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WWE Superstars - Extremists
Stevie Richards
Stevie Richards ECW #3 Action Figure-$12.99 USD
Michael Manna (born October 9, 1971) is an American professional wrestler performing for World Wrestling Entertainment's ECW brand.
Best known by his ring name, Steven "Stevie" Richards, Manna has previously worked for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and, briefly, World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
Steven Richards had the honor of being one of the participants in the first ever ECW match, in a 20-minute time limit draw with Jimmy Jannetty.
Before the arrival of Raven in ECW, "Dancin'" Stevie Richards had a 'meta-gimmick' of mockingly adopting the persona of other wrestlers.
ECW announcer/color commentator Joey Styles frequently described the Richards character as a "clueless putz".
When it was announced that Scott Levy, then known by relatively lightweight gimmicks (ie, Scotty 'the Body' Anthony, Scotty Flamingo, and Johnny Polo), was coming to ECW, Richards began adopting and mocking those gimmicks. One of the first things Levy did in ECW in his new gimmick as Raven was thrash "Stevie Flamingo" soundly.
From that point out, Steven Richards acted as a flunkie for Raven in ECW, calling him "Boss".
After a dog collar match against The Pitbulls, which Richards lost, Stevie was thought of as a major superstar. Raven was in the locker room for most of that match.
Richards was also part of the bWo, a parody of the nWo. At one point, he hinted that he was bringing the band KISS to perform. It ended up being the bWo in KISS regalia, lip-synching. This was quickly 'cleaned up' by The Sandman.
The highlight of his ECW career was perhaps participating in the main event of the first ECW pay-per-view, Barely Legal. He wrestled Terry Funk and The Sandman in a Three Way Dance to determine the number one contender to the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
Richards would also do a telephone line for ECW under the name, Lloyd Van Buren. However, he would not wrestle under that name.
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