Hello and welcome to my latest article, where I’m going to be taking a look at TNA’s newest stars, The American Wolves – aka Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards – who they are, and what I’d like to see them do in TNA.
Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards have carved out successful careers on the independent circuit, but their most well-known success has come from their time in ROH and PWG, where they flourished as a tag-team. Before we get to that, let’s take a look at them individually and what they’ve accomplished as singles stars.
Davey Richards
Davey made his debut on the pro-wrestling scene back in June 2004 with Pro Wrestling War, debuting under the Mr Sexy ring-name.
He debuted for PWG in 2005 in an 8-man tag during their first All-Star Weekend. He returned a while later in a 3-way match with the Human Tornado and Puma, but turned heel after removing Puma’s mask to reveal that TJ Perkins was the man beneath the mask.
Richards then turned his hand to the tag division, capturing the gold with his then partner Super Dragon as they defeated El Generico and the Human Tornado for the gold. They went on a 7-month reign before losing the belts.
Davey then switched between singles and tag-team competition until he won his first World Championship in February 2010 when he defeated Kenny Omega for the title. He was later stripped of the title in September after failing to defend the belt due to booking commitments. During his time with PWG, he won the PWG World Championship once and the PWG Tag-Team Championships three times – twice with Super Dragon and once with Roderick Strong.
In ROH, Richards was introduced as Kenta’s American protégé. They later fought in a singles match, which Richards lost. He then went on to help Roderick Strong turn on his Generation Next partner, Austin Aries. Richards and Strong went on to form the No Remorse Corps, who were hell-bent on hindering Aries’ endeavours. Rocky Romero joined the No Remorse Corps, which led to him winning the ROH Tag-Team Championships with Richards in a match against Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black. After a 4-month reign, they lost the belts to the Briscoe Brothers.
In 2008, Richards teamed up with Eddie Edwards and they created the American Wolves, but more about that later! #
Now let’s take a look at Eddie Edwards’ accomplishments before we talk about the American Wolves.
Eddie Edwards
Edwards made his wrestling debut in 2002 and has wrestled for numerous independent companies.
In 2003, he won his first championship – the MWF Television Title – defeating Jerelle Clark in a tournament to become the inaugural champion. Edwards held the title for 2 and a half years before losing the belt to Tommaso Ciampa in a 3-way match that also involved AJ Styles.
In January 2007, Edwards went on to wrestle for 2CW (Squared Circle Wrestling). While there, Edwards faced the likes of Samoa Joe, but it was in April 2010 that he had his biggest success – winning the 2CW Tag-Team Championships with Davey Richards. They held the belts for 4 months before losing them in August 2010.
Edwards made his ROH debut on 22nd December 2006 in a losing effort against Austin Aries. He joined the Sweet & Sour Inc faction shortly after in an attempt to capture the Tag-Team Championships, but ultimately fell short.
2 years after making his debut, Edwards began teaming with Davey Richards and the American Wolves were formed. After losing several championship matches, they finally captured the Tag-Team Championships on April 10 2009 at the “Tables Are Legal” taping. Edwards suffered an injury in a match with Kevin Steen and after returning from surgery, the American Wolves lost the belts to the Briscoe Brothers.
In 2010, Edwards became the first inaugural ROH Television Champion. En route to the final, he beat Colt Cabana and Kevin Steen before beating Richards in the final on March 5 2010. He lost the belt to Christopher Daniels later that year at a TV taping.
The following year, Edwards challenged Roderick Strong on March 19 2011 at the Manhattan Mayhem 4 taping. The match was for the ROH World Championship and Edwards was successful, becoming World Champion for the first time. He lost the belt at the Best in the World tapings to his tag-team partner, Davey Richards.
Edwards was the first-ever triple crown champion in ROH history – winning the Television, Tag-Team and World Championships.
The American Wolves
Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards have formed a formidable tag-team, but have each experienced success as singles stars to. Their reputation is enough to make sure that any future opponents and challengers won’t take them lightly.
They’ve held the ROH Tag-Team Championships twice and from what I’ve seen, they always put up a great challenge to, or defence of, the championships. Their tag-team has seen them enjoy success in numerous promotions, like 2CW and ROH. Their record might not be up there with tag-team elite like The Dudleys, but their title reigns have been lengthier than others.
My Hopes for the American Wolves in TNA
As I’ve previously mentioned, they’ve had success in both the singles and tag divisions, but I’d like to see them challenging for the TNA World Tag-Team Championships first. In order for them to do that, TNA need to develop the tag division, whether that’s by bringing more teams in, or creating new teams from their current roster.
In the meantime, I don’t see why Richards and Edwards can’t be put in singles competition to go for either the X-Division or World Championships.
It’ll be interesting to see what role they play in the current storyline about “new TNA investor”. Have they been brought in as the main focal point of the new investor, or will we see them lead an invasion from ROH?
I know the idea of an ROH invasion is a long shot, but until we find out who this “new investor” is, who knows? It seems like TNA are looking to bring more ROH talent in to help bolster their roster. Maybe TNA have resolved their long-running dispute with ROH and they’ve agreed some form of talent share? If it’s true, it could be a good thing. It’s being rumoured that part of their deal means that they’re able to compete for other companies, but they can’t appear on TV/PPVs. But as I say, that’s just a rumour.
All I know is that I’m looking forward to their TV debut and the ripple that they’ll send throughout the TNA roster.
What would you like to see the American Wolves do in TNA? Leave a comment below or you can find me on Twitter. I’m @emmagiles98.
Thanks for reading!
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