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Yes yes .The return of I, THE INSIDER, will see us take a
look at the man who will challenge for the EPW Championship
on February 21st, Richter.
RICHTER
You could call Richter the biggest yo-yo in Australian
wrestling. One minute, he’s going toe to toe with the very
best in this country and the next, he’s down losing to men
who have no right lacing his boots.
So which of these is the real Richter?
The answer is both.
More than just about anyone in EPW, wrestling is a mental
game for this six foot five inch giant. He has such a clear
physical advantage over everyone in EPW but he has never
mastered control over his mind and has tended to severely
suffer from lack of focus.
“In his early days, he had no idea how to use his size to
his advantage,” EPW commentator Lukey Bolland noted. “Over
the years he has learnt to use his size to greater effect
but he has been guilty of lacking a killer instinct.”
Most people in EPW believe he was at his very best in 2004 /
2005. A motivated Richter broke Spike Steele’s wrist on the
way to claiming the EPW Invitational Tournament in
convincing fashion. Although he would fail at his first
attempt to beat Mikey Nicholls for the EPW championship, he
would formulate a brilliant plan that led to him becoming
the champion.
“As dastardly as it was, Richter’s plan was devastatingly
effective,” Lukey stated. “He showed everyone that he wasn’t
just a big goon. He was a very intelligent man whose mind
was a big a weapon as his body.”
Richter should have gone on to become one of the most
dominant EPW champions of all time. Instead, his reign was
cut short by a Mikey Nicholls, a bin and a cricket bat .
“Richter just wasn’t ready for the assault that Mikey came
at him with,” said his close friend, Jose Del Santo. “What
Mikey did that night bordered on the brink of criminality.
He didn’t just defeat Richter. He beat the spirit out of
him.”
For the next three years, Richter wandered through EPW
trying to find his place and self confidence. The beating he
took from Nicholls shattered his confidence and he had
little impact in 2006 and 2007.
2008 appeared to be heading the same way until a bit of
motivation was provided from an unlikely ally. “It was
actually Davis Storm who gave Richter a nudge in the right
direction,” Del Santo claimed. “Bobby Marshall was claiming
that he was the biggest and baddest in EPW. Storm basically
challenged Richter’s pride.”
It appeared that when Richter first started hounding
Marshall, he didn’t even believe that he could beat the then
EPW champion. But when he stood face to face with Marshall,
something changed.
“The way Bobby looked at Richter gave him his confidence
back,” Jose said. “When the very best in Australian
wrestling looks at you with fear in his eyes, that can give
you an amazing confidence boost that money can’t buy.”
With his confidence back, the Richter of old has started to
emerge.
He won the Queens Park Rumble in a dominant display and
although he didn’t win the belt at RE-AWAKENING, he gave
both Storm and Marshall plenty to think about.
“I don’t think it had anything to do with how he performed,”
Lukey stated. “The look on his face after the match said it
all. He didn’t shake Storm’s hand. He was furious. At that
moment, Richter realized something that all the men who have
worn the gold know all too well. Second best doesn’t get to
take the belt home.”
The fire is back. And history has shown that a fired up
Richter is a near impossible task for any one man.
But can he unseat the EPW champion on February 21st?
You’ll have to wait til I, THE INSIDER, return with the
third part of this examination of this huge EPW championship
match.
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