[1997-05-31-ECW-TV] Stevie Richards promo / BWO promo

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Stevie does his first serious promo, talking about going to the Civic Center and seeing Arn and Tully face the MX on 09/10/88 when the Midnights won the tag titles. That's when he decided he wanted to be a pro wrestler. He mentions the first time was asked for an autograph and eventually ties it into his feud with Raven and quest for the title, as he's about to challenge in his hometown -- Philly, of course. I liked this promo, I really did, but it's too long, and Stevie doesn't look like a wrestler when he wears his glasses either.

 

This is followed by a BWO promo, and holy cow did 1997 have a lot of people impersonating Razor Ramon.

[Kevin Ridge]

Wearing the eye glasses is a bad idea for an ECW guy. Only Arn can pull off the eyeglasses look. Richards talks about how he became a fan of wrestling. Stevie came up with an idea of his own. The BWO! This promo doesn’t work for me but I can see trying to make him more serious as potential ECW Champion. Match for him versus Funk for the ECW title has been set for Wrestlepalooza.

[soup23]

I really liked Stevies promo and can relate to his passion and cheer for him unlike whiny Raven. I don't know whether we just aren't getting them but where the hell have the Funk promos went.

 

I really like Meanine as the Blue Guy for comedy relief and their fake Rodman.

[PeteF3]

Richards regales us with the story of hitching a ride to Madison Square Garden the Philadelphia Civic Center and seeing Jimmy Snuka dive off a cage the Midnight Express win the tag titles from Arn & Tully and being inspired to be a wrestler. Sorry--just kind of funny to see this in proximity with the Mankind interview.

 

The BWO--Da Blue Guy, Hollywood Nova, and Thomas "Inchworm" Rodman--follow up, and they're not happy about Stevie abandoning them. I like Stevie's promo and don't even mind the glasses, but they still seem to be half-assing this transformation. The Raven split was drawn out to ridiculousness and now even though he's seemingly no longer a member, Richards is still wearing BWO colors.

[Superstar Sleeze]

The BWO was wicked over by all accounts that I have seen from the shirts in the crowd. It makes sense to keep his heat by still associating with the gimmick. 

I have seen Wrestlepalooza at least once and even if the match falters...this promo is the promo I needed for closure. He nails when he says the difference between him and Raven is that Stevie wants to heal, put that pain in the past, lead a fulfilling life where he wins the World Championship and accomplishes his dream. Raven is trapped in limbo and cant get past his pain because he does not want to. Raven's identity and his pain are so intertwined that he cannot get past it. Whereas Stevie has an identity outside being nerd in high school & being told he would never amount to anything in pro wrestling, he has the BWO and he learned from the BWO that a smile is just as powerful as pain in the world. Nailed it. It got me really excited to see Stevie vs Funk. Stevie should have never, ever left ECW to rehash the same gimmick with Raven in WCW. I get it the money was there and you gotta make hay while the sun shines, but I think 6-12 months on his own maybe even winning the ECW title would have been beneficial to his confidence and acumen to really perform well on the big stage. My heartbreaks that ended up injuring his neck. You can tell how much he loved pro wrestling and his trajectory was really high up on the card if it was not for the injury. A real shame.