IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Famer and former WWE, WCW, and ECW alumni Raven exclusively spoke with PWMania.com‘s Lewis Carlan about a wide range of topics, including rumors about his health and future, his relationship with Tommy Dreamer, WWE Hall of Fame in Philly, MLW, a possible return to IMPACT Wrestling and more. Raven held the WWE Hardcore championship several times during the WWE Attitude era and is a two-time ECW champion.
You can check out the complete interview below:
In a recent interview with PWMania.com, Tommy Dreamer said your health isn’t the best and you can’t wrestle anymore. How is your health?
“My health is fine. Honestly, like, I think what the problem was, is in his interview, Tommy lives in a work shoot world. Like it’s a half work half shoot to him. And in his mind, Raven and Dreamer really went to summer camp together and fought over Beulah. And he was triumphing because he married her, I guess. I think what he meant to come across and say is, that I can’t wrestle, because I just had my knees replaced and I’m gonna have my shoulder replaced this year, so I can’t wrestle now. And it’d be at least a year of recovery for my shoulder replacement and then he added the working part, where he’s like, you know, I don’t know if I gave him a, you know, cause damage in the chair shot heard around the world so half shooting, half working. But if that one chair shot was what gave me brain damage. I mean, if I had brain damage, I’m sure I have some damage. Obviously, I think all wrestlers do from all the chair shots and head and drugs we take. But, you know to make it seem like that I have brain damage, like excessive brain damage where its affecting my life, which it doesn’t. And obviously, you can see I’m clear headed. And he started talking about boxers and how boxers, you know, when they start out there, he can’t watch boxing movies, because their videos because they start out clear speaking but then they get they start slurring their words at the end of their career. And somehow all that got boxed in together, and it came across like that’s what was happening to me. And I know he didn’t mean it that way. He was just trying to capitalize on you know, on the story, the storyline that he’s telling for Impact, where he’s, trying to forsake, hardcoreness to an extent or something. I’m not sure exactly. I haven’t followed it. But I was gonna have him rebuttal it, rebut it, you know, and just retract it. But then I figured he wouldn’t be able to explain it as clearly because he doesn’t know my life, like I know my life. You know what I mean?”
You were in the MLW Battle Riot. How did that go?
“Yeah, that was great. I mean, I just wrestled the other night, two weeks ago. I didn’t do much because of my knees and my shoulder. But that’s all I wanted to get across. I really just wanted to, because I started getting calls from friends and family and bookers saying, are you going to be able to do shows? Are you okay? I know, Tommy didn’t mean for that to happen because he told me, and we talked about it, and then he was going to go it was going to call you up and retract everything, and make it clear but like I said, I’d rather do it myself. So you can see that I’m clear sound mind and that I’m fine.”
So you’re in good health?
“Yeah, I’m in good health. I’m just suffering injuries from my career. You know, the shoulder replacement I probably needed for 10, 15 years. I haven’t had a lot of big injuries. But I’ve had a couple, I herniated three discs in my lower back. I had my left shoulder replaced in 2013 and it was so painful that I said that’s it I’m not getting the right one either replacing too but I’m like I’m not getting that until i absolutely have to and now I absolutely have to. Then I got to two knees replaced last year. And then I should be a perfectly healthy young man and or old young man. I still feel like I’m 28 inside. I’m 58 but I feel 28 and I probably have the organs of a 78 year old.”
Will there be more matches involving Raven in the future?
“Yeah, it’ll be probably a year because, I’m gonna get my shoulder replaced and let it heal, but I’ll be 59, 60 then, I’m not going to take any bumps. I never took any bumps before. Why should I start now?”
So somebody is going to get hit with that Even Flow again in the future?
“Right, exactly. So the only mistake is, is I have to take a bump to give that finish. Other than that, I take very limited amounts of bumps in my career, I always make people get through my flunkies to get to me. And people said that I’m lazy or other wrestlers will teach me that I’m lazy, which I am. But it’s also smart. Why take more bumps than you need? I’ve been getting away with taking no bumps for the last 5/10 years on indie shows doing tag matches, and nobody’s even noticed because it’s all psychology. It’s all smoke and mirrors.”
How’s your relationship with Tommy Dreamer? I assume you guys have a good relationship.
“Yeah. Yeah. We talk. He says he loves me. But then he also says he hates me, he’s living in a half work half shoot reality. That makes him sound like he’s losing his mind which he isn’t. It’s a more playful thing with him. You know what I mean? But but he wants to believe it’s like a Fox Mulder on the X Files. He has the poster as that says I want to believe with a spaceship. Tommy should have a poster of two wrestlers going at it saying I want to believe it’s real.”
Why do you think the feud between you and Tommy Dreamer has worked so well, then, now, and in the future?
“Because when we started, I told him, I want you to be the yin to my yang, the babyface to my heel, you know, the good guy to my evil. And so I want you to do the same finish. You know, I want you to hit the same pose. And then I came up with the storyline, the backstory about Beulah and the romance in summer camp and all that. And so it just and then the fact that he couldn’t beat me for two years, you know, it just grew a life of its own. Like, ultimately. Me and Sandman storyline was probably much more creative and much more clever, and much more heartstring pulling. Because I stole his wife and his kid, but Raven – Sandman doesn’t have the same hold that Raven – Dreamer does. Raven – Dreamer is just both getting over, me restarting my career as Raven, Tommy getting his career going as Tommy Dreamer and it just it hits a nerve, you know what I mean? And it works. We just have chemistry. You know, it’s like Dusty and Terry Funk. We have chemistry, that just it’s undeniable. And we love hate each other, you know, so it works out perfect.”
I remember that feud well, it was one of my favorite feuds back then and now. You and The Sandman as well, when you stole his wife and kid.
“Well, the Dreamer thing. I mean, look when I got inducted into the Impact Hall of Fame I still had to DDT him. The feud doesn’t end, we will be 80 years old, snipping our IV bags in wheelchairs in an old age home, when we are 80. I’m gonna run him over with my wheelchair.”
You defeated DDP in 1998 for the WCW US title, only to lose it the next night to Goldberg. I was very disappointed at that. Did you know it was going be a one day reign?
“No, I had no idea. It was very disappointing and disheartening too but it’s a business. I felt like, sometimes they put the belt on somebody and they can elevate it. Sometimes they put the belt on the guy it devalues it. And sometimes it’s just neither, it just doesn’t do anything for it doesn’t hurt it. Whereas I felt like I could have elevated it. Not that Goldberg didn’t you know what I mean? Because he was in the jetpack, you know what I mean? He had to rocket up his ass. Which he deserved because he was over, you know, whether he could work or not, it doesn’t even make a difference. He could draw money. And he did. I felt like that he didn’t need it. And I could have used it at that point, but ultimately, when I thought about it, I’m like, I don’t really need it, because my character is so unique that I’m gonna get over anyway. Despite bad booking decisions or good booking decisions or any booking decisions, I’m gonna get over regardless. And that’s what I’ve always counted on myself. I’ve always said to anybody that when I want to get a job somewhere when I started. I said, give me three weeks. That’s it. All I need is three weeks to get over if you don’t think I’m value then get rid of me.”
So when did you find out that you’re going to drop the title, that night?
“That night, yeah.”
You’re with MLW now. Head of The Calling. Why did you choose Ricky Shane Page and Akira, what did you see in those two?
“I didn’t pick them, but I’m glad I got them. Usually, you get your people foisted upon you. That can be good, that can be bad, could be neither. In this case, I think that’s a great thing. I think they’re both really talented. I think I can help give them advice to improve their work and to help them career wise. There’s a match Ricky Shane Page had with Jacob Fatu that I don’t know when it airs probably in a couple of weeks. What a match it is. It’s a hardcore match. There’s all kinds of props and weapons. But it is a crazy. It’s such a good match, and Jacob Fatu is a hell of a talent and all the Samoans are. Is there any bad Samoan workers?”
WrestleMania is going to be in Philly next year. Are you hoping for a WWE Hall of Fame induction?
“I’m not expecting that to happen. I don’t think they see me that way. I don’t think Vince sees me that way. And obviously, if he saw me in that light, he would have used me better when I was there, so yeah, that’s not happening. I would almost bet everything I own that I’m not going to be inducted this year or any year in the future. And I think that’s why the Impact thing means a lot to me. Also the Impact thing they only do one person a year. So that means a lot too, because you’re not doing five, six people are you know, half a dozen. Well, I guess five or six is half a dozen.”
Do you think you’ll be back in Impact Wrestling anytime soon?
“I would say maybe probably if I wasn’t getting my shoulder replaced, but since I’m getting it replaced, I don’t think I’ll be there anytime soon.”
