One Night Only: Joker's Wild 2 is set to air on Wednesday 14th May on Challenge TV in the UK and features a series of tag team matches with partners drawn at random, with the main event seeing the winners of all previous matches competing in a Battle Royal to win a $100,000. Filmed at the NIA Arena in Birmingham, England, the competitors included are: Abyss, Austin Aries, Bad Bones, Bobby Roode, Bully Ray Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin, Curry Man, Davey Richards, Doug Williams, Eddie Edwards, Eric Young, Ethan Carter III, Gunner, James Storm, Jessie Godderz, Kazarian, Magnus, Mr. Anderson, Robbie E, Rockstar Spud, Samoa Joe, Samuel Shaw and Zema Ion. There is also a bonus six woman tag team match pitting Alpha Female, Gail Kim & Lei'D Tapa against ODB, Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky.
It was another interesting interview and you can find the full audio of the interview at the following link. Our question comes right at the very ended of the audio. I'm not sure whether Davey Richards doesn't like doing interview so plays up (Listing his favourite childhood wrestlers as Sid Vicious, Crush and Zeus) or he loves doing interviews because he can play up! Either what he had me cracking up a number of times throughout.
However, as the audio can be a little difficult to listen to and not every will be interested in every question asked I've decided to transcribe the interview as well, which will be found below. There will also be link to the sites of the other interviewers involved, if you are interested in find out more about their sites and publications, where a publication isn't mentioned I have simply left question marks. Some of the audio is very hard to hear, so I apologise if I don't manage to get things word for word, but I have tried my best with the material available. I'd also like to thank TNA and Simon Rothstein for allowing Across The Pond to take part in these roundtable events.
V2 Journal: If you could bring back any tag team from TNA or elsewhere who would it be?
Eddie Edwards: We've wrestled Generation Me before, and I think I speak for Davey too, that we'd love to do that again. Anytime, anywhere. They're great. I think we could do some magic in the ring.
Davey Richards: Yeah, absolutely. I think us and the Motor City Machine Guns would have some reallly good matches.
The American Magazine: How would you compare your time in TNA, so far, to your spells in (WWE's Developmental Territory) NXT and Ring of Honor?
EE: NXT wasn't really a long thing, it was kind of "in and out" there, so it's hard to compare anything. I mean, we were there for just a week and one taping, so we can't compare those. Ring of Honor, schedule wise and style wise, it's a whole different ball game here. We're on the road a lot more, we're working on the TV shows all the time, whereas Ring of Honor it was just a couple of times a month or a few times a month so. We're in the ring a lot more and we're on TV a lot, so that's been a good thing.
The American Magazine: How would you say the state of tag team wrestling is in TNA at the moment?
DR: Well right now I pretty much think that, we're at a Genesis, no pun intended, we're at a starting over period. I understand a lot of people have been down about the amount of tag teams in TNA, but I can tell you that that's being remedied as we speak. The tag team scene is really, really getting ready to pick up. And we're just really happy to be at the forefront of it. So there are good things to come and just stay tuned.
EE: I think the fact that there aren't a lot of tag teams around, it just shows how special tag team wrestling is. So we're looking forward to bringing that back.
Wrestle Hustle: How do you think tag team wrestling is percieved today in comparison to fifteen-twenty years ago? Do you think fans still view tag team wrestling as a cornerstone to success anymore?
DR: Yeah, absolutely. Even more so, because so many great singles wrestlers have started out as tag teams; Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, James Storm. All those guys were once tag wrestlers and now are succesful singles wrestlers, so not only is it an entity in itself, but it's also a platform for future singles stars. So I think it's very much looked upon with respect and dignity.
Wrestle Hustle: The Wolves were booked to wrestle in Western Australia (for New Horizon Pro Wrestling) and unfortunately couldn't come...Is there any chance we could see The Wolves on Australian shores in the near future?
EE: We would love to. That was one trip that we were very sad that we had to cancel, we were really looking forward to that one.
DR: We've been lucky enough to wrestle all over the world, except for, and it's the one place we wan't to go to the most, Australia.
Talk TNA Podcast: How did you find wrestling on the recent TNA UK Tour? Are the crowd different? Did you have fun in the UK?
EE: I had a blast, I know that.
DR: Eddie had too much fun in the UK. It's a little known fact that I actually planned to move over to the UK, before I got signed with TNA. Just because, I love it over there so much, and I usually make it a point to come over there for a few weeks or a month every year, just to experience the culture, to experience the wrestling. I've always loved the UK scene, the UK fans. So as far I'm concerned the more UK the better.
EE: Starting off with a bang with TNA, by joining the UK tour, as our first tour on the road with the company. We had a blast, it's always fun over there.
Talk TNA Podcast: Have you had a lot of fun working with The Bro-Mans recently?
EE: They are very talented. Very talented guys and very underrated guys, I think in terms of what they can do. They are very eccentric and very exciting outside the ring, but inside the ring they're just as good as the promos they cut outside of it.
??: Would you prefer past teams such as Beer Money or Motor City Machine Guns to return for you to feud with or would you prefer the challenge of a new team to come in so you can try and improve their credibility?
DR: Obviously, for us, Beer Money and Motor City Machine Guns is a new challenge, but we're open. We've said in promos and we say it because we meant it, we're open to any challenge, so if there's some new teams that are forming, there's some old teams that could possibly be brought back
All these things are really open, we have an open contract
EE: The more the merrier.
??: Do you think it hurts the division to have thrown together teams of essentially two singles wrestlers?
DR: There's not a lot of real tag teams anymore, there's not a lot of Hart Foundations or Brainbusters out there. That's why me and Eddie have always stood out, as while we've had singles success and single runs in other countries, in other companies, we've considered ourselves tag team wrestlers and a team first and foremost. That's why we stand above the rest when it comes to tag team wrestling.
EE: The thing with throwing two guys together is, it just depends on how it meshes and how the guys click together. Me and Davey were singles guys before we tagged, when we tagged we clicked, and the rest is history. Who knows who the next team could be out there?
The American Magazine: Who were some of the wrestlers you enjoyed watching growing up and influenced you to get into the sport of professional wrestling?
EE: I'm sure it's hard to believe, but The British Bulldogs, you know Dynamite Kid, Davey Boy Smith. Hart Foundation. Shawn Michaels. Of course, I was a Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior fan. Guys like that.
DR: I was really big Sid Vicious fan, I really like his work. He really had a major influence on me. Crush, I liked Crush. Just because he had such a powerful figure. I liked Zeus *Eddie sniggers*, I liked the bad guys, those were the guys that really inspired me. I liked The British Bulldogs, but those guys made me really just want to make a go at this wrestling thing.
The American Magazine: How did The Wolves start working as a tag team?
DR: Eddie actually had to borrow a pair of my tights, he'd kinda forgot his. That's it and if the shoe fits wear it. We were in Japan, I can't remember if we started talking then or talking before then, we just started talking about tights, kickpads and knee pads, realised we had so much in common and just ran with it.
TNA News: What were your thoughts on your first reign as TNA Tag Team Champions?
DR: It is what it is. We were fully supported when we won the title, it wasn't on a national stage, it wasn't on live television or PPV, but we were treated with respect by our fans, unfortunately it didn't last very long, we flew to Japan shortly after. We didn't get pinned, that's the rules of the match. We knew we'd be on the big stage a number of times and able to get them back and we did that. Now we're in for a lengthy reign.
EE: I think the fact we won on a live event, makes those events unique and people from the outside will want to go and be apart because you never now what's going to happen. Titles are changing hands and shenanigans ensue.
Ressurection Magazine: How would you compare the other Japanese companies you've worked with to (TNA's sister promotion) Wrestle1? How would you compare Japanese Puroresu to the US style?
DR: It's kind of two seperate questions, because actually for the better part of our Japanese careers we worked for two different companies. I worked for New Japan, primarily, I did a little bit with NOAH but....Wrestle1 is a great company, I really think they're going to emerge as a major player on the Japanese wrestling scene. They have all the keys, they have really exciting guys, they have a familiar, yet different style and approach to their presentation of wrestling. As far as American and Japanese style, Japan puts more of a sport element, whilst America put more of an entertainment element, but both people, on both sides of the Pacific are extremely talented and good at what they do. So it's win-win.
EE: For myself, and for Davey, we look forward to wrestling for Wrestle-1 again. Our time over there was brief, but hopefully we get to go over there for a long stint next time. Really get to sink our teeth into the product that is Wrestle-1.
???: Do you rule out a possible move to WWE some point in the future? (Editor's Note: Really?)
DR: You never say never, but that's a long time away. We've got a whole lot of titles to win, a whole lot of great matches to have in TNA. We're happy to be in TNA and to focus on that right now. You never know I might get hit by a bus today! It could happen.
EE: And he jaywalks quite a bit.
DR: And I jaywalk quite a bit and Eddie can't remember where he lives half the time. So you never know. We're in TNA, we're extremely happy here, it's the perfect fit, we'll just concentrate on that.
Wrestle Radio (Can't find this!): Do you see any difference between the European crowd and the American crowd?
DR: I noticed the Europeans wear tank tops a lot more than the Americans, which is always weird to me because it's colder over there. I think it's a Nordic thing, because Vikings and Nordic people are tough as nails, Americans, let's be honest, a lot of them are sissies. So I always wondered that. They always have cooler haircuts, so they're tougher than us and they look better than us, so that pisses me off to be honest. Other than that, I love going there. We go to Germany, France, England, and I've wrestled in Barcelona, which is amazing. I mean the tank top thing, and they were throwing stuff at me, I'm angry, I'm angry right now.
EE: Davey, settle down.
Wrestle Hustle: What drives you to push to the envelope, in terms of invovation in the ring?
DR: We're a tag team, so a lot of tag teams, all over the world are just two singles guys. I'm sure anyone of those singles guys is talented in their own right, but being a team is a whole different element. We're a team, we think as a team, it's not about Davey Richards or Eddie Edwards, it's about The Wolves first and foremost. That's why I think our timing is there. It's natural chemistry, some guys just are, some guys just aren't. Since Day 1, we've just clicked, since I let Eddie borrow my tights.
EE: Tag team wrestling is a speciality, it's something that you can't force. You can put two guys together, you can't force them to be a good team. But when I borrowed Davey's tights, it was meant to be and we'd go on from there.
Wrestle Hustle: What can we expect from The Wolves in 2014?
EE: To reign supreme.
DR: It's not about what we did in the past, but we made a name for ourselves stealing the show and taking innovation to a new level. Putting tag team wrestling on the map wherever we wrestled, whether that was the Indies or Japan or England. We're here to do that on a national level now, in the big leagues with TNA. Going to keep doing what we've always done, just crank the volume up!
EE: We continously set goals for ourselves, and we go on and do it over and over and over.
Talk TNA Podcast: Davey, What on earth prompted you to die your hair blonde? How much heat did you get?
DR: Eddie didn't think that I could drink a whole glass of milk, without throwing up and I threw up everywhere. It was a big glass.
EE: Yeah, it was really big glass.
DR: I couldn't do it. I don't drink beer, so I drink milk, because that's what Arnold told me to do. But then I found out that Arnold is Austrian and they don't like Americans, so he lied to me. When I get done with TNA I'm going to move to California to try and kick his ass. So I had to get my hair dyed not yellow or blonde, but "pee pee" coloured, because I lost the bet. Everyone laughed at me. Especially Arnold, so now I'm angry at that too.
V2 Journal: How did you get signed with TNA? Who can we credit with bringing the Wolves to Impact?
DR: Dave Lagana
EE: We worked with him in ROH for a couple of years, we've been in contact, he's always had our backs and he was the one who reached out to us.
DR: We talked to John Garbuick shortly there after, we were very facilitated and we were very excited about it. All the credit goes to Dave Lagana.
Wrestle Radio: How do you think you would fit in the X Division?
EE: I think we'd fit great. We adapt to any style that we're put in. No matter who we wrestle, we can bring out the best in ourselves and our opponents, so X-Division is no different.
DR: Yeah, we'll do great in the X Divsion and then I personally have a goal to conquer the Y Division. Not too concern with the Z Division. but the Y is a big one that I'm really shooting for. I've been training hard, I think I've got a shot. If you guys believe, then I believe and when we believe things happen. Thanks buddy, thank you.
Across The Pond Wrestling (That's us!): How have you found your previous trips over to the UK and Europe? Are there any wrestlers from over here in the UK, that you'd like to see move onto a bigger level perhaps with TNA or any other company in the US?
DR: Yeah, oh my God, I was going to move to the UK, that tells you how much I love it! There's a lot of great talent, I mean look at the guys who are already in TNA. You've got Magnus and his work speaks for itself. There's a lot of really incredible talent.
EE: Zack Sabre, Jr.
DR: Yeah! I personally think Dave Mastiff is just incredible. When we were there last time, Bad Bones from Germany got a shot and he was incredible. He obviously impressed. The sky's the limit, it really is. There's so many wrestlers coming out of there now. I hope to see them all on TNA and a national stage, because they deserve it.
EE: There's so many guys where it's the right time, they need to get seen and get the oppurtunity of the big stage. Go on from there, there's so much great talent out there.
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