Originally published at Raven reflects on IMPACT Hall of Fame induction, wrote speech on the day of
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** On the latest episode of The Raven Effect podcast, Raven dove into his induction into the IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Fame. He shared that he wrote his speech the day of and it was Tommy Dreamer’s idea for Raven to snub him when Dreamer extended his hand out.
So the Hall of Fame, there I was, the Hall of Fame. What do you wanna know about it?
They gave me a plaque of sorts. It was one of those CableACE Award plaques.
So I got there Friday night, I run into Jimmy Jacobs. He goes, ‘You know, you got about eight minutes for this thing. Eight, nine minutes, 13 for the whole segment.’ I go, ‘What!? I expected a minute.’ He goes, ‘Nah. You got like eight, nine minutes. If you need less, you can do less.’ ‘All right.’ So I didn’t think about it that night because I didn’t want to be up all night thinking of spots to write in so I waited until I got to the show and double checked, plus I wanted to double check and so I got there and they go, ‘Yeah, you got eight, nine minutes.’ I was like, ‘All right,’ so I just started writing it and I wrote it out in one draft. One draft which a bunch of — well luckily my pen was erasable…
I never had time to memorize it but I feel like I memorized a good deal of it, more than I thought I could… So anyway, I haven’t watched it back yet. I’m terrified of watching it back because I’m like, I love what I wrote but… I’m extremely critical of my work.
That’s the worst DDT but the best ending to a Hall of Fame. But you know what I like about it though? Is I brought up all my issues, and I feel like it was funny without Raven being Scott Levy, you know what I mean? And one of my favorite parts though was aye, I loved Dreamer’s speech. It was amazing. I think it’s one of the best things he’s ever done which I told him and he started laughing going, ‘That’s only because it’s about you.’ I go, ‘No.’ I really thought it was one of the best things he’s ever done, great promo and it was his idea for me to snub him when he walks over to shake my hand and I snubbed him. I didn’t want to at first because I was afraid it would give away the finish, but it didn’t at all.
One of the best parts of that day for Raven was receiving praise from the likes of Bully Ray and IMPACT Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore. He explained why their words meant so much to him.
You know what was the best part? Besides doing the whole , they gave me heartfelt — they came over and you know, we always hug and hi and say what’s up. But they said, ‘Thanks for really helping me,’ blah, blah, blah and it really meant a lot, you know? Because those are two guys that I love and they love me but they’re never gonna put me over in public, you know what I mean? I put myself over enough for my whole career, for my lifetime. I put myself over. They didn’t wanna put me over as well. So that was cool.
** Episode #613 of Vegas Bad Boyz of Podcasting featured Chris Bey. Bey re-signed with IMPACT Wrestling and he further elaborated on that during the podcast appearance. He said the decision was a no-brainer.
I had a great time the last couple of years with IMPACT Wrestling. I’m having a great time and for me, re-signing was a no-brainer because one, there’s never been a locker room I’ve been in that felt more like a family and two, I owe it to the kid inside who was on YouTube unboxing the IMPACT World Championship at 14 years old. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I owe it to that kid to become the world champion or at least strive to face Josh Alexander or strive to face whoever may be world champion when my time comes on a big platform, on a big, marquee match. I had an opportunity two years ago against Rich Swann and I love that opportunity, I love that moment, it’s one of my greatest accomplishments but if I can change anything about that night, it was the result. I should have walked out as world champion, I should’ve worked harder to get the world championship and I’m gonna work harder and put myself through unimaginable pain and sacrifice in order to get that championship because I know that the harder I work, that doesn’t mean that the result will just come to me but the harder I work, the more prepared I’ll be for when that opportunity comes.
** There’s a virtual signing on the K & S WrestleFest Facebook page with Bret Hart. He was asked for his thoughts about referee Earl Hebner’s past comments about the Montreal Screwjob being a work. Hart says Hebner knows that’s not true and referred to him as a coward. Bret added that he does not blame Hebner for going through with the plan because he was in a rough spot.
That’s not true. He should know better than that by now . If it was one victim in the whole thing, it was probably Earl. I suppose I was a victim but I went from — I left WWF and went to a company where they didn’t know anything about wrestling but they paid twice as much.
I mean, it’s the case of people not knowing how to live up to their mistakes. Earl knows what he did. He’s just bullsh*tting ya. But I’ve always felt bad for Earl because he’s got a house and kids and payments, he’s got a mortgage like everyone else. As I said, a really sh*tty thing for Vince McMahon to do is put that on him.
If you look at Earl from the moment the bell rings, he’s shaking in his boots the whole rest of the match. No . I assumed that Earl would give me a heads up and he didn’t, because he was scared for his job so, and I understand that but I also know that if I had been in the same shoes and I gave my word to somebody that-that wouldn’t happen ever and I swear on my kids that would never happen, it would never happen. I’m a guy that’s good for my word. Earl, you’re a coward, with a yellow stripe down his back that big and you know, he’s entitled to be a coward because that’s what he is. That’s what he should be saying. ‘I was too scared and I did it out of fear’ and at least that way, you have your integrity a little bit more intact. To come up with bogus excuses that we were all in on it and that he was the only one in the dark is either stupid or ignorant.
Bret recounted being around the late Antonio Inoki. He said Inoki was everything off-screen that he presented on-screen. He feels there are a limited number of people in Japan he worked with who were as good as Inoki.
Say what they want about Inoki but he was one of classiest wrestlers ever in the business. He was everything he pretended to be, you know what I mean? He was that guy. Like a bullfighter, the towel and he had so much charisma and personality and he was a great wrestler. I mean, few wrestlers I ever worked with in Japan were as good as Inoki was. He was top notch.
Yeah, he was a real pro. One of the few wrestlers that I really respected for how he carried himself every day, how he was that guy every day and never, ever changed it.
In past media appearances, Hart expressed that he wishes he got to share the ring with Rey Mysterio. Bret says that in Rey’s own way, he was just as special as André the Giant. He thinks Rey is one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time.
One guy I wish I could have worked with would have been Rey Mysterio. That’s because Rey, he was really as special or unique as André the Giant was, in a different way. There’s only one great masked wrestler in the history of wrestling that was really great and that’s Rey Mysterio.
I think so . To me, one of the best — when I think of great wrestlers, I always overlooked Rey because I never think of him, he never comes to mind but, he was one of the greatest of all-time in my opinion… I always respected him and wish I could have worked with him one time.
** As Kazuchika Okada continues to make the media rounds to discuss his coaching of NJPW recruits, he spoke to the outlet ‘GetNews Japan’. One of the questions presented to Okada was how he feels about cameras being present while he is going to be teaching the recruits. He thinks it’s great that people will be able to see their growth.
I think one of the joys of wrestling is watching the growth of the wrestlers. I think one of the reasons I have become the person I am today after my debut is that I have grown while being watched by the audience. I think it’s great that we can watch each other’s growth from the time we first joined the company to the time we debut and become champions, and I hope that people will continue to watch.
Okada looked back on when Hiromu Takahashi and Bad Luck Fale first joined New Japan. He recounted teaching them the tricks of the trade.
After I joined, Hiromu Takahashi and Fale came in, and since there was no one to coach them except during joint practice, I taught them how to ukemi (receive the body), how to tackle in wrestling, how to form lockups and other such detailed techniques.
** Episode #417 of the Notsam Wrestling podcast includes an interview with Bobby Lashley. He shared that he was able to come into his own as a performer when he left WWE the first time. He talked about working for Antonio Inoki and then growing into the heel persona and understanding the business side of wrestling while with IMPACT.
So when I first came in WWE, it was a lot of that. I didn’t really know the business side of it. I didn’t know that part. I just knew intense, slam, punch, slam, kick. It was nothing else but then after I left, I did some independent work, I went and worked some different styles, different style so it was putting together different matchups in a different way and then when I started doing some stuff for IMPACT, that’s when I started really kind of coming into this heel character and then I started really understanding the business in a different way and then when I came back, it was like the first business that I was in when I first came into WWE is completely different than when I came in the second time. I mean the different rosters, different style of wrestling, different everything so it was different so I really started kind of playing with character and playing with different things. That’s when The Hurt Business came along and different things like that so, started playing with different ideals.
** The next challenger to Chris Jericho’s ROH World Championship is Dalton Castle and that match is taking place on the 10/18 AEW Dynamite. Castle appeared on Busted Open Radio to promote the match and said as far as audience goes, it is the biggest match of his career.
Yeah, well it’s a huge opportunity for the people who watch Dynamite as well to get a glimpse of some magic happening in that ring . This isn’t an unfamiliar situation for me. I’ve been Ring of Honor Champion before, I’ve been on big stages before. I just haven’t fought somebody of Chris Jericho’s caliber before. This man seems timeless, he’s sticking around for a long time, very tough and dense, let’s be honest. The man is dense. He may not be the biggest person in the world but I know he carries some weight in there and I’m gonna have to get my hips real low when I toss him around.
I would say as far as audience goes, yes . It’s a big match for me but it’s also a big match for Ring of Honor. Has this kind of title defense happened at this level with two big supernovas in the same ring at the same time?
** Mickie James, Lisa Marie Varon and SoCal Val welcomed Gisele Shaw onto GAW TV. She dove into how receptive those in IMPACT Wrestling have been since she went public about being transgender.
I was scared about, maybe, people might feel uncomfortable. Like, oh, we don’t really want her changing with us or whatever or maybe the guys would be like, why is she changing with the girls? And so in my head I’m thinking, I’m like, am I gonna have to get changed — where do I change? I was like, oh, what’s going to happen? Because I feel like, am I going to be categorized as, oh, you’re a question mark. So, we don’t know how to react to you or how to communicate with you but I was very, very surprised that everyone was just like, ‘Oh my God, come here.’ It’s been so amazing and yeah, it’s been so overwhelming. I was very shocked on how well it went and that’s why I really try my best to give back to the community…
** On 10/24, Pro Wrestling WAVE is hosting a Battle Royal to determine the next challenger to Hikaru Shida’s Regina Di WAVE Championship on November 6th.
** To promote AEW Dynamite in Cincinnati, Ohio, AEW World Champion Jon Moxley appeared on Cincinnati’s FOX19 NOW/WXIX.
** Catherine Newman, WWE’s Head of Marketing spoke at Advertising Week New York on behalf of the company.
** Both Tasha Steelz and Deonna Purrazzo were interviewed by The Bob Culture Podcast.
** Additional matches for the Pro Wrestling NOAH x Dragongate show will be announced on show day which is November 11th.
** Pro Wrestling Illustrated posted the written version of their chat with Ho Ho Lun.
** October 18th birthdays: John Nord (The Bezerker), Atsushi Kotoge.
** The newest Canvas 2 Canvas episode on WWE’s YouTube channel that is centered around Solo Sikoa.
If any of the quotes from the following podcasts or video interviews are used, please credit those sources and provide an H/T and link back to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.