Background and career
Michael Stephen Manna (born October 9, 1971), better known by his ring name Stevie Richards, is an American media personality and retired professional wrestler. Since June 2024, Richards has hosted The Stevie Richards Show, presented by co-host James Romero on the WSI Network. Over the course of his career, Richards has performed for major professional wrestling promotions including Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Ring of Honor. Championships held by Richards include the ECW World Tag Team Championship, the WWE Hardcore Championship (21 times), the NWA National Heavyweight Championship and the Extreme Rising World Championship.
Michael Manna trained as a professional wrestler under Jimmy Jannetty at Mike Sharpe's wrestling school in Brick Township, New Jersey. He wrestled his first match on February 25, 1992, for the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance as "Stevie Richards", facing Jannetty. He wrestled a handful of matches for Eastern Championship Wrestling before spending two years working on the independent circuit for seasoning.
Richards returned to Eastern Championship Wrestling on June 26, 1994, as "Steve Richards" (later tweaked to "Stevie Richards") in a preliminary wrestling role. His first televised appearance was on the June 28, 1994, episode of NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling, teaming with Hack Meyers in a loss to Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk. Shortly after his return, Richards was given a valet, Angel. In addition to his in-ring role, Richards answered calls to the ECW hotline under the pseudonym "Lloyd Van Buren". At Heatwave '94: the Battle for the Future on July 16, 1994, Richards lost to Tommy Dreamer. In late-1994, he developed an "identity crisis", performing under the ring names "Stevie Flamingo", "Stevie the Body", and "Stevie Polo"—all references to former ring names used by Scott Levy in World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation. After sustaining another loss to Dreamer, Richards became irate and claimed he would present "the real Johnny Polo". On the January 7, 1995, episode of ECW Hardcore TV, Levy—now known as "Raven"—made his ECW debut, with Richards as the first member of Raven's Nest, Raven's stable of lackeys. As a member of Raven's Nest, Richards began wearing jean shorts and half shirts for glam metal bands such as Cinderella, Nelson, Poison and Winger. His behavior attracted the scorn of commentator Joey Styles, who repeatedly described him as a "clueless putz" and referred to his attending the Blue Oyster Bar, a (fictional) gay bar. Immediately upon debuting in ECW, Raven began feuding with Dreamer. On April 8, 1995, at Three Way Dance, Raven revealed that he and Dreamer had attended summer camp together as teenagers, where Raven slept with Beulah McGillicutty, an overweight girl with acne who had been spurned by Dreamer. Richards then revealed that he had tracked down McGillicutty, who was now a Penthouse model, who also harbored a grudge against Dreamer. Later that night, Raven wrestled Dreamer for the first time, defeating him following interference from both Richards and McGillicutty. The feud between Raven and Dreamer would continue for another two years, with Dreamer constantly unable to pin Raven. In May 1995 at Enter the Sandman, Dreamer introduced Luna Vachon to ECW to counter the continual interference from Richards and Raven's Nest. On June 30, 1995, at Mountain Top Madness, Raven and Richards defeated The Public Enemy to win the ECW World Tag Team Championship. At Hardcore Heaven on July 1, 1995, Raven and Richards defeated Dreamer and Vachon in a tag team match. Two weeks later at Heatwave '95: Rage in the Cage!, Vachon defeated Richards in a cage match. In the summer of 1995, an unnamed woman began appearing in the audience during Richards' matches. On August 26, 1995, Richards introduced her to Joey Styles as his girlfriend, Francine. Francine began accompanying to Richards to ringside, but tensions quickly arose between her and McGillicutty. On August 26, 1995, McGillicutty defeated Francine after Richards turned on her by super kicking her at the behest of Raven. Francine subsequently aligned herself with The Pitbulls, helping them defeat Raven and Richards for the ECW World Tag Team Championship at Gangstas Paradise on September 16, 1995. Raven and Richards regained the titles from The Pitbulls on October 7, 1995 at South Philly Jam, only to lose them to The Public Enemy later that evening. At November to Remember on November 18, 1995, Richards introduced a lackey of his own, The Blue Meanie. Over the following year, Richards and The Blue Meanie would perform numerous parodies of other wrestlers, including "Baron von Stevie" and "Colonel DeMeanie"; "Lord Stevie" and "Sir Meanie"; "Stevie Alexander Bagwell" and "Meanie Riggs"; and "Flyboy Stevie Rock" and "Meanie Grunge". In late 1995, Richards received another lackey, Super Nova. During the opening of Holiday Hell on December 29, 1995, Richards received a kiss from Missy Hyatt, who was seated at ringside, after claiming he could get her "a date with Raven" in return. Later that evening, Richards and The Blue Meanie were squashed by Dreamer in consecutive matches. Dreamer went on to face Raven, who defeated him yet again after repeated interference from Richard and The Blue Meanie. At House Party on January 5, 1996, Richards attempted to kiss McGillicutty, who refused, eventually announcing that she was pregnant. After Raven angrily confronted McGillicutty, she informed him that he was not the father, causing Raven to attack Richards. McGillicutty then revealed that Tommy Dreamer was the father, with Dreamer storming the ring and beating down Raven, Richards and The Blue Meanie. On February 3, 1996, at Big Apple Blizzard Blast, Richards announced that he was suing Missy Hyatt—who had aligned herself with The Sandman—for sexual harassment (a reference to Hyatt's lawsuit against her former employer, World Championship Wrestling). On June 1, 1996, at Fight the Power he served Hyatt by stuffing a summons into her cleavage. The angle concluded at Natural Born Killaz on August 24, 1996, when Richards offered to drop the lawsuit if Hyatt would insult The Sandman. After Hyatt complied, The Sandman caned her, breaking their alliance. In August 1996, Richards, The Blue Meanie, Super Nova and Don E. Allen parodied the rock band Kiss at The Doctor Is In as "Stevie Stanley", "Meanie Simmons", "Nova Frehley", and "Don E. Criss" respectively. At the same event, Richards substituted for Raven in his ECW World Heavyweight Championship title defense against The Sandman, with Raven entering the ring at the end of the match and pinning The Sandman. Later that month, Richards took part in ECW's first tour of Japan, defeating Keizo Matsuda in a bout in Korakuen Hall as well as helping Raven defend his title against Tommy Dreamer. The relationship between Raven and Richards began to deteriorate in late 1996. At Ultimate Jeopardy on October 5, 1996, Raven was scheduled to team with Brian Lee against Dreamer and The Sandman in a match with Raven's ECW World Heavyweight Championship on the line. After Raven was announced as being unable to compete, Richards substituted for him, with Raven losing his title after The Sandman pinned Richards. Upon his return, Raven blamed Richards for the loss. At "High Incident" on October 26, 1996, Richards was involved in one of ECW's most controversial angles, with Raven's Nest "crucifying" The Sandman by tying him to a cross and placing a crown made of barbed wire on his head. The angle, which was widely criticised as being in poor taste, led to Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle severing his links with ECW and delayed the promotion's debut on pay-per-view.
At November to Remember on November 16, 1996, Richards debuted the Blue World Order (bWo), a comedy stable parodying the New World Order (nWo) in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Richards began performing as "Big Stevie Cool", a reference to nWo member Kevin Nash, formerly "Big Daddy Cool". Later that night, Richards inadvertently superkicked Raven during his ECW World Heavyweight Championship bout against The Sandman. The tensions between Raven and Richards continued to build until, on December 28, 1996, Richards turned on Raven by superkicking him during a match with The Sandman. At House Party in January 1997, Richards once again superkicked Raven. At "Crossing the Line Again" on February 1, 1997, Raven scored an upset victory over "Dr. Death" Steve Williams after interference from Richards backfired. At CyberSlam on February 22, 1997, Richards and the bWo came to the ring to berate Raven and Brian Lee, who had given a concussion to Terry Funk. After Lee chokeslammed Richards, Tommy Dreamer, and The Sandman entered the ring, eventually fighting off Raven and Lee. Dreamer then helped Richards to his feet and the two shook hands, marking an end to their lengthy rivalry. As part of an agreement between ECW and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Richards and several other ECW wrestlers appeared on February 24, 1997, episode of Raw is War, with Richards defeating Little Guido. At Hostile City Showdown on March 15, 1997, Richards faced Raven and Dreamer in a three-way dance for Raven's ECW World Heavyweight Championship. The match was won by Raven. At ECW's first pay-per-view, Barely Legal on April 13, 1997, Richards faced Terry Funk and The Sandman in a triple threat match, with the winner facing Raven for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in the main event. The match was won by Funk, who went on to defeat Raven. On May 1, 1997, episode of ECW Hardcore TV, a controversial angle took place in which a morose Raven confronted Richards, telling him he had one final "mission" for him. Raven then attacked Richards before begging him to "end my pain". At The Buffalo Invasion on May 11, 1997, Raven and Richards reformed their tag team to face Dreamer and Funk, with Richards pinning Funk despite bickering with Raven throughout the match. In the main event, Raven, Richards, Funk, and The Sandman faced one another in a four-way elimination match for Funk's ECW World Heavyweight Championship. During the match, Raven DDT'ed both Funk and The Sandman and then demanded that Richards pin them and then lay down for him. Richards refused, instead super kicking Raven and enabling Funk and The Sandman to pin him. During the match, Richards suffered a neck injury when Funk slammed the metal guardrail onto his back and neck. Shortly thereafter, he announced his retirement from professional wrestling, making his final appearance with ECW on the May 29, 1997, episode of ECW Hardcore TV.
Richards broke his retirement upon signing a contract with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in mid-1997. He made his WCW debut on the July 13, 1997, episode of WCW Monday Nitro, confronting Raven, who had also just signed with WCW. At Clash of the Champions XXXV on August 21, 1997, Raven defeated Richards in a no disqualification match. In September 1997, Richards rejoined Raven, sitting with him in the audience during WCW events. He left WCW in November 1997.
After leaving WCW, Richards wrestled a handful of matches for ECW in December 1997, defeating Chris Chetti at Better Than Ever, before returning to the independent circuit, where he primarily competed in the northeastern United States.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
