The Life & Times of Steven Richards

When one thinks back to the glory days of Extreme Championship Wrestling, one also thinks of the many great stars that graced Paul Heyman's renegade company - Raven, Rhyno, Tazz, the Sandman, the Dudleys, and many more. But one man who, more often than not, tends to get overlooked is Steven Richards.

For most of his time in ECW, Richards served many in the role of sidekick, often being teamed with the likes of Raven, or the Blue Meanie in the legendary Blue World Order, one of the best wrestling parodies of the nineties. But the fact that he was very often another guy's stool pigeon meant he never really had the chance to shine.

It was pretty much the same when he first arrived in the WWE a few years back. After a brief stint in WCW, and a knee injury that nearly ended his career, Richards turned up in McMahon land, and looked totally lost. For most of the time, he would be seen in the background when other things happened, or, as he did in ECW, he would parody other stars, as well as reuniting with the Blue Meanie. But the fact that he was hardly being used was a great shame.

Goldberg's Year in the WWE

Almost a year ago, Safeco Field and World Wrestling Entertainment were abuzz with the news that Bill Goldberg, possibly the last superstar WCW ever created, was finally coming to McMahon-land. Having heavily criticised the product over the past few months, and cancelled many meetings with the powers-that-be, both sides finally reached an agreement. Finally, the man that wrestling fans had wanted to see in a WWE ring since the beginning of the Invasion in June 2001 was here.

It's Rumble Time Again!

It's that time of year again, folks, when thirty of the (supposedly) top wrestlers in the wrestling business compete in one of the toughest (supposedly) matches in the history of the game, the Royal Rumble.

The Rumble is probably my second favourite pay-per-view of the year, behind Wrestlemania. As many of you probably know, I've been watching the WWE since 1989, and the Rumble match itself always held a special place in my heart, probably because unlike most other gimmick matches, it only comes around once a year, and it isn't done to death.

The first Rumble I saw back in 1990 featured a moment that will remain as one of my favourites in WWE history, and I'm not including the moment where the Warlord entered and was promptly dispatched from the ring seconds later. I'm talking about that moment.

Wrestlecrap - Book Review

In the age of the Internet, the wrestling business is more open than it's ever been. These days whenever you log onto a web site or fan forum you always read about the things that are bad about this business. However, you seldom hear such things with a great big dose of salt.

The Stone Cold Truth - Book Review

Since Mrs. Foley's baby boy put pen to paper four years ago and penned the now classic Have A Nice Day, we've seen literally dozens and dozens of biographies from wrestlers past and present, with the latest edition being Steve Austin's The Stone Cold Truth, penned with the help of Jim Ross and Dennis Brent.

The Two Sheds Review Archives - 2004

It's Rumble Time Again!

It's that time of year again, folks, when thirty of the (supposedly) top wrestlers in the wrestling business compete in one of the toughest (supposedly) matches in the history of the game, the Royal Rumble.

20th-26th December 2004

A belated Merry Christmas to you all, as this week's Two Sheds On TV takes a look at wrestling television programming over the festive period.

13th-19th December 2004

Welcome, one and all to this week's Two Sheds On TV column. This week I am debuting a new format, brought on by the fact that the majority of TWC's output will be repeats for the next few weeks. So here goes.

29th November-12th December 2004

Monday, 29th November, 2004:
When I write my reviews of the weekly Shoot Interviews, more often than not I end up saying how great it was. Indeed, I think there's only been a couple of interviews I really didn't like.

22nd-28th November 2004

Monday, 22nd November, 2004:
As an admin for Wrestle-Zone UK, Britain's third best professional wrestling web site (after Wrestling X and the new Two Sheds Review web site, of course!), I've been posting reports from the Funk' Conservatory's weekly television show, !Bang! TV. Well, after all this time, I got a chance to see it for myself, thanks to the TWC Spotlight show, and I wasn't too impressed to be honest. While most of the wrestling was passable, and most of the production was also passable, the commentary, a vital part of the show, was definitely lacking. The main announcer was the head man himself, Dory Funk Jr, but it really was annoying to hear Funk commentate on his own match. It really spoiled the viewing, as did the constant promotion of upcoming events and training weekends, which seemed to last for entire matches at times. Dory was shilling so much he made Sanjay Bagga look like an amateur.

15th-21st November 2004

Monday, 15th November, 2004:
The Shoot Interview series delivers once again, this time with veteran WWF superstar "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. Duggan was one of those larger than life characters that got me interested in the WWF all those years ago, and it was great to hear some of the stories from his career, especially from his WWF days. I'm really looking forward to the second part of this interview next week. It should be a blinder.

8th-14th November 2004

Monday, 8th November, 2004:
This week's Spotlight show takes us into the backyard of the Wild Samoans, as we take a look at World X-Treme Wrestling, and their Yokozuna Memorial Show from 2001.

1st-7th November 2004

Monday, 1st November, 2004:
The week begins with the TWC Spotlight show on Reloaded, this week with a showing of an Irish Whip Wrestling show from 2002.

25th-31st October 2004

Monday, 25th October, 2004;
It's back. After an extended absence that caused much debate on various forums, Mexican wrestling made it's return to British television on the same day that TWC launched a second channel, TWC Re-Loaded.

11th-24th October 2004

Monday, 11th October, 2004:
When I heard that the subject of this week's Shoot Interview was Bam Bam Bigelow, I have to admit I didn't have high hopes.

27th September-10th October 2004

Monday, September 27, 2004:

The Shoot Interview series has really come through in the past few weeks. This week it delivered again with The Dragon himself, Ricky Steamboat.

20th-26th September 2004

Monday, 20th September, 2004:
A change to the beginning of my viewing week, as I take in a repeat showing of New Japan's weekly show, as they present the best of Bob Sapp. But surely this is a contradiction in terms?

13th-19th September 2004

Monday, September 13th, 2004:
I'll let you all in on a little secret, shall I? When the WWF re-ignited my love for the wrestling business in 1989, one of the wrestlers I loved to watch was Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake. He was one of those larger than life characters that got me interested again.

6th-12th September 2004

Monday, 6th September, 2004:
Monday nights are going to seem a little different for a while, but my viewing habits returned to normal after nearly two months with the viewing of the second part of this Shoot Interview featuring Jerry "The King" Lawler.

24th August-5th September 2004

Tuesday, 24th August, 2004:
I must commend NWA Wildside for their efforts to bring back that dying breed of the wrestling business, the manager. However, this commendation doesn't actually go that far.