They are one of the greatest tag-teams of all time and on their recent visit to the UK, we were lucky enough to sit down with Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards aka The Wolves. Having just wowed the wrestling world in a spectacular set of matches against the Hardy Boys and Team 3D on Impact TV, both of these extremely talented men proved to us that they are a great tag pairing not just in the ring but outside it too.
You're about to wrestle at IPW:UK and were recently at NGW. What's your sense of the UK scene and which talent do you rate?
DR: I've always rated the UK scene really highly and that's why I've always made a point of coming over here - the Wolves actually started here in the UK!
EE: That's right, that's where we were born - a bit of history for you! There are so many hidden gems here though. A lot of people aren't aware what's going on over here, they just need to open their eyes and they'll see. There's Dave Mastiff, all the guys from British Boot Camp - Noam Dar.
DR: That's right, I've put Mastiff over plenty of times and he's incredible. We just worked the London Riots and I finally got to wrestle the Sumerian Death Squad Rampage Brown - they're both amazing. Rampage Brown - he is phenomenal - you put me on the spot, but really great talent. I'd never heard of NGW before and they had a packed house and great crowd and great show - it was fantastic. I can't say enough good things about it.
TNA has moved to Destination America. What does this mean for the company? Are you pleased?
DR: Yeah, we are. Myself and Eddie believe that we were putting in a really good strong product and it wasn't being valued enough by Spike TV. It wasn't being showcased and yet there is so much more we can do. It's hard when you're handcuffed. Obviously we don't run the TV company and we can't say "well, we need another television show" or "we need more advertisement". Spike had their priorities but we need to be somewhere where we are a priority. Now we're taking a step back to move two steps forward. They're really behind us, we're going to have more TV content and everyone there is really excited and motivated for it. It's going to be good for everybody and they're such a great group of guys.
EE: It's going to add new life into it all and it's a shot in the arm. We had a TV show that was one of, if not the top rated with very minimal advertising. It wasn't getting promotion and that would have helped. Now we're moving and it's a great time of year to do it, with the UK tour coming up which is always huge.
Did you feel well informed about the move from Spike when it was under discussion?
DR: We weren't well informed but working for Ring of Honour, it was the exact same thing. You've got to be careful what information you disperse nowadays, you can't just say "hey, in three months we're moving" because there's always going to be some guy that blurts it out and then we lose the element of surprise. I get that there's half a population that always wants to know everything but there's also that other half that doesn't. I was backstage at Survivor Series when Sting showed up and the place went wild. It was crazy to see and I'm sure some guys will be saying "I read about that online" but I thought "that's cool! I didn't know he was here". So we're not told everything but there's a reason but we're all taken care of.
EE: We were always confident that it was happening, it was just a case of when it was going to be announced and when everything was taken care of.
You've wrestled the Hardy Boys and Team 3D, does that now secure your legacy?
DR: No! Oh my God! The funny thing is, I don't think anyone has been able to see what The Wolves are all about. I think in this next feud we're going to have with Abyss and James Storm that you're really going to be able to see who we are. We're pretty aggressive but we've been the nice guys so far. It came out towards the end, towards full metal mayhem but now we're p***ed off! It's the tipping point and people will see that. What we show people on TV is maybe 10% of what we can do, so the ride is just beginning. We're the best there is
EE: Of the two teams you mentioned, we're nowhere near that level but what better time to shoe people what we can do, new channel, we're motivated.
What's the best rib [practical joke] that's been played by or on you?
DR: Doug Williams and Daniel Bryan as he's now known, got into my hotel room on a Noah tour and flipped all of my furniture and rearranged the whole room. I thought I'd gone into the wrong room!
What's your tag-team partner's worst habit?
DR: Answering for myself, the good thing about me and Eddie is that there's nothing he does that annoys me. We're very good at giving each other space. I go to the gym and do my kind of training and he does his. We're different personalities. He likes to go out - I never go out. We're good as a unit but we know when its time to separate and come back. We're extremely respectful with each other and we always have been. I think he's a better wrestler than me and that motivates me because I want to be better than him.
EE: That goes both ways. As similar as we are, we're very different but we're on that same schedule, we like to do the same stuff- we go about it different ways and it works out.
WWE said they "had enough Davey's and Eddies" - if they run out would you go back?
DR: Im extremely happy where I'm at right now. I can never say never. I can tell you that I'd never go into their developmental system and I'm not saying that because I think I'm better than anyone there (I would say the developmental system has better talent than the actual roster). It's not conducive to my lifestyle and that's all. I'm not trying to put down their product, I have nothing bad to say to them but I'm happy where I'm at. I kind of lost my fire for wrestling and being in TNA, I got that fire back
EE: It would be a hell of a deal but there's no point in wasting time by thinking and talking -who knows. At the moment there's a lot of stuff on, a lot on our plate which is all good stuff.
Davey, you're a trained paramedic, have you ever had to use your skills in a wrestling context?
DR: Yeah, B.J. Whitmer broke his neck from a piledriver and I saved him from being paralysed. That's the only time Ive had to use it in a wrestling event that I can think of. I worked as a paramedic at Survivor Series in St. Louis but nobody got hurt and that's what I want.
Eddie, there's another famous Eddie Edwards in the UK, has anyone ever turned up at a match expecting you to be him?
EE: I Know, the skier! Well if they have, they've not told me. They'd be sorely disappointed I think! I didn't know that until I came over here the first time.
DR: Its news to me!
Finally, if you could wrestle one tag-team past, present or future, who would it be?
DR & EE: The Bulldogs! The British Bulldogs
DR: I honestly think that's the era I should have been wrestling - The Midnight Express, The Rock 'n' Roll Express...The Bulldogs would have been phenomenal. The Rockers.. the coolest tag teams.
EE: That was tag team wrestling was tag team wrestling - that was the best
DR: The coolest thing about us is that I don't want to be TNA World champion, I want to be in a tag team -
EE: That's right. It's not like we'll do this for a little while. I like tag teams, I like tag team wrestling...
Speaking for Royal Ramblings, we hope that's true - if The Wolves stay together, we're all in for some quality wrestling for a long time to come...