EVOLVE No Longer a Davey Richards Vanity Promotion

Courtesy of F4W Online

Davey Richards re-signed with ROH. The deal seems to have some kind of exclusivity clause in it I suppose because it led to the American Wolf getting pulled from future DGUSA and EVOLVE shows.

Analysis? Well, Gabe Sapolsky just got fucked. In the ass. No lube. You could say that's what he got for putting all his eggs in the Richards basket for EVOLVE, and that wrestling is such a cutthroat business you'd expect this kind of thing to happen. It still sucks though. EVOLVE lost an ace, and DGUSA lost a top heel. EVOLVE will hurt more because DGUSA still has the Japanese imports to fall back on. I think EVOLVE will be alright in the future as well given that they shouldn't have started out too big anyway, and they still have the Chikara guys as well as Ken Doane and Arik Cannon, among others, as a backup.

Still this has to smart for Gabe. Richards was the guy he was building around and *poof* Cary Silkin sticks it to him. I don't think we'll be seeing a reconciliation between the two parties anytime soon.

And I think this signing telegraphs a few things. For one, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see Richards strapped with some kind of singles gold in ROH. I think the TV Title is beneath him at this point and he belongs in the World Championship picture, but then again, Kenny Omega and Chris Hero are both guys who should be in the ROH title picture and are only there in name only. I think it also might bode well for the tag division in that the American Wolves remain ROH property. While another tag run would be redundant, they could provide a main event-level tag feud that doesn't need titles for the Briscoes or another facey mish-mash team.

But yeah, this is a huge, huge deal in terms of indie wrestling. ROH strikes big here. They got Richards until he finally cracks and accepts this WWE offer he claims to have gotten.