008, he joined the No Remorse Corp, siding with Strong and Rocky Romero (whom he won his first ROH Tag Team titles with). But by the end of 2008, he would split from the Corps and join forces with an emerging new star who had just started full time with ROH coming out of New England Championship Wrestling (NECW) named Eddie Edwards. The two had just recently paired off against each other in NOAH’s Junior Tag League, with Richards tagging with Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan), and Edwards paired with Ricky Marvin (Bengala). He also had continued singles success, winning the PWG World Championship in 2010.
Together as The American Wolves, Richards and Edwards joined the tag team revolution of the indie scene, that saw the rise of such legendary teams like Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli), The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe), World’s Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas), Kevin Steen & El Generico and The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson). They would win the ROH World Tag Team titles on two occasions while in Ring of Honor, before heading to TNA/IMPACT Wrestling in 2014. But not before trying their hands in NXT. They lasted but a few weeks before deciding to head in a different direction.
With TNA, they continued to dominate the tag scene, winning the IMPACT World Tag Team titles five times in their first two years with the company. With Richards spending more time in medical school, the team was disbanded and Eddie Edwards went on to a singles push, while Richards and his real life Angelina Love did a duo gimmick for several months as the Natural Born Killers, before Richards – and then Love – retired from pro wrestling.
With new TV options, like Major League Wrestling (MLW), and new management with IMPACT Wrestling, working two days every month might be more appealing as he does a farewell tour. Considering his old pack mate, Eddie Edwards, has just lost his back up in IMPACT, perhaps the Wolves will hunt on IMPACT once again, even if briefly. Hopefully we get a few more classics from The Wolves before Dr. Richards rides off into the sunset for the last (last) time.
Thanks to Richard James for the tip!
