10 Things We Learned From Bruce Prichard's WWF & ECW Podcast

5. Stevie Richards Turned Down The WWF Light-Heavyweight Division

Paul Heyman ECW Jerry Lawler WWE Raw invasion 1997
WWE.com

Likely seeing the success that WCW were having with their own Cruiserweight division, the WWF wanted in on the action in 1997. Towards the end of the year, Vince McMahon promoted a tournament to crown the first ever WWF Light-Heavyweight Champion. The likes of Taka Michinoku, Brian Christopher, and Scott Taylor were involved in the competition.

Whilst searching for those who could feasibly enter to pad out the brackets, Bruce Prichard decided to give Stevie Richards a call. At that point, Richards was very much a part of ECW's programming and had actually been in the advertised main event of the Barely Legal pay-per-view.

Turning Prichard's notion down flat, Richards believed that he merited a better spot than the Light-Heavyweight tournament. Wishing to be a top guy, the bWo member (perhaps rightly) believed that competing for the lower-level belt wouldn't help him achieve that.

The WWF didn't persist. Richards eventually went on to join the company, but not before having a run in WCW. Prichard didn't seem to hold this against Stevie, noting that he had admired the wrestler for years before approaching him.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.