|
|
Part Two of an Interview conducted by Tom Misnik of www.ecwnews.com and www.1wrestling.com with the former ECW World Heavyweight champion and now leader of the “Dead Pool” in WCW, Raven. This interview was conducted Saturday morning, Aug 7th, 1999 at the Franklin Mills Mall in Northeast Philadelphia, PA.
We ended part one as Franklin Mills Security came in to check on the make of Raven’s car and where it was parked, so they would be able to make sure he could make an easy exit.
Misnik: “Now, then, circling back to your getting Paul Wight into the Monster Factory….”
Raven:”
I didn’t get him in there, I lost touch with him cause I really had my
own problems. I really couldn’t help him. That was his first introduction
to really, you know, finally go out and seek the business.
I can’t
take any credit. I take zero credit. I have no credit whatsoever. But its
just funny that I was there in his beginning and then I even went down
to the Monster Factory with him one day to work out just so I could teach
him how to lock up. Probably the most underestimated move in the business
is the lock up.”
Misnik: “Really?”
Raven:”Almost
no body can do it right. There is only about 10 people who know how to
lock up correctly.
DDP. Bobby
Eaton, I mean most lock ups are absolutely terrible. I am that big of a
purist of the sport that I hate lousy lockups. I mean, well really, that’s
crap. Umm, I’m that big a nitpicker. But I mean and to me it’s the initial
thing that you see first, you know what I mean. Brad Armstrong’s always
been a good lock-er-up-er-er. Anyway, maybe he should be locked up. Umm,
be that as it may.”
Misnik:” Yeah, it seems like Jesse James (Road Dogg) is the only Armstrong that seems to have made it”
Raven:” Oh he’s a hell of a … what a seller. Just tremendous. Anyone who knows how to sell is over huge. He is one of the best sellers in the business. I mean, uh, just unbelievable.”
Raven:”
So Paul (Wight) is over huge in WCW because he finally found his own. I
guess he had his own personal demons that he had to battle and he finally
came through them and I mean, he was a happy kid.
Know that
I mean, just didn’t care anymore. They were going to bury him and he didn’t
care. He just didn’t care anymore and that’s freedom, you got freedom.
Like Janis Joplin says ‘Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to
lose’ He didn’t care anymore and he knew he was going to Vince. But I really
think they missed the boat on that because they threw him right in on top
and you can’t do that. People don’t want to see that. People want to see
you grow and prove yourself, you need to prove yourself again and again
and again. Everywhere you go…. If I went back to ECW, I wouldn’t need to
prove myself again. I mean I would in that I would have to have the same
kind of matches I had before but I wouldn’t have to start at the bottom.
You know what I mean?”
Misnik: “Right”
Raven:” But, unless you’ve been there once you need to start at the bottom. Well not necessarily the bottom, but lower- mid card and you need to work your way up.”
Misnik:” Are you following it real closely now or just a casual observer of ECW?”
Raven:” No, but I will once TNN starts. When TNN starts, Ill be taping it every week. Right now, I’m not sure if I even get it in my area and frankly I don’t even want to watch it. I mean, I don’t even watch RAW as good as it is, I guess, because I burnt out on watching wrestling. Cause I mean you watch Nitro, you’re at Thunder, you’re at the Saturday tapings. Then we made sure we watched RAW every week. Y’ know, me, Disco, Saturn, Konnan and a bunch of my buddies. Y’know, we’d party, watch RAW, entertain ourselves. It’s funny. Y’know Austin..umm Candido used to tell me this…it was Austin, Candido and the Bulldog used to play ECW in the locker room. They’d beat each other up, throw each other through tables in the locker room in the back playing ECW. Let’s face it, if you’re not a mark you have no business being in this business. “
Misnik:” That is what Dreamer always said that he is one of the biggest marks in the business”
Raven:” You got no business doing it (being in the wrestling business)”
Misnik:” Ok, lets say you do go back (to ECW), from the people who are in the company now. Well Dreamer'’ back is totally screwed up. Who that is in the talent pool would you like to have a program with?”
Raven:” Well, first I think I would put him out more permanently.”
Misnik;”REALLY?!?!?!”
Raven:” Yes. First thing I would have to do is to put Dreamer out more permanently to give him more time off. But just to get my initial run. I’m just thinking off the top of my head. I think I would take him out, you know, quick. I’d show up at his house or something or whatever with the fan cam with Feinstein holding it with his big giant feet. Did you ever see how big Feinstein’s feet are?”
Misnik:”Ahh, I never noticed”
Raven:”They’re enormous. Remember when Feinstein was involved in an angle and he was putting the boots to somebody and I just couldn’t believe the enormity of Feinstein’s feet.”
Misnik;” Yeah, sure back when he was part of the BWO”
Raven:”Right. The enormity of his feet. Its like the letter L.”
Misnik:”< Laughing at where this interview has gone> “There was a match on TV recently with Axl Rotten and New Jack….”
Raven:” I like Axl. Axl’s a good guy, Axl’s a really good guy. Where Axl missed the boat, and I have been telling people this for years is that he can’t cut a promo in English. He screams, all he does is yell. Back in the 80’s he’d be a phenomenal promo, cause it’s a wrestling promo. But this is the 90’s and they don’t want a wrestling promo. It’s like Curt Hennig’s promos. I love Curt, but I think his promos are terrible because his promos are just wrestling. Hey, I am going to beat you up, I’m a better wrestler and people don’t want to hear that. They want the pizzazz and the chutzpah and the genus se que (Sp?).”
Misnik:”There was a match last week on the TV show. Balls and Spike are the tag champs and they had a match against Axl and New Jack.They did some crazy shit. New Jack used a staple gun, they took it all over the building, Spike did a spot from the top part of the stage to the bottom, Axl went through a flaming table..”
Raven” I didn’t watch this match, but let me tell you the problem with it. No one thinks to build to a conclusion and that’s my biggest complaint that is what I do better than anyone. Now to me, I love a garbage match. My favorite type of match is a garbage match but you got to build to a conclusion. You don’t just. well….y’know I don’t want to bury any names but when I was there, the guys would start out and on a scale of 1 to 8, the intensity at the end of the match was no greater than it was at the start. My intensity always starts out at a very high level and always progresses higher. It reaches a climax. It should always reach a climax and 90% of the people in the business don’t know how to reach that. They don’t get it; they don’t understand how to build that. How to build a psychological drama and um, that is really what its all about.”
“But, Axl
, as I was saying cut a great 80’s promo. I don’t like his 90’s promos
cause he screams too much and that tunes me out and it tunes out most people
and he also, when he cuts a British promo with a British accent its tremendous,
its absolutely brilliant. He refuses to do it and I go ‘Bro, go back to
the British accent’ and he wouldn’t do it. I don’t know why he wouldn’t
do it because, I’m telling ya, he cuts a great British promo. I don’t know
what happened, something happened and his promo with his British accent
is a thousand times better than his promo as an American guy. Even to the
point that he would say I have been denying my British lineage. You know,
lets face it, my family is from Liverpool or whatever pool they’re from.
The shallow end of the gene pool. Whatever pool they’re from, whatever
town it is and that by talking American I am not being true to my roots
and I am going to start talking with the family accent.
That’s
different and it doesn’t blow any continuity. I hate when continuity is
blown although they have forced me to blow continuity several times. “
At this point in the interview, Mick Foley shows up and the session is about to begin. I am able to get one final question in…
Misnik:” When you were in ECW, looking back on that angle with Sandman and Tyler ( Fullington, Sandman’s son), how did you feel about all that?”
Raven:” I loved working with the kid. The kid loved doing it. The sister wanted to get involved too, we just couldn’t fit her in.”
This concludes the exclusive interview with Raven. I’d like to thank him for his time and frankness in doing this. I’d also like to thank the staff of RF Video and the Franklin Malls Mall for the hospitality during the course of the afternoon