Line #28 Wrestling/StevieRichards


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stevierichards_5318.jpg]]
2
3	->''"I'll show you, you'll see!"''
4
5	Michael Stephen Manna (born October 9, 1971) is an American {{professional wrestl\|ing}}er from UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}}, PA best known for his work in Wrestling/{{ECW}} as Stevie Richards. He began his career in 1992 and appeared on the very first ECW event, February 25, 1992, going to a 20-minute draw with Jimmy Jannetty. He would struggle in the midcard for close to three years, until a series of losses to Wrestling/TommyDreamer in late 1994 would serve to invigorate his career via the debut of Wrestling/{{Raven}}. Richards would become Raven's [[TheDragon flunky]] and they would go on to hold the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-t.html ECW World Tag Team Titles]] twice.
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7	Richards would ultimately follow Raven to Wrestling/{{WCW}} in Summer 1997 but leave in early October to briefly go back to ECW. He would bounce around the independents until he arrived in Wrestling/{{WWE}} in 1999 where he would stay until 2008. He again spent time on the independent circuit before turning up in Wrestling/{{TNA}} in 2009, now wearing hospital scrubs and treating Wrestling/{{Abyss}} at "Dr. Stevie's" mental health clinic. This was revealed to be a front for Stevie's new stable, consisting of the decidedly ''un''stable Raven, Abyss and {{Wrestling/Daffney\|Unger}} (pictured).
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9	Stevie currently runs a Website/YouTube channel where he provides analysis of spots in wrestling, inspired by football coverage. This includes the series What Went Wrong, where he looks at disastrous mistakes in wrestling and uses his experience to point out exactly where the mistake occurred, and how to avoid it in the future.
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11	Along with his two ECW World Tag Team Title reigns, he was also a 22x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-hc.html WWE Hardcore Champion]] and a Top Rope Productions Heavyweight Champion. He has also competed for various Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance territories and for many independent promotions around the U.S.
12	----
13	!! "The Original King of Tropes":
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15	* AffectionateNickname: "Flower" for [[Wrestling/LisaMarieVaron Victoria]].
16	* AffectionateParody: He and the Blue Meanie and, later, [[Wrestling/MikeBucci Nova]] were known for this.
17	** [[Wrestling/AmericanWrestlingAssociation "Baron Von Stevie" and "Col. [=DeMeanie=]"]]
18	** [[Music/{{KISS}} "[=KISS=]": "Meanie Simmons," with "Stevie Stanley," "Nova Frehley" and "Donn E. Criss"]], at ''ECW The Doctor Is In''
19	** [[Wrestling/TheFabulousOnes "The Fabulous Ones," "Dancin' Stevie Richards and Stan the Blue Meanie"]]
20	** [[Wrestling/{{TPE}} "The Public Enemy", "Meanie Grunge" and "Flyboy Stevie Rock"]]
21	** [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder "The Blue World Order"]], [[Wrestling/HulkHogan "Hollywood Nova"]], [[Wrestling/KevinNash "Big Stevie Cool"]] and [[Wrestling/ScottHall "Da Blue Guy"]]
22	** "The Stamford Hillbillies", a parody of [[Characters/WWETagTeams the Godwinns]]
23	* AmbiguouslyGay: While he never did an outright GorgeousGeorge gimmick, his enthusiasm for Wrestling/{{Raven}} led to some speculation and comments along those lines in ECW. While he and Raven were walking to the ring for their ECW World Tag Team Title defense against Wrestling/TommyDreamer and Wrestling/LunaVachon at ''ECW Hardcore Heaven 95'', July 1, 1995, Wrestling/JoeyStyles said that all of Richards' friends at the [[Film/PoliceAcademy Blue Oyster]] are happy that he is an ECW World Tag Team Champion. {{Subverted\|Trope}} two weeks later, at ''ECW Heat Wave'', during Raven and Richards' title defense against Tony Stetson and Donn E. Allen, when Richards started making out with Wrestling/{{Francine}}, prompting Joey to say, "I'll be damned! Richards likes girls!"
24	* ArchEnemy: Tommy Dreamer and [[Wrestling/JimFullington the Sandman]] in ECW; pretty much the entire WWE roster as the leader of Wrestling/RightToCensor; Wrestling/TrishStratus and whoever Victoria may have been feuding with at the time; Wrestling/{{Goldust}}, Wrestling/{{Test}}; Abyss in TNA.
25	* AsYouKnow: On ''Hogan Knows Best'' when Hulk Hogan and family introduced themselves to Stevie, who introduced himself but pointed out they already knew who he was.
26	* BadassesWearBandanas: Albeit, Stevie wore his backwards from the way most people do.
27	* [[BashBrothers Bash Brothers and Sisters]]: Raven, the Blue Meanie, [[Wrestling/MikeBucci Super Nova]], [[Wrestling/LisaMarieVaron Victoria]], [[Wrestling/CarleneMoore Jazz]], Wrestling/DaffneyUnger (as pictured above).
28	* BerserkButton: Attack Victoria, as we saw Wrestling/{{Test}} do one Raw episode, and Stevie will ''flip his shit.'' Didn't even matter if he and Victoria were broken up or feuding, as Rodney Mack and Tomko would later find out.
29	* BigBad: Of Wrestling/RightToCensor.
30	* {{Bowdlerize}}: Spike TV edited out the segment where he lit Abyss on fire in TNA ([[NetworkDecay despite having no problem showing Kane doings so to Jim Ross when they were TNN and had Raw]])
31	* CarnivalOfKillers: Attempted when he put out a $50,000 bounty on Abyss's career but Kevin Nash stole the money from him.
32	* CoolTeacher
33	** Of Yoga, he got the idea from DDP.
34	** In between shows for Ring Warriors, he stopped by The Spot in Florida to assist the regular trainers, Alex G, [[Wrestling/BlackRose La Rosa Negra]] and Tommy Vandal.
35	* CostumeCopycat: As part of his AffectionateParody gimmick. Dude love was his favorite but he also posed as Acolyte, a Dudley Boy and a vampire of The Brood. He even tried impersonating Chris Jericho, ''Test'' and ''Chyna''.
36	* CorruptCorporateExecutive
37	** PlayedForLaughs when he was the self-appointed General Manager of ''[[{{BShow}} Sunday Night Heat]]'', which he had renamed ''Stevie Night Heat'' and was supposedly the head of "[=StevieCorp.=]" His CatchPhrase for this was "ALL STEVIE! ALL NIGHT! NOTHING BUT HEAT!"
38	** He was an AuthorityInNameOnly according to Jonathan Coachman, but Al Snow was insistent that Stevie was a real general manager, even describing him as a rival to Raw GM Wrestling/EricBischoff. Despite this even Wrestling/AlSnow (and Wrestling/{{Ivory}}) conceded that his company, "Stevie Corp", did not actually exist.
39	* CowerPower: Him hugging Victoria/Tara's legs at House Of Hardcore 3 to protect himself from Wrestling/{{Carlito\|Colon}}.
40	* ADayInTheLimelight: Made his [=PPV=] debut in the semi-main event of ECW's first [=PPV=], ''Barely Legal,'' April 13, 1997 in the [[MeleeATrois Three-Way-Dance]] against Wrestling/TerryFunk and the Sandman to determine who would get to challenge Raven for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-h.html ECW World Heavyweight Title]]. Stevie, wrestling as "Big Stevie Cool" during the BWO gimmick, was eliminated first.
41	* DisguisedInDrag: After Victoria's face turn, Stevie Richards was in a miniature feud with her where he would randomly cause problems for Victoria but then secretly help her while disguised as a woman. He had also impersonated Chyna before but that was just a joke.
42	* {{Expy}}: After Wrestling/TheBlueMeanie made his surprise debut at ''ECW November to Remember 95'', he and Richards developed a gimmick of doing {{Affectionate Parod\|y}}ies of wrestlers past and present (the [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder "Blue World Order"]]). This angle would be rehashed on ''Impact'' with Abyss and his fixation on collecting rings belonging to WWE Hall of Famers, [[MegaManning which somehow imbued Abyss]] with their respective gimmicks, personalities, and entrance themes(!).
43	* {{Fanboy}}: For Raven. As part of the build for his debut, Richards wrestled using all the names Scott Levy had previously used in his career (Stevie the Body, Stevie Flamingo, Stevie Polo).
44	* FinishingMove: Steviekick, [=Steviebomb=][=/=][[Wrestling/KevinNash [="Stevieknife"=]]], Stevie-T (double-arm DDT).
45	* ForYourOwnGood: Wrestling/RightToCensor's CatchPhrase ''was'' "It's for your own good." "Because you do ''not'' know what is good for you!" was another.
46	* GameBreakingInjury: A neck injury from Terry Funk dropping part of the guardrail on him during a four-way-dance in 1997.
47	* GlassJawReferee: Well, he's not that fragile but when he was the referee for Abyss vs Foley for ''Bound For Glory'' Abyss knocked him out, covered Foley and then made unconscious Stevie's hand fall three times.
48	* GroinAttack: Trish and Goldust set Victoria up for his "shattered dreams" finishing move and then Goldust gave Stevie Richards a drop toe hold when he came to save her, sending Stevie's head into her groin.
49	** Wrestling/LunaVachon defeated him with a testicular claw.
50	** He gave one to John Kronus during their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQi9e9ENWKw first-round match]] in the tournament to crown the new [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/nc/nwa2000/2000-h.html NWA 2000 Heavyweight Title]], April 24, 1999, as retaliation for Kronus {{No Sell}}ing Stevie's shoulderblock.
51	* HairMetal: When aligned with Raven, would wear shirts for such bands as Winger, Cinderella and Music/{{Poison}}, in contrast with the Music/{{Ministry}} and Music/DinosaurJr shirts Raven would wear.
52	* HeWhoFightsMonsters: His efforts to stop Abyss from being violent degenerated into threatening Abyss with violence to stop him from being violent, then using violence against Abyss to discourage him from being violent, then just attacking Abyss because he did not like him.
53	* HeroicBastard: [[DiscussedTrope Turned out to be false]], but he was such a favorite of the so called {{Smart Mark}}s that years after he was no longer relevant in WWE he was voted second most likely to be Vince [=McMahon=]'s bastard son in a poll the company held.
54	* HijackedByGanon: It turned out he was being manipulated by the already established Mick Foley and Raven in TNA during his run with the Dr. Stevie gimmick.
55	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He was getting destroyed by Abyss during their 2009 ''Victory Road'' match, a match Dr. Stevie had made into a {{no holds barred contest}} which turned out to only make it worse for him. Daffney did come out with a taser though to turn the odds, until Lauren ran counter interference, allowing Abyss to then use the taser to finish off Stevie.
56	* TheHost: Of T4, a show about technology.
57	* IncomingHam: See the page quote? "I'll Show You! You'll See!" was also the announcement of his arrival to the arena.
58	* {{Keet}}: During his WWE {{face}} runs. Even Essa Rios and Wrestling/{{Lita}} did not bother trying to keep up with him when they tagged together.
59	* LargeHam: Let's see, he jokes, he dances, he parodies other wrestlers...
60	* LightIsNotGood: Wrestling/RightToCensor all [[DressCode wore white shirts]] despite being heels.
61	* LoserLeavesTown: Wrestled one against Raven in Extreme Rising but it was a no contest
62	* MoralGuardians: As the leader of Wrestling/RightToCensor in WWE from 2000-2001, a group focused on combating what he saw as "[[GarbageWrestler gratuitous violence]]" and "unnecessary sexual displays" (such as Rikishi's stink face or Mr. Ass's mooning of the crowd).
63	* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: As Dr. Stevie in TNA. At first his identity was kept secret as Abyss's therapist but when he was revealed it was also shown his "therapy" was highly abusive. He then claimed to be "treating" Daffney of some vaguely defined condition, treatment that seemed to be encouraging the excessively violent behavior he was supposed to be curbing.
64	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Joined the anti Mexican "Right" in Lucha Libre USA after at first being a fairly neutral [[AscendedExtra commentator]].
65	* PowerStable:
66	** (in ECW): Wrestling/RavensNest
67	** (in WCW): Raven's Flock
68	** (in the NWA in New Jersey briefly): Hot Stuff International.
69	** (in WWE): Wrestling/RightToCensor and the Alliance
70	** (in TNA): [=EV 2.0=]
71	** Also the "Blue World Order", which was a parody of a power stable real, the NWO.
72	* PsychoSupporter: For Victoria, though she was one for him as well. A straighter was Dr. Stevie's TNA partnership with Daffney and an even straighter example was when he served as Raven's underling. The latter two even crossed paths when Raven occasionally aligned with Stevie and Daffney.
73	* RealMenWearPink: When he was aligned with Victoria. This was mocked by JR when Stevie was participating in a group beat down on Trish with Victoria and Wrestling/MollyHolly, wondering if the pink made Richards think he was one of the girls.
74	* RecycledSoundtrack: Began using Kronik's entrance music as his own after they were fired from WWE.
75	* RedBaron: "The Original King of Swing," "Dancin'," "Superstar"
76	* TheRival: Raven may have been Wrestling/TommyDreamer's arch enemy, but for obvious reasons, Dreamer has ran afoul of Stevie Richards pretty often. Stevie has also faced Wrestling/SpikeDudley quite a bit. Both are pretty one sided rivalries, they usually beat Richards.
77	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Against Rodney Mack on ''Sunday Night Heat'' for injuring Victoria. It was mostly unsuccessful though.
78	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Abandoned WCW after a loss to Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage on the October 4th (taped October 1), 1997 ''WCW Saturday Night'' with no real storyline explanation. The October 13th ''Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro'' featured a pretaped vignette of Raven talking about his childhood. This was followed by the Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} vs. Wrestling/ScottyRiggs match (4-0.) During the entrances, Raven was shown in the crowd with Wrestling/PerrySaturn and the as-yet-unnamed Sick Boy. Announcer Wrestling/TonySchiavone acknowledged that Richards was not there and said, "Well you know, here today gone tomorrow with Stevie Richards."
79	* SelfServingMemory: In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqAN1aJNb_A this promo]] from the July 4, 1995 ''ECW Hardcore TV'' about he and Raven defeating [[Wrestling/{{TPE}} The Public Enemy]] for the ECW World Tag Team Titles. Stevie claims that he pinned Flyboy Rocco Rock and made it sound like he won the match all by himself. In actuality, the referee got knocked down and The Gangstas (Wrestling/NewJack and Mustafa Saied) ran in and attacked TPE and threw Stevie on top of Johnny Grunge for the pin.
80	* SquashMatch: A tag team squash match he and Raven lost to Shawn Hernandez and Matt Morgan on the first TNA Impact to go live on Monday Nights.
81	* StalkerWithACrush: To Victoria after her face turn.
82	* SummonBiggerFish: Called on the Blue Meanie to finish off Carlito and Rosita in House Of Hardcore (it didn't work)
83	** His bringing Raven into ECW qualifies as well.
84	* TakeThat: Was [[Wrestling/KevinNash "Big Stevie Cool"]] of [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder the bWo]] with Meanie as [[Wrestling/ScottHall "Da Blue Guy"]] and Nova as [[Wrestling/HulkHogan "Hollywood" Nova]].
85	* ThirdPersonPerson: After Luna Vachon made her surprise debut in ECW and sided with Dreamer, Raven, Stevie and Wrestling/{{Beulah McGillicutty}} cut a promo on a beach in Florida where Stevie referenced Wrestling/KevinSullivan {{Summoning\|Ritual}} [[Wrestling/MarkLewin the Purple Haze]] and said that Luna joining Sullivan's stable "ruined Stevie Richards' childhood."
86	* TooDumbToLive
87	** Once offered '''[[Wrestling/TheUndertaker THE UNDERTAKER]]''' membership in Right to Censor. Taker gave him the Last Ride for his efforts.
88	** On a 2003 Raw he called out Wrestling/{{Goldberg}}, who at the time was usually cantankerous because of Wrestling/TripleH's Wrestling/{{Evolution}}.
89	* TookALevelInBadass: A few, especially after he started using the name '''Steven''' Richards in WWE.
90	* TournamentArc: Won the TRP Kowalski Cup 2009 by defeating Jason Blade in the final round. Stevie got a by past the semi finals though.
91	* UnwantedAssistance: Victoria was able to defeat Wrestling/TrishStratus in their "UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} [[GimmickMatches Street Fight]]" on the January 27, 2003 ''Raw'' ''despite'' Richards' attempts to help her (e.g., miscalculating with the fire extinguisher spray.)
92	* VictoriousLoser: At least when it comes to his Wrestling/RightToCensor incarnation. He and his stable may have been viciously hated and humiliated throughout their run but in the long run, with WWE eventually turning PG and removing the more extreme violence, blood, sexual content, and other mature elements, RTC's Steven Richards can be considered to have truly won the censorship war in the long run, even long after Right to Censor ceased to exist as a stable.
93	* WellIntentionedExtremist: His feud with Abyss started with attempting to help him and turned to attempting to put him down when he decided Abyss couldn't be helped and had to be removed from TNA Impact for the good of everyone else.
94	-->"I'm a good guy, I'm trying to help Chris. I spent hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of hours, trying to put together the jigsaw puzzle that was Chris Parks. But then I discovered, this jigsaw puzzle will never ever be put back together. And the saddest part is, and I have to apologize, your sorority sister Wrestling/{{Taylor\|Wilde}} has to be dragged into this Monster's Ball."
95	* TheWorfBarrage: He would sometimes motion to the crowd for a "Stevie sault" but rarely, if ever, actually hit one.
96	* TheWorfEffect: After Chris Masters accidentally broke his face, WWE started airing footage of the damaged Stevie Richards to try and get Masters over. The problem here was that WWE tried to get Masters over with a full nelson, rather than the Polish Hammer which actually did the damage.
97	* WouldHitAGirl
98	** He would attack people Victoria was wrestling if given the chance. One sequence involved him tossing Wrestling/{{Jacqueline}} over the top rope and giving the Stevie T to Trish.
99	** This lead to IWasBeatenByAGirl when Luna defeated him in a cage match at ''ECW Heat Wave 1995''.
100	** ''Wrestling/TerriRunnels'' defeated him for the WWE Hardcore Title. He rolled her up to regain it immediately after.
101	* YouBastard: Steven Richards had faith that you tropers would be spending your free time with your families but instead he found you here, on Website/TVTropes, typing about that deplorable program of gratuitous violence and classless smut known as the WWF. The garbage he so righteously campaigned against in Right to Censor!
102	* YouWannaGetSued: It looked like he was going to lose to Justin Credible, who TNA couldn't actually afford to ''call'' Justin Credible. Justin, rather than just go for his [[NameOfPower That's Incredible]] FinishingMove, Justin decided to yell out his catchphrase, which caused Stevie to jump up and kick him in the face.

Context Wrestling / StevieRichards