SWN Meets… Jonathan Richards

23031177_499657527099421_2875951817330848616_n — Photo credit David J Wilson

Welcome to another interview right here on the Scottish Wrestling Network. Today, we had the chance to speak to “The Fabulous One” Jonathan Richards ahead of his upcoming match against former Goss Dynasty ally Dickie Divers on June 1st. That match will see both the Reckless Intent Heavyweight and UK Championships up for grabs, providing quite the opportunity for Jonathan come Saturday night.

Hi Jonathan, thank you for allowing me to interview you for SWN. We’ll start things off with a few basic questions – what was it that initially got you invested in professional wrestling?

Simple answer really. It was the storytelling, the larger than life characters, the drama, the action. One of the first matches I ever watched was Roddy Piper vs Goldust in the Hollywood Backlot Brawl. If that isn’t the perfect example as to how wonderfully crazy wrestling is, I’m not sure what other match is.

Who were your favourites to watch growing up, and who are your favourites to watch now?

Growing up I loved Mick Foley, Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Vince and Shane McMahon… too many to mention. Nowadays, I love watching any form of wrestling, though one in particular I go out of my way to watch just now is PCO. Such a brilliant gimmick and inspiring story, he’s probably my favourite person to watch in wrestling these days. I would love to get to share a ring with him in the next few years.

What made you decide to start your training?

I always wanted to get into training but never thought it was possible. After a few personal tragedies, I decided life was too short and decided to make a go of it. Got fit and started at the PBW Academy in 2013, rest is history.

A few weeks ago, it marked five years since your first training session at the PBW Academy under the tutelage of Kid Fite. What was it that made you choose the PBW Academy as the place you wanted to train?

Honestly, before I started, it was a tough choice between Source and PBW due to the amount of talent that has come through both schools. But I went with PBW as the amount of talent that Kid Fite has helped craft in the last decade; Noam Dar, Kay Lee Ray, Andy Wild, Kenny Williams among others, I decided that this would have been the right place for me.

As a product of the PBW Academy, it meant you were coming through the ranks with a whole host of other talent. I believe Krieger and Emily Hayden debuted out of the academy around about the same time you had your first training session. Did you find it difficult at all to try and stand out from all the amazing talent that was (and still is) coming through the school?

It was always difficult for me in the beginning. You can ask anyone from PBW back then, and instead of being seen as a ‘one to watch’, I was seen as an unfit goof who was wasting his time and struggled to get round the basics. I had plenty of fellow students tell me week in and week out that I should call it a day and that wrestling wasn’t for me. But I managed to not stand out through my will. Despite the naysayers, I managed to stick in at it, made sure I debuted and now I’m sitting with a CV that has me listed as working for 20+ companies across 4 countries and in a few days, I wrestle Dickie Divers for one of the top titles in Scottish wrestling, the Reckless Intent Heavyweight Championship.

You’ve wrestled for quite a few promotions in your time, including Discovery Wrestling, All Star Wrestling, Caithness Pro Wrestling, and World Wide Wrestling League. Are there any other promotions you’d like to add to that list?

I’m fortunate that I have managed to wrestle in most of the major companies in Scotland. Would love to wrestle back on PBW in the near future. One company I would love to work for is Source; the talent coming out of there is excellent and there are a few people there that are on my “to wrestle” list.

Now, on June 1st in Livingston, you have quite a huge task presented in front of you, the biggest of your career. You’ll challenge Dickie Divers with both the Reckless Intent Wrestling Heavyweight and UK Championship up for grabs. How are you preparing, both mentally and physically, for this huge match?

Physically, I’ve been trying to add new moves into my arsenal so I can catch him off guard. Mentally, same as it has been last few years. People are saying I can’t do it, well I’m going to show them that I can. Simple as.

For almost the entirety of your Reckless Intent Wrestling career thus far, you had been working alongside Dickie Divers, Jack Morris, and a handful of others. Did you ever find it hard at all working alongside these men? With Divers as the champion and Morris as the gifted athlete, some fans maybe looked at you as ‘that other lad’.

Every time. It is is no question that The Nine9 are incredible talent. They have been on ICW, SWA and Discovery in the last couple of months. Their attitudes however are egotistical. I was never once thanked for my work, never once was asked to help them out anywhere else they were, and then they thought they could get rid of me on a small online video, think I was just going to walk away and never mention me again? That was their real mistake, because Divers tried to take the one thing I love away from me. I plan on taking the only thing he loves away from him too and that is the Undisputed RI Title.

A few weeks ago, Dickie Divers and Jack Morris made it clear that they no longer deemed you worthy enough to be associated with them, and kicked you to the curb. What was your initial reaction upon your so-called allies showing their true colours?

Honestly, I should’ve seen it coming. Divers has a history of getting rid of his allies when he feels they are no longer required. I felt defeated, I felt so low on the totem pole that I was going to pack it in altogether. But now, I’m now more motivated than ever before. I feel more motivated now than I ever did when I first started training. You can expect this title match between me and Divers to get “bowling shoe ugly”.

You’ve had some pretty big opportunities throughout your career up to this point, including entering the inaugural Disco Derby Match and being part of the recent match to crown the inaugural Respect Pro Tag Team Champions, but this is undoubtedly your biggest match to date. Do you feel as if people don’t give you enough recognition when it comes to these big situations?

I wouldn’t say that. I think I have done much better than even I thought I would do in wrestling, so anytime an opportunity like this arises, not only am I extremely grateful but as a close friend of mine has said, I take the ball and I just run with it. When I become RI Undisputed Champion, that will be no different.

If you win the championships, what will be the first thing you do as the top guy in Reckless Intent?

First things first, I’m going to get me a kickass picture of me holding the two belts and get it framed. Second, I’m going to open up the flood gates for challengers. I’ll give people within Reckless Intent a fair and honest title shot, but I’ll call that I will defend those titles against any member of any wrestling school; Reckless Intent, PBW, Source, GPWA, Respect Pro, male or female. I will defend them against ANYONE and EVERYONE.

Where do you see yourself in five years time?

Still wrestling, and still being happy doing so.

Where can fans find you on social media?

On Twitter, I’m under @JonRichardsFab1, on Instagram I’m JonRichardsRI and Facebook I have my Jonathan Richards Facebook page for all upcoming appearances.

Finally, why do you hate Lucha DS as much as you do?

I have no reason to hate Lucha DS. He’s one of my best friends in and out of wrestling. I just do.

Our thanks to Jonathan for taking the time to chat to us.

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If you’d like to see the battle between former allies over the two richest prizes on offer in Reckless Intent, tickets to this Saturday’s show at the Murieston Scout Hall in Livingston are still available from www.reckless-intent.com, priced between £7.50-12.50 for a ringside ticket and between £5-10 for a general admission ticket. Family tickets are also on sale for £25. Doors at the hall open at 6:15pm, with the action kicking off from 7pm. Also currently announced for the event is the following;