| American Wolves | |
|---|---|
 Eddie Edwards (left) andDavey Richards (right) in April 2015 | |
| Tag team | |
| Members | Davey Richards Eddie Edwards |
| Name(s) | American Pitbulls American Wolves Wolves Sweet 'N' Sour Inc. |
| Combined billed weight | 416 lb (189 kg) |
| Debut | December 26, 2008 (2008-12-26) |
| Years active | 2008–2010 2012–2017 2021–2023 |
TheAmerican Wolves were aprofessional wrestlingtag team which consisted ofDavey Richards andEddie Edwards. They are seven-time world tag team champions being five-timeTNA World Tag Team Champions and two-timeROH World Tag Team Champions.
The two started out as members ofLarry Sweeney'salliance Sweet 'N' Sour Inc., but forged a tag team on their own. As well as being a tag team unit, the two wrestlers have had strong singles careers, with Edwards being ROH's firstWorld Television Champion and the first to complete theTriple Crown Championship after winning theROH World Championship, which he then went on to drop to Richards. They were originally managed by Shane Hagadorn when they portrayedvillainous characters, but later abandoned him to becomefan favorites. They left ROH in 2013, and debuted for TNA in January 2014, winning theTNA World Tag Team Championship a month later.
In April 2008, Eddie Edwards joined Sweet N' Sour Inc and later in June, Davey Richards attacked hisNo Remorse Corps teammateRoderick Strong to join the group. Despite being part of the group, the two teamed together for the first time on September 27 inEngland as part of the independent wrestling supercard,Eve of Indypendence against theBriscoe Brothers.[1] It would not be untilBoxing Day that Edwards and Richards formally wrestled as the American Wolves, unveiled by Sweeney and accompanied by him, competing in a Three-Way Elimination Tag Team match atAll-Star Extravaganza IV. Though they eliminated the European Union (Nigel McGuinness andClaudio Castagnoli), they lost the match after aJay Driller from the Briscoe Brothers.[2] The following day at ROH's annualFinal Battle event they teamed withGo Shiozaki on behalf of Sweet N' Sour Inc only to lose again to Strong,Brent Albright andErick Stevens in aStreet Fight at theHammerstein Ballroom. Later in the evening, the team attacked the Briscoe Brothers, handcuffing Jay to the ropes while attacking Mark as a storyline cover for an injury he had suffered.ROH World Tag Team ChampionsKevin Steen and El Generico came to the Briscoes' aid, with Strong and Albright also helping conquer the Wolves.[3]
The team picked up their first wins in January 2009, beating Strong twice with different partners, Stevens and Jay Briscoe.[4] This earned them a match for the Tag Team Championship against Kevin Steen and El Generico in the main event ofMotor City Madness. During the match Sweeney tried to attackKevin Steen with his boot, but Albright chased him to the back and the champions retained.[5] Two months later, accompanied by stablemateChris Hero in a Six-Man Tag match they beat Steen and Generico who had Bobby Dempsey on their team[4] and earned themselves another championship match atSeventh Anniversary Show. Before then, on March 14, the Wolves attacked Steen's knee atInsanity Unleashed after a title defence; Generico distracted them later in the night causing them to lose their match.[6] On March 21 at the anniversary show, the title match was given a no-disqualification stipulation. During the match Steen sought revenge for his knee injury and attacked Richards' knee with a chair before making him submit to theSharpshooter. After the match the Wolves, with the help of Shane Hagadorn andSara Del Rey from Sweet N' Sour Inc, tied Steen to the ropes and attacked Generico, putting him through a table.[7] With the rivalry escalating, the American Wolves began mocking Steen and Generico on ROH's new weekly television programmeRing of Honor Wrestling, until Steen put their manager Hagadorn through a table.[8] This set up the show's first championship match on April 10 (airing on delay May 30), with the Wolves finally winning the ROH Tag Team Championship in a Tables Are Legal Tag Team match.[9]
Having become the new ROH Tag Team Champions, the American Wolves made their first title defence on April 18 in a matchPro Wrestling Torch rated as the best American independent circuit match of 2009.[10] Defending against former and futureROH World ChampionsBryan Danielson andTyler Black, respectively, the match saw the Wolves working smoothly as a team to combat Danielson and Black's individual prowess ending with the first time-limit draw in an ROH tag team match.[11] Later that month, El Generico underwent anMRI scan that revealed he would need to take time off with a knee injury. This led to Steen choosing Jay Briscoe and later Danielson as his partners in a failed attempt to win back the championships.[4] Finally on June 13, Generico and Steen had their rematch for the championships in a Submission match atManhattan Mayhem III with Generico tapping out to a half-Boston Crab.[12] Later that month Steen and Generico beat the Wolves in a Last Chance Contendership match, giving them a final chance to win back the belts at ROH's premiere event of the yearGlory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown.[4] The night before, Edwards wrestled an Anything Goes match to Steen and broke his elbow but still defended the championship the following night.[13] Because of the length and intensity of the rivalry, it was decided that their final match would be only the secondLadder War in Ring of Honor. During the match, Hagadorn once again handcuffed Kevin Steen to the ropes while the Wolves focused on Generico. After Generico freed Steen, tables were used along with ladders and the match ended with Edwards applying a half-Boston Crab to Generico through the ladder while Richards climbed over his partner to retrieve the belts.[14]
With one rivalry settled, another one quickly reopened as Mark Briscoe had returned from the injury given to him atFinal Battle 2008. A week beforeGlory By Honor VIII, the Briscoes defeated the Wolves but only by disqualification, by which titles do not change hands.[15] Due to Edwards' broken elbow, the rematch was delayed until ROH's first livepay-per-view event,Final Battle 2009. Despite Edwards feigning a reinjured arm, the Wolves lost the match and their titles to the Briscoes, ending their 253-day reign after nine successful defences.[16][17] Going into 2010, the Wolves facedThe Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) on February 8 episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling for a rematch against the Briscoes but lost.[18] Through their manager, Shane Hagadorn, they teamed withThe Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) who he also managed, to defeat the Briscoe Brothers and The Young Bucks atSoCal Showdown. They went on to have a championship match with the Briscoes in the main event ofFrom The Ashes, which they lost.[4]
After this, the two wrestlers began to compete more as solo wrestlers, emphasised by both men entering the tournament for ROH's newly createdROH World Television Championship for theirRing of Honor Wrestling show. Both Richards and Edwards made it through the three-round tournament and into the final against each other, with Edwards defeating Richards to become the inaugural champion.[19] Richards, meanwhile, earned himself into contendership for the ROH World Championship by entering thePick 6 rankings with a win at April'sThe Big Bang! PPV.[4] He used this championship opportunity at the next PPV in July,Death Before Dishonor VIII during which Hagadorn tried to attack his opponent with a chair but Richards declined his help and sent him to the back.[20] Once again, on August 16 episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling, Richards refused Hagadorn's help in a contendership match for Roderick Strong's World Title opportunity and lost while dealing with his manager.[21] Tension mounted through the rest of the year onRing of Honor Wrestling, with Hagadorn taking responsibility for Richards' previous success and trying to control who Edwards defended his World Television Championship against. This led to an in-ring confrontation on November 1 where Richards started attacking Hagadorn only to have the Kings of Wrestling save him before Edwards joined in the fray.[22] This led to a rivalry between the Wolves and the Kings of Wrestling, exacerbated at the2010 Survival of the Fittest tournament, where Edwards defeated Hero in the qualifying match, but dislocated his shoulder in the process. Due to this injury he was taken to the back in the final round; after Castagnoli eliminated three wrestlers, Edwards returned and helpedKenny King eliminate Castagnoli before eliminating King himself to win the competition and a future ROH World Championship match.[23][24] On March 19, 2011 atManhattan Mayhem IV, Edwards defeated defending champion Roderick Strong to win theROH World Championship for the first time.[25][26] On June 26, 2011, atBest in the World 2011, Richards defeated Edwards to win his first ROH World Championship.[27]
The American Wolves reunited on December 16, 2012, atFinal Battle 2012: Doomsday, where they defeatedBobby Fish andKyle O'Reilly in a tag team match.[28] Following their win, the American Wolves received a shot at the ROH World Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by the defending champions, the Briscoe Brothers, on January 18, 2013.[29] At All Star Extravaganza V the American Wolves defeated theForever Hooligans (Alex Koslov andRocky Romero) to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the second time.[30] They lost the title toreDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) on August 17.[31] On September 20 atDeath Before Dishonor XI, the American Wolves unsuccessfully challenged the Forever Hooligans forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling'sIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.[32] The American Wolves' run in ROH came to an end on November 30, when Richards announced he had parted ways with the promotion.[33]
After being awarded Wrestling Observer's Tag Team of the Year award for 2009, other promotions sought out the Wolves in 2010. In March, German promotionWestside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) held an event inPhiladelphia and the Wolves were given a match for the wXw World Tag Team Championship. They lost to reigning champions The Switchblade Conspiracy (Jon Moxley andSami Callihan).[34]
They were also invited to Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW) on April 2 to compete for the 2CW Tag Team Championship. AtLiving On The Edge they defeated the incumbent champions, Up In Smoke (Cheech and Cloudy) to start their reign.[35] After holding the championship for four months, atLive or Let Die on August 22, they lost the championship to The Olsen Twins (Colin Delaney andJimmy Olsen).[36]
On January 1, 2011 The American Wolves came to Insanity Pro Wrestling (IPW) forShowdown In Naptown to face theIrish Airborne team of Dave and Jake Crist. Although they lost the match, Richards congratulated Irish Airborne on the victory, and invited them to ROH for a rematch.[37]
The following month,Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) announced that Edwards would make his debut for the promotion as part of theDDT4 tournament on March 4.[38] In the first round of the tag team tournament the Wolves defeated the RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma), before losing in the semifinals of the tournament to eventual winnersThe Young Bucks.[39]
On November 18, 2013, Edwards and Richards began a week-long tryout withWWE at theWWE Performance Center inOrlando, Florida.[40] Three days later, they made theirNXT debut, losing toNXT Tag Team ChampionsThe Ascension (Konnor andViktor) in a non-title match, while billed as "The American Pitbulls" of Derek Billington (Richards) and John Cahill (Edwards).[41][42]
On November 7, 2014, atAAW A Monster's Rage, The American Wolves made theirAll American Wrestling debuts as a team defeatingChris Sabin andMichael Elgin.[43] Later that month on November 29, they returned to AAW losing toEthan Page andJosh Alexander.
On January 16, 2014, Edwards and Richards appeared in the first week ofGenesis special ofImpact Wrestling as The Wolves. As part of their debut storyline, they revealed they had signed contracts with a new investor in TNA in a backstage segment withDixie Carter; the investor was later revealed to beMVP.[44][45] The Wolves made their in-ring debut in a six-man tag team match, teaming withSamoa Joe to defeatThe BroMans (Jessie Godderz andRobbie E) andZema Ion.[46] On February 23, The Wolves won theTNA World Tag Team Championship for the first time by defeating The BroMans.[47] After a week-long reign, The Wolves lost the championship back to The BroMans atWrestle-1'sKaisen: Outbreak event inTokyo,Japan in a three-way match, which also included Team 246 (Kaz Hayashi andShuji Kondo).[48] On April 27 at theSacrifice pay-per-view, The Wolves regained the championship by defeating Robbie E, Godderz, andDJ Z in atwo-on-three handicap match.[49] On June 15, 2014 atSlammiversary XII, The Wolves competed in a six-way ladder match forTNA X Division Championship, which was won bySanada.[50] On June 26, 2014, atDestination X, The Wolves defeatedThe Hardys to retain theTNA World Tag Team Championships.[51] The Wolves returned to Wrestle-1 on July 6, successfully defending the TNA World Tag Team Championship against the Junior Stars (Koji Kanemoto andMinoru Tanaka),[52][53] At theImpact Wrestling tapings on September 19, Edwards and Richards lost the championship toThe Revolution (James Storm andAbyss), but regained the title from the pairing on January 30, 2015.[54][55] After Edwards suffered a broken heel in February 2015, The Wolves vacated the championship on March 13.[56]
On their return, The Wolves faced Dirty Heels to a Best of 5 Series matches for the Tag Team Championships. The Wolves won the first 2 matches and Dirty Heels won the next two. At Slammiversary, Aries defeated Richards, so he choose the stipulation for the last match of the series, a 30 minutestag teamiron man match. On June 25, 2015 (aired July 1) The Wolves defeated Dirty Heels to win the Tag Team Titles. With this victory, The Wolves shared with Beer Money the record of most reigns, with four. They lost the title toBrian Myers andTrevor Lee on July 28, 2015 tapings of Impact Wrestling (aired September 2)[57] only to regain it the next week on September 9 episode ofImpact Wrestling, becoming a five time TNA World Tag Team Champions.[58] AtBound for Glory, The Wolves retained their tag team championship in the rematch against Brian Myers and Trevor Lee. During October and November (taped in July), Both Edwards and Richards participated in theTNA World Title Series as one of the Group Tag Team Specialists, where Richards and Edwards faced each other in the match which resulted a time limit draw with the two partners receiving 1 point. meanwhile Richards facedMatt Hardy only into the losing effort while Edwards was unsuccessful in qualifying of other matches and didn't make it to the round of 16. However, Richards himself receive 4 points by defeatingRobbie E to advance the round of 16 when he defeatedBram and then however he did not make it to semifinals when he was later defeated byEthan Carter III and was therefore eliminated from the tournament afterwards. AtOne Night Only Live. The Wolves defended their world tag titles in theThree-way tag team match againstKurt Angle andDrew Galloway andEli Drake andJessie Godderz which saw the Wolves retained the titles. On the January 26 edition of Impact Wrestling, The Wolves was attacked by the newest stable called TheDecay consisting of Abyss,Crazzy Steve and the debutingRosemary and stole the titles. however he retained the titles from them on the February 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, the following week, The Wolves continue the feud and challenge them to a hardcoreMonster's Ball match which was won by the Decay. On the March 8 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Wolves dropped the titles toBeer Money, Inc. (James Storm andBobby Roode).
In March, Richards suffered an ACL injury and Edwards started his singles run by feuding withTNA X Division ChampionTrevor Lee. In July atDestination X, Richards was seen on a TNA broadcast for the first time in months, when he joined Edwards at ringside in a run-in with TNA World Heavyweight ChampionLashley in the build-up to their match later that evening. Richards confirmed on the broadcast that he was there to support Edwards in his landmark match, although was still "A way off being in a condition to compete." Eddie's match resulted in a no-contest whenMike Bennett interfered in the match flooring the referee and then invited new signee to TNA,Moose to the ring, who had a confrontation with Lashley.
On January 5, 2017, Richards made his return to TNA, helping Edwards retain theTNA World Heavyweight Championship, by stopping Lashley from hitting Edwards with the title.[59] Richards faced Lashley on January 6, 2017 atOne Night Only: Live in a losing effort. On the February 9 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Richards turnedheel by costing Edwards' his TNA World Heavyweight Championship rematch against Lashley. Afterwards, Richards and his wifeAngelina Love attacked Edwards and his wifeAlisha Edwards, thus ending The Wolves in the process.[60] Richards' character then went through a complete transformation, sporting new theme music, trunks, being infatuated with Love and calling himself "The Lone Wolf".[60] On the February 16 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Richards faced Edwards in a Street Fight, however the match ended in a no-contest. On the March 9 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Richards brawled with Edwards at the beginning of the show, but the two were separated by security guards. On the April 6 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Richards defeated Edwards in a Last Man Standing Match. AtSlammiversary XV, Eddie Edwards and Alisha Edwards defeated Davey Richards and Angelina Love in aFull Metal Mayhem match, ending the feud.
On October 30, 2021, Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards reunited as The American Wolves at the Tales From The Ring event produced by The Wrestling Revolver, where they defeated Infrared (Logan James and Tyler Matrix) to win the PWR Tag Team Championship.[61][62] At Ric Flair's Last Match, The Wolves lost to the Motor City Machine Guns.
