61-498: McGillicutty may refer to: Beulah McGillicutty a female wrestler in 1995 to 2009 Dale McGillicutty a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character in 1988-1989 Elroy McGillicutty , a character in the 2006 season of Supernatural (TV series) ) Michael McGillicutty a male wrestler in NXT then WWE from 2010 to 2012, now known as Curtis Axel. See also [ edit ] McGillicuddy ,
122-690: A cross and placing a crown made of barbed wire on his head. The angle, which was widely criticised as being in poor taste, led to Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle severing his links with ECW and delayed the promotion's debut on pay-per-view . At November to Remember on November 16, 1996, Richards debuted the Blue World Order , a comedy stable parodying the New World Order in World Championship Wrestling . Richards began performing as "Big Stevie Cool",
183-402: A summer camp in their teens, they had met Beulah, who was overweight. Beulah had fallen in love with Tommy Dreamer, but he rejected her, so she slept with Raven. Raven's lackey Stevie Richards brought Beulah (now a slim Penthouse model) to ECW so she could gain revenge on Dreamer by helping Raven. Beulah became Raven's valet , and suffered several piledrivers at the hands of Dreamer during
244-485: A handful of matches for Eastern Championship Wrestling before spending two years working on the independent circuit for seasoning. Richards returned to Eastern Championship Wrestling on June 26, 1994, as "Steve Richards" (later tweaked to "Stevie Richards") in a preliminary wrestling role. His first televised appearance was on the June 28, 1994, episode of NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling , teaming with Hack Meyers in
305-451: A loss to Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk . Shortly after his return, Richards was given a valet , Angel. In addition to his in-ring role, Richards answered calls to the ECW hotline under the pseudonym "Lloyd Van Buren". At Heat Wave on July 16, 1994, Richards lost to Tommy Dreamer . In late-1994, he developed an "identity crisis", performing under the ring names "Stevie Flamingo", "Stevie
366-788: A member of Raven's Nest, Richards began wearing jean shorts and half shirts for glam metal bands such as Cinderella , Nelson , Poison and Winger . His behavior attracted the scorn of commentator Joey Styles , who repeatedly described him as a "clueless putz " and referred to his attending the Blue Oyster Bar , a (fictional) gay bar . Immediately upon debuting in ECW, Raven began feuding with Dreamer. On April 8, 1995, at Three Way Dance , Raven revealed that he and Dreamer had attended summer camp together as teenagers, where Raven slept with Beulah McGillicutty , an overweight girl with acne who had been spurned by Dreamer. Richards then revealed that he had tracked down McGillicutty, who
427-555: A neck injury when Funk slammed the metal guardrail onto his back and neck. Shortly thereafter, he announced his retirement from professional wrestling, making his final appearance with ECW on the May 29, 1997, episode of ECW Hardcore TV . He made his debut on the July 13, 1997, episode of WCW Monday Nitro , confronting Raven, who had also just signed with WCW. In August 1997, signing a contract with World Championship Wrestling . At Clash of
488-613: A one-off appearance in Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, Alberta in 1988 as Brian Pillman 's sister. She was dating Pillman at the time and they had her appear in the crowd to be harassed by the heels so that Pillman could get over as a face by standing up for her. While working as a backup dancer for the singer Prince , Hayes met the baseball player Ron Gant , who introduced her to his friend, professional wrestler Raven . Raven in turn introduced her to Paul Heyman ,
549-562: A reference to nWo member Kevin Nash , formerly "Big Daddy Cool". Later that night, Richards inadvertently superkicked Raven during his ECW World Heavyweight Championship bout against The Sandman. The tensions between Raven and Richards continued to build until, on December 28, 1996, Richards turned on Raven by superkicking him during a match with The Sandman. At House Party in January 1997, Richards once again superkicked Raven. At " Crossing
610-485: A rematch but lost again. Richards appeared at the ECW reunion event, ECW One Night Stand in 2005, reuniting with his bWo comrades and proclaiming "We have only three words for you. We're taking over!" He then dropped The Sandman with a Stevie Kick. Richards was traded to SmackDown! on June 30, 2005, and reformed the bWo with Nova and The Blue Meanie. At The Great American Bash , the bWo lost to The Mexicools ( Juventud Guerrera , Psicosis , and Super Crazy ) in
671-697: A reverse decision disqualification , when Thorn continued to assault him after initially winning the match. Richards ambushed Thorn during an interview the next week. He teamed with Tommy Dreamer and lost to Thorn and Elijah Burke . A week later, he teamed with CM Punk and defeated them. Richards was eliminated from the Elimination Chase for the ECW Championship on the September 18 episode of ECW . He then disappeared from WWE programming to have throat surgery. Richards made his return on
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#1732802610201732-463: A similar surname Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title McGillicutty . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=McGillicutty&oldid=1230615349 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
793-513: A six-man tag team match. Richards then had a short stint on WWE Velocity , dropping the bWo gimmick as he lost to Hardcore Holly and Booker T . After September 6, he disappeared from TV for over six months. He returned for an 18-Man inter-promotional Battle Royal at WrestleMania 22 . Shortly after the introduction of the ECW brand in 2006, Richards left the SmackDown! brand to join it on
854-563: Is an American professional wrestler and YouTuber . Since June 2024, Richards has hosted The Stevie Richards Show , presented by co-host James Romero on the WSI Network. Over the course of his career, Richards has performed for major professional wrestling promotions including Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling , World Championship Wrestling , World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment , Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Ring of Honor . Championships held by Richards include
915-499: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Beulah McGillicutty Trisa Laughlin ( née Hayes ; born March 14, 1969) is an American author and retired professional wrestling valet , better known by her ring name , Beulah McGillicutty . She is best known for her appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1995 to 1998. Hayes made
976-946: The ECW World Tag Team Championship , the WWE Hardcore Championship ( 21 times ), the NWA National Heavyweight Championship and the Extreme Rising World Championship . Michael Manna trained as a professional wrestler under Jimmy Jannetty at Mike Sharpe 's wrestling school in Brick Township, New Jersey . He wrestled his first match on February 25, 1992, for the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance as "Stevie Richards", facing Jannetty. He wrestled
1037-533: The WWE Women's Championship . This led to a feud with Bubba Ray Dudley and Trish Stratus, who would win their titles in a tag team match on RAW. As Victoria turned face , the duo quietly separated. Around this time, he proclaimed himself "General Manager of Heat ", a title that carried no actual authority. In August 2004, Richards began appearing in drag as "The Mystery Woman" during Victoria's matches, helping her win. The Mystery Woman's painfully obvious identity
1098-500: The WWF Light Heavyweight Championship in this period, unsuccessfully. Richards returned on the June 26, 2000, episode of Raw , with a new look and gimmick, shorthaired and in a shirt and tie, reminiscent of Michael Douglas 's character from the movie Falling Down . Over the next few weeks, he cut promos condemning the risqué content of WWF programming and preaching conservative values (the gimmick
1159-715: The northeastern United States . In August 1998, Richards defeated Doug Gilbert to win the NWA National Heavyweight Championship . Gilbert regained the title in October 1998 at the NWA Anniversary Show . In November 1998, Richards joined Maryland Championship Wrestling , winning the MCW Tag Team Championship with Earl the Pearl in his debut match. The duo held the titles until February 1999. In April 1999, Richards won an eight-man tournament for
1220-484: The "WWE vs ECW Head to Head" show on June 7, 2006. He wrestled on ECW's weekly show under his old ring name of Stevie Richards. He soon returned to his heel persona, turning on the other ECW Originals and siding with the newer stars. His first win on ECW's weekly show was on September 5, 2006, over Balls Mahoney , after interference from Kevin Thorn , who was feuding with Mahoney at the time. Richards wrestled before
1281-1026: The American Championship Pro Wrestling (ACPW) Heavyweight title in Vineland, New Jersey. Stevie spent the majority of 2013 and 2014 either defending the Extreme Rising World Championship on the indie circuit or challenging for titles in other promotions, such as the WildKat Revolution Title, the SCW Southern Heavyweight Championship, the DWE Heavyweight Championship, the Freedom Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship,
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#17328026102011342-618: The August 23 edition of Raw. The rest ultimately did not as WWF chairman Vince McMahon did not feel they would be understood. Mocking other wrestler's gimmicks, he appeared as an Acolyte , a Dudley Boy and a vampire of The Brood , until briefly settling on Mick Foley 's Dude Love persona. After that, he impersonated Test , Chyna , and Chris Jericho , before being sidelined by an ankle injury. He returned to wrestle matches on Jakked and Metal , where he lost more often than not. He challenged both Dean Malenko and Scotty 2 Hotty for
1403-595: The Body", and "Stevie Polo"—all references to former ring names used by Scott Levy in World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation . After sustaining another loss to Dreamer, Richards became irate and claimed he would present "the real Johnny Polo". On the January 7, 1995, episode of ECW Hardcore TV , Levy—now known as " Raven "—made his ECW debut, with Richards as the first member of Raven's Nest , Raven's stable of lackeys . As
1464-611: The Champions XXXV on August 21, 1997, Raven defeated Richards in a no disqualification match . In September 1997, Richards rejoined Raven, sitting with him in the audience during WCW events. He left WCW in November 1997. After leaving WCW, Richards wrestled a handful of matches for ECW in December 1997, defeating Chris Chetti at Better Than Ever , before returning to the independent circuit, where he primarily competed in
1525-810: The ECW World Tag Team Championship at Gangstas Paradise on September 16, 1995. Raven and Richards regained the titles from The Pitbulls on October 7, 1995 at South Philly Jam , only to lose them to The Public Enemy later that evening. At November to Remember on November 18, 1995, Richards introduced a lackey of his own, The Blue Meanie . Over the following year, Richards and The Blue Meanie would perform numerous parodies of other wrestlers, including " Baron von Stevie " and " Colonel DeMeanie "; " Lord Stevie " and " Sir Meanie "; " Stevie Alexander Bagwell " and " Meanie Riggs "; and " Flyboy Stevie Rock " and " Meanie Grunge ". In late 1995, Richards received another lackey, Super Nova . During
1586-617: The ECW brand's first pay-per-view, December to Dismember , defeating Rene Dupree in a dark match. Other than this match, he did not appear on ECW between September 2006 (when he joined up with the first version of ECW's New Breed —Test, Mike Knox, and Hardcore Holly) and February 2007 (when he lost to CM Punk for a second time). Richards was a lumberjack in the pre- WrestleMania 23 Lumberjack Tag Team match. He then went on to lose to CM Punk three more times. In mid-2007, Richards turned face again, and teamed with Tommy Dreamer against The New Breed on house shows , replacing The Sandman (who
1647-463: The February 12, 2008, episode of ECW , defeating Rory Fox with his signature Stevie-T . He beat James Curtis next, then Mike Knox (Richards' final victory on WWE TV). In the following months, Richards wrestled in the pre-WrestleMania 24-Man Battle Royal, lost to Shelton Benjamin , The Great Khali and Mike Knox in singles matches, teamed with Kelly Kelly to lose to Mike Knox and Layla and
1708-737: The Force One Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Championship on February 28, 2009, in Barnegat, New Jersey, defeating Danny Doring , as well as the TRP and Showcase heavyweight championships. On May 28, 2011, Richards debuted as an announcer for Lucha Libre USA . At the next taping on June 18, he turned heel by helping R. J. Brewer win the Lucha Libre USA Championship , joining his anti-Mexican stable, The Right, in
1769-813: The Great , a children's book illustrated by Jill Thompson . After retiring from wrestling in 1998, Hayes returned to college. On October 12, 2002 at the Lake Isle Country Club in Eastchester, New York , Hayes married Thomas Laughlin, known as ECW wrestler Tommy Dreamer , with whom she later had twin girls, Brianna Laughlin and Kimberly Laughlin. The twins appeared in the season six episode of The Sopranos called " The Ride " as Domenica Baccalieri, Tony Soprano 's baby niece. Stevie Richards Michael Stephen Manna (born October 9, 1971), better known by his ring name Stevie Richards ,
1830-407: The January 16, 1996 episode of ECW Hardcore TV , Beulah left Raven and aligned herself with Dreamer. However, at Hostile City Showdown 1996 , Shane Douglas informed Dreamer that Beulah was never pregnant, and also had been cheating on him. When Dreamer demanded to know who with (suspecting Douglas), Raven's new valet Kimona Wanalaya proclaimed that it was her, and she proceeded to kiss Beulah to
1891-537: The Line Again " on February 1, 1997, Raven scored an upset victory over "Dr. Death" Steve Williams after interference from Richards backfired. At CyberSlam on February 22, 1997, Richards and The Blue World Order came to the ring to berate Raven and Brian Lee, who had given a concussion to Terry Funk . After Lee chokeslammed Richards, Tommy Dreamer, and The Sandman entered the ring, eventually fighting off Raven and Lee. Dreamer then helped Richards to his feet and
McGillicutty - Misplaced Pages Continue
1952-565: The Power he served Hyatt by stuffing a summons into her cleavage. The angle concluded at Natural Born Killaz on August 24, 1996, when Richards offered to drop the lawsuit if Hyatt would insult The Sandman. After Hyatt complied, The Sandman caned her, breaking their alliance. In August 1996, Richards, The Blue Meanie, Super Nova and Don E. Allen parodied the rock band Kiss at The Doctor Is In as " Stevie Stanley ", " Meanie Simmons ", " Nova Frehley ", and " Don E. Criss " respectively. At
2013-573: The WCW tag team, thus becoming a de facto member of The Alliance . He managed KroniK in a match against The Undertaker and Kane , after which KroniK was released from the WWF. Richards then appeared mainly on the "B shows", Jakked and Metal , until Team Alliance lost at Survivor Series in 2001. Richards was then fired (in storylines) along with the rest of the Alliance roster by Vince McMahon . Ric Flair
2074-452: The WWF full-time. He debuted on August 15, 1999, episode of Sunday Night Heat , helping his old bWo partner, The Blue Meanie , win a match against Al Snow . The two formed a short-lived tag team, before Richards adopted an impersonator gimmick. After Sable left the WWF, Richards and The Blue Meanie filmed a series of vignettes lampooning her titled "The Blonde Bytch Project" (a parody of The Blair Witch Project ). One vignette aired on
2135-567: The amount of blood lost by Alfonso. When the ECW wrestlers invaded the World Wrestling Federation , appearing on an episode of Raw , Beulah was at Dreamer's side. In 1998, Beulah was attacked by Justin Credible and was put out of action. She returned to help Dreamer feud with Credible and his entourage. A few months later, Hayes grew tired of wrestling and Beulah was written out of storylines via The Dudley Boyz breaking her neck with their Dudley Death Drop maneuver. Beulah returned to
2196-467: The audience during Richards' matches. On August 26, 1995, Richards introduced her to Joey Styles as his girlfriend, Francine . Francine began accompanying to Richards to ringside, but tensions quickly arose between her and McGillicutty. On August 26, 1995, McGillicutty defeated Francine after Richards turned on her by super kicking her at the behest of Raven. Francine subsequently aligned herself with The Pitbulls , helping them defeat Raven and Richards for
2257-511: The bottom of a catfight. Dreamer, Funk, and Beulah would lose the match when Edge speared and pinned Beulah with a cover that resembled the "legs up" version of the missionary position . Beulah appeared on the December 29, 2009 edition of ECW on SyFy . She and her twin daughters were sitting in the front row during Tommy Dreamer's last match in World Wrestling Entertainment . In 2012, Laughlin published Gertrude
2318-503: The continual interference from Richards and Raven's Nest. On June 30, 1995, at Mountain Top Madness , Raven and Richards defeated The Public Enemy to win the ECW World Tag Team Championship . At Hardcore Heaven on July 1, 1995, Raven and Richards defeated Dreamer and Vachon in a tag team match. Two weeks later at Heat Wave , Vachon defeated Richards in a cage match . In the summer of 1995, an unnamed woman began appearing in
2379-443: The course of the feud. At the same time, Beulah feuded with Francine and Luna Vachon , and was involved in several "catfights" with each of them. Her first match was on June 17, 1995 at Barbed Wire, Hoodies & Chokeslams , when she pinned Luna after Richards hit her with a chair. At House Party on January 7, 1996, she claimed that she was pregnant and told a shocked Raven that it was Dreamer's baby, intensifying their feud. On
2440-515: The front row with her two daughters, before later getting involved in Dreamer's match with Raven by giving Raven a low blow. In 2014 Hayes officially retired after accompanying her husband to the ring one final time at his House of Hardcore 7 Pay Per View. During Dreamer's match, Hayes got into a brief cat fight with TNA Knockout Velvet Sky . After the match Hayes thanked all of the fans in attendance and those watching for their love and support over
2501-444: The mat. After some hesitation, Dreamer kissed both women, proclaiming "I'll take em both, I'm hardcore!" In 1997, Beulah and Dreamer teamed up for a few intergender tag team matches against Francine and Douglas, with Beulah surprising fans by performing moonsaults in the matches. In September 1997 at As Good as It Gets , she defeated Bill Alfonso in what Paul Heyman said was one of the most brutal matches in ECW history, due to
McGillicutty - Misplaced Pages Continue
2562-419: The match. In the main event, Raven, Richards, Funk, and The Sandman faced one another in a four-way elimination match for Funk's ECW World Heavyweight Championship. During the match, Raven DDT'ed both Funk and The Sandman and then demanded that Richards pin them and then lay down for him. Richards refused, instead super kicking Raven and enabling Funk and The Sandman to pin him. During the match, Richards suffered
2623-530: The opening of Holiday Hell on December 29, 1995, Richards received a kiss from Missy Hyatt , who was seated at ringside, after claiming he could get her "a date with Raven" in return. Later that evening, Richards and The Blue Meanie were squashed by Dreamer in consecutive matches. Dreamer went on to face Raven, who defeated him yet again after repeated interference from Richard and The Blue Meanie. At House Party on January 5, 1996, Richards attempted to kiss McGillicutty, who refused, eventually announcing that she
2684-545: The owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . In 1995, Heyman introduced Hayes to ECW under the ring name "Beulah McGillicutty". She made her debut at Three Way Dance on April 8, 1995, helping Raven defeat Tommy Dreamer . At Hostile City Showdown the following day, her backstory was revealed: while Raven and Tommy Dreamer (allegedly former childhood friends) had been attending
2745-579: The process. He made his promotional wrestling debut at the next taping on July 30, defeating Rocky Romero after interference from stablemate Petey Williams . In 2012, Richards wrestled regularly for the Extreme Rising promotion, as well as for the NWA and Florida-based promotions CCW and ICW. On June 16, Richards retained his Showcase Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Title against Marty Jannetty . On October 6, 2012, Richards defeated Aramis to win
2806-484: The ring on June 12, 2005, at the World Wrestling Entertainment -produced ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view. She interfered in the main event, helping Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman , but their opponents, The Dudley Boyz , won despite her efforts. Beulah was involved in a catfight with Francine , who had just kicked Dreamer in the crotch . On August 8, 2010, Hayes appeared at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling 's ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice , first shown sitting in
2867-584: The same event, Richards substituted for Raven in his ECW World Heavyweight Championship title defense against The Sandman, with Raven entering the ring at the end of the match and pinning The Sandman. Later that month, Richards took part in ECW's first tour of Japan , defeating Keizo Matsuda in a bout in Korakuen Hall as well as helping Raven defend his title against Tommy Dreamer. The relationship between Raven and Richards began to deteriorate in late 1996. At Ultimate Jeopardy on October 5, 1996, Raven
2928-440: The two shook hands, marking an end to their lengthy rivalry. As part of an agreement between ECW and the World Wrestling Federation , Richards and several other ECW wrestlers appeared on February 24, 1997, episode of Raw is War , with Richards defeating Little Guido . At Hostile City Showdown on March 15, 1997, Richards faced Raven and Dreamer in a three-way dance for Raven's ECW World Heavyweight Championship. The match
2989-663: The vacant NWA 2000 Heavyweight Championship. At the independent supercard Break the Barrier on May 15, 1999, Richards won the APWF Heavyweight Championship, which he held until August 1999. Richards planned on retiring from professional wrestling to study information technology at the Community College of Philadelphia . His plans changed when he was offered a contract with the World Wrestling Federation in mid-1999. In 1999, Richards joined
3050-418: The years. On June 7, 2006, it was announced that Beulah would be in the corner of Dreamer and Terry Funk against then-heels, Mick Foley and Edge as an equalizer to the heel gimmick of Lita . On the day of the pay-per-view, the tag match was later changed to a six-person mixed tag match pitting Edge, Foley, and Lita against Dreamer, Funk, and herself. Wrestling barefoot, Beulah handled Lita and appeared on
3111-527: Was "revealed" at Unforgiven , after "she" saved Victoria from Tyson Tomko and Trish Stratus . Richards then quickly lost an impromptu match to Tomko. He went on a losing streak on Heat from April 19, 2004, until December 3, 2006 (when he defeated Rene Dupree ). Richards was legitimately injured during the Raw debut match of Chris Masters in February 2005, when a botched Polish hammer broke his nose and orbital bone. After healing, Richards faced Masters in
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#17328026102013172-588: Was a mocking reference to the Parents Television Council , which was publicly criticizing WWF content at the time). He became a full-fledged heel , formalized his name to "Steven Richards" and formed a stable known as the Right to Censor . He spoke for, managed, and tag-teamed with his recruits: The Godfather (renamed the Goodfather), Bull Buchanan , Ivory , and Val Venis . When Chyna
3233-433: Was able to save his job and get him drafted to the Raw brand. There, he became a twenty-two-time Hardcore Champion, trading it several times with Bubba Ray Dudley , Booker T , Crash Holly , Shawn Stasiak , Justin Credible , Bradshaw , Terri , and Tommy Dreamer . Richards formed an alliance with Victoria in late 2002, as a mentally unbalanced couple helping each other win their matches. He often helped her retain
3294-475: Was drafted to Raw) in the ECW Originals. On July 24, Richards defeated Kevin Thorn by reversing a crucifix powerbomb into a backslide pin . This was his first victory on WWE television since December 2006. In a rematch the next week, he was dominated, yet again defeated Thorn, via roll-up. On August 7, he was ambushed by Thorn while giving an interview backstage. He again defeated Thorn on August 14 by
3355-557: Was featured in Playboy magazine, the Right to Censor objected and feuded with her and her (onscreen) boyfriend, Eddie Guerrero . After Right to Censor broke up, Richards disappeared from television for a short time. He returned to SmackDown! to cut a promo condemning The Undertaker for attacking Right to Censor and causing it to disband. When The Undertaker confronted Richards, KroniK attacked him. Richards announced his alliance with
3416-527: Was now a Penthouse model, who also harbored a grudge against Dreamer. Later that night, Raven wrestled Dreamer for the first time, defeating him following interference from both Richards and McGillicutty. The feud between Raven and Dreamer would continue for another two years, with Dreamer constantly unable to pin Raven. In May 1995 at Enter the Sandman , Dreamer introduced Luna Vachon to ECW to counter
3477-493: Was one of fourteen ECW wrestlers who faced Triple H and Mr. Kennedy in a 14 on 2 Handicap Match on Raw . He commentated on the Extreme Rules match between Mike Knox and Tommy Dreamer on the 100th episode of ECW . Richards remained on the ECW brand after the June 2008 Draft, but wrestled his final three WWE matches on SmackDown . He lost to Vladimir Kozlov on July 11, 2008, and to The Brian Kendrick on July 25. He
3538-575: Was pregnant. After Raven angrily confronted McGillicutty, she informed him that he was not the father, causing Raven to attack Richards. McGillicutty then revealed that Tommy Dreamer was the father, with Dreamer storming the ring and beating down Raven, Richards and The Blue Meanie. On February 3, 1996, at Big Apple Blizzard Blast , Richards announced that he was suing Missy Hyatt—who had aligned herself with The Sandman —for sexual harassment (a reference to Hyatt's lawsuit against her former employer, World Championship Wrestling). On June 1, 1996, at Fight
3599-403: Was released from his WWE contract shortly thereafter. Before returning to the independent circuit, Richards' lung collapsed while undergoing a biopsy to determine the cause of a lung infection, causing him to wear a chest tube for several days and miss a scheduled appearance for Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW). Richards then occasionally wrestled for MCW and other promotions. He won
3660-513: Was scheduled to team with Brian Lee against Dreamer and The Sandman in a match with Raven's ECW World Heavyweight Championship on the line. After Raven was announced as being unable to compete, Richards substituted for him, with Raven losing his title after The Sandman pinned Richards. Upon his return, Raven blamed Richards for the loss. At "High Incident" on October 26, 1996, Richards was involved in one of ECW's most controversial angles , with Raven's Nest " crucifying " The Sandman by tying him to
3721-812: Was won by Raven. At ECW's first pay-per-view , Barely Legal on April 13, 1997, Richards faced Terry Funk and The Sandman in a triple threat match , with the winner facing Raven for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in the main event. The match was won by Funk, who went on to defeat Raven. On May 1, 1997, episode of ECW Hardcore TV , a controversial angle took place in which a morose Raven confronted Richards, telling him he had one final "mission" for him. Raven then attacked Richards before begging him to "end my pain". At The Buffalo Invasion on May 11, 1997, Raven and Richards reformed their tag team to face Dreamer and Funk, with Richards pinning Funk despite bickering with Raven throughout
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