10 Things You Didn't Know About Stevie Richards

8. Offered To Work For Free During Early Years

Ask any professional wrestler working on the independent scene to ring off a list of things they hate, and it's likely that fellow wrestlers offering to work for free will be near the top of the list. A lot of performers despise this trend, feeling that it undermines their own attempts to be suitably compensated for their in-ring work - the general feeling is that if you don't feel you should be getting paid, you shouldn't be in the ring. It's taken as an insult to the wrestling profession, perhaps rightfully so, but it's also something that Stevie Richards offered to do numerous times during the early years of his career in wrestling. Long before he worked in ECW, the man would travel to various independent shows with his gear, offering to work free of charge. It's a credit to the wrestling industry as a whole that Richards was often told 'no' by various promoters, likely feeling it'd baffle a lot of their regular workers. Upon starting to become associated with ECW, Stevie Richards would again employ the same tactic, showing up with his gear and begging Paul Heyman to let him work for free. Heyman would turn the idea down, saying he would use Richards, but would pay him something for his efforts.