The American Wolves Reporting to Performance Center for Extended Trial

[The Dragon Saga]

Via PWInsider Elite section:

The American Wolves, Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards reported today to the WWE Performance Center. We are told that they will be in Orlando, Florida for a week-long tryout.

As previously reported in the Elite section of PWInsider.com, there have been some in WWE who have pushed for the pair to be signed despite some resistance from those who feel the company is currently stocked with good workers from the independent scene.

One WWE source believed the one week tryout could be stage one of the pair receiving a short-term trial deal that would send them to developmental for a few months.

As we are being told neither Richards or Edwards are interested in signing for TNA. They did consider it but with TNA's pay structure they could stay in ROH and make more money.

No news on Roderick Strong other than him admitting in an interview over the weekend how he'd like to face AJ Styles again someday but in the context of the question he probably mean't in an ROH ring. Roderick is still under ROH contract.

From Bryan Alvarez at F4WOnline:

The American Wolves story takes yet another turn. Today the former two time ROH World Tag Team Champions have reported to WWE's Performance Center for an extended week long trial, the first of its kind. WWE have never previously given extended trials but with so many inside the company fighting for them to be signed an extended second look was needed.

The Wolves aren't interested in TNA, no word on if NOAH or NJPW have had discussions but ROH still have a contract on the table so if this doesn't work out don't be surprised to see them stick with where their good. Davey has been cutting promos alluding to Final Battle being a literal term but I've been told that isn't so much fact as it is him getting a bit ahead of himself. Richards has never been one to hide confidence in his own ability.

With some in WWE still interested, Edwards still listed as a touring member for NOAH, Richards scheduled to face Taiji Ishimori for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship next month, ROH contracts still available and TNA's part in this seemingly all but done, nobody seems to be in more demand than The American Wolves.

As a big ROH fan I'm actually getting tired of this. Davey is one of my favorite wrestlers, I'm a fan of Eddie Edwards, but for the love of Christ either your staying or your going. Luckily it doesn't seem their bound for TNA which is the one destination I didn't want them to end up in so that's a positive but aside from that, I hope they do well during the next week in Florida. Whether they sign or they don't and stick with ROH, I could care less at this point.

 

[The Eighties]

I still hope they sign with WWE, they are an excellent tag team and would add quality and depth to the revitalized tag division.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

We'll, Richards vs Ishimori should be fun at least lol.

I don't think Richards fits in the WWE. He's always seemed like a guy who was more a mark paying tribute to his favorites than a worker manipulating a crowd. Punk, Daniel Bryan, guys like that I've always seen them adjusting their style to get over in front of different audiences. I've never really seen Richards do that. I hope I'm wrong because he has the ability to do great things.

 

[Kidpolean]

I wouldn't get to excited about this. Now before everyone starts bashing me at least try to understand what I am about to say.

These guys, like so many other Indie guys, dont know how to work a match. The style they wrestle involves no ring psychology at all, the pacing is terrible, they do unrealistic moves, high spot after high spot, no sell everything and there matches just don't make sense. The very small amount of wrestling fans, mainly the IWC, that like the style isn't enough to get them over in wwe. Indie fans really ruin wrestlers chances of making it big because they prefer and only cheer for that one style that doesn't translate to wwe. Sure I enjoy that style every once in a while but the indies is full of guys that do that every match. This makes the indie guys all exactly the same. If you combine that with the fact that they have zero mic skills, you get two useless undersized guys. Im not saying that they are not talented, Im saying that there pro wrestling and wwe pro wrestling is almost two completely different things. They should stay in the indies or ROH because they will not succeed in the wwe.

 

[Sweettre15]

I wouldn't get to excited about this. Now before everyone starts bashing me at least try to understand what I am about to say.

These guys, like so many other Indie guys, dont know how to work a match. The style they wrestle involves no ring psychology at all, the pacing is terrible, they do unrealistic moves, high spot after high spot, no sell everything and there matches just don't make sense. The very small amount of wrestling fans, mainly the IWC, that like the style isn't enough to get them over in wwe. Indie fans really ruin wrestlers chances of making it big because they prefer and only cheer for that one style that doesn't translate to wwe. Sure I enjoy that style every once in a while but the indies is full of guys that do that every match. This makes the indie guys all exactly the same. If you combine that with the fact that they have zero mic skills, you get two useless undersized guys. Im not saying that they are not talented, Im saying that there pro wrestling and wwe pro wrestling is almost two completely different things. They should stay in the indies or ROH because they will not succeed in the wwe.

This is what NXT is for.....It helps them fix their "bad habits" and develop characters that fit them. Take for example PAC aka Adrian Neville, the guy used to be notorious for being a spot monkey but has learned how to actually put on a good match. Same thing can happen with the American Wolves. Plus since they are hopefully going to be brought in as a Tag Team then that means that while they might not be able to make it alone, they can potentially do well together as a team.

 

[Kidpolean]

This is what NXT is for.....It helps them fix their "bad habits" and develop characters that fit them. Take for example PAC aka Adrian Neville, the guy used to be notorious for being a spot monkey but has learned how to actually put on a good match. Same thing can happen with the American Wolves. Plus since they are hopefully going to be brought in as a Tag Team then that means that while they might not be able to make it alone, they can potentially do well together as a team.

I understand that that is what NXT is for but WWE could find younger guys that have mic skills and teach them how to wrestle which would be better than signing The Wolves. Why bring in these guys if you are just going to change them?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I wouldn't get to excited about this. Now before everyone starts bashing me at least try to understand what I am about to say.

These guys, like so many other Indie guys, dont know how to work a match. The style they wrestle involves no ring psychology at all, the pacing is terrible, they do unrealistic moves, high spot after high spot, no sell everything and there matches just don't make sense. The very small amount of wrestling fans, mainly the IWC, that like the style isn't enough to get them over in wwe. Indie fans really ruin wrestlers chances of making it big because they prefer and only cheer for that one style that doesn't translate to wwe. Sure I enjoy that style every once in a while but the indies is full of guys that do that every match. This makes the indie guys all exactly the same. If you combine that with the fact that they have zero mic skills, you get two useless undersized guys. Im not saying that they are not talented, Im saying that there pro wrestling and wwe pro wrestling is almost two completely different things. They should stay in the indies or ROH because they will not succeed in the wwe.

While I don't necessarily agree with them not knowing how to work a match, I do agree that they're a couple of guys who live & die by high spots frequently. Doesn't mean they can't work other styles or anything. That's all well & good on the indie scene but that sort of style will definitely wear your body out in a short period of time working WWE's intense schedule. I remember reading a report earlier this year in which Sami Zayn was asked to cut down on the high spots because of that very reason. He wasn't asked to stop doing them, just to not pack so many of them into his matches.

If they do spend any time in NXT, some will immediately rush to condemn WWE for not putting them on the main roster immediately. They're a couple of young, athletic guys who can put on entertaining matches and while some people sometimes laugh at the notion of WWE wanting to break guys of "bad habits" from the indie scene, you have to look at the reverse. If Richards & Edwards popped up on the main roster this coming Monday on Raw doing things as they've always done, how long would it be before they were labeled as spot monkeys by a lot of fans? As a result, they wouldn't be taken all that seriously in the long run. As I alluded to earlier, how long would it be until they physically burned themselves out?

Rey Mysterio is a great example of someone that came into American wrestling with the high flying, spot filled style of a Luchadore. Most American fans hadn't really seen it before and it was highly entertaining. Yet, over the course of the past 4 or 5 years, it's most certainly caught up with him as he's had numerous problems with his knees and multiple surgeries. As a result, he's had to alter his style quite a bit to include more storytelling and less high spots. Rey turns 39 in less than a month, but he was probably about 34 or so when he really started to have issues with his knees. Richards is 30 and Edwards turns 30 around the end of December. They're still very young men and WWE is a company that ultimately wants to get the most time out of anybody they sign. One way of doing that is by cutting back on the high spots.

 

[Sweettre15]

I understand that that is what NXT is for but WWE could find younger guys that have mic skills and teach them how to wrestle which would be better than signing The Wolves. Why bring in these guys if you are just going to change them?

Not a matter of radically changing them, basically get them to improve their selling and storytelling while limiting the use of their high spots.

As for promo abilities, everyone in NXT has promo class which gives them time to adapt and find their characters. If they brought someone in and taught them how to wrestle from scratch without atleast an athletic background it's a bit more difficult because they'd have to develop the instincts more by working with legends since they'd be strictly homegrown. It would be a lot harder to work through the greenness. It can be done but it's more work involved.