MLW star and pro-wrestling legend Davey Richards recently appeared on the ALL Real Wrestling Podcast with host Eric Novak to discuss his time in TNA working alongside his then wife, Angelina Love. Richards also opens up about how the sport provided an escape for him while tragedy struck his life. Highlights are below.
Looks back on the tragedies he suffered in his family and how pro-wrestling helped escape that:
Thankfulness, definitely thankfulness I didn’t cherish the gift that I had in pro wrestling but one because it happened so fast and I think two I can see now that wrestling was a drug for me because my childhood was pretty messed up my mom was in prison for drugs and my dad wasn’t around and then both my grandparents like the night I won my first title for TRW wrestling in Abbotsford British Columbia. I was so excited to come and show my grandfather that I’d won a title you know it’s a little plastic title but, I won a title and he died on the way home and then when I was in Japan when I was living in Japan for Pro-Wrestling NOAH, my grandmother died so I didn’t fall into drinking or driving or any of that stuff but to numb the pain of Wes’s (his real name) I lived in Davey’s. I lived his days because when people are chanting your name and you’re the best wrestler in the world you don’t have to feel that, there’s plenty of times I would have matches that people remember like my five-star matches and go home and just go back to the hotel and just cry yourself to sleep because your hurting inside so I had to step away to actually deal with that and face that and now I want to return to wrestling for not because I need to but because I want to so that’s why I say wrestling is emotional for me it’s very very deep it’s not a job first it’s not a career first it’s family first because that’s my last connection to my family.
Recalls an angle in TNA where he wrestled alongside his wife and was unhappy to see her take punishment:
I hated it, I was so worried about her because she was the mother of my child. Angelina is so talented and so professional but, the wrestling got a little too real if that makes any sense. Me and Eddie actually were talking about this and its business, but when you see someone that’s the mother of your son you’re like, ‘be careful.’ Obviously, Eddie and Alisha are just true professionals but it was hard to watch. You’re like, ‘Oh, you sure you want to keep doing this wrestling thing?’, because you don’t want to see them get hurt there’s one part in the match where we get hit. We have the garbage can over our heads and you kind of see me give her a little pinch and I just say ‘Are you okay?’ The match and the angle was awesome, such a good story.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful
)