Quoth the Raven….
Hey there Darlings! Of all the interviews I’ve done, I never dreamed I would get to sit down with a legend of pro-wrestling. I’ve been a fan for a long time, and this next interview was with one of my favorites. A Two time ECW World Heavyweight Champion…an impressive 39 time WWE Hardcore Champion…the one…the only…RAVEN! I got a little too excited, and sort of choked back a little. But the man still did a great interview, and gave me some pretty good advice. The little Psychotik loved him to death, it was awesome. You didn’t tune in though to see me talk about that…you came to read an interview. Top Hats on Darlings…
Quoth the Raven…
Malice: In your early career you had a couple different names and you made the switch to Raven. What made you decide to switch your persona to Raven?
Raven: That’s who I wanted to be. You know you get stuck with personas because the companies want to give you stuff and with ECW I was allowed to come up with my own thing.
M: You were able to compete in all major wrestling federations WWF, WWE, WCW, ECW, TNA out of all of those, which one gave the best experience?
R: ECW and Portland Wrestling.
M: As wrestling changed over the years, do you think it was better then or now?
R: I don’t watch it now so I have no idea. I would assume by the ratings it was better then.
M: What do you think, in your opinion, was the reason WCW kind of fell to the way side?
R: There are too many reasons. It would take me too long to discuss it.
M: One thing I had looked up, you held the hardcore title 27 times…
R: No, actually it’s 39
M: Really? Which they still hailed you as the most reigns with one title. Did you ever look back on that and think ‘I held that record?’
R: Nah I don’t look back on anything. That is in the past. You gotta live in the now.
M: I used to love watching the hardcore matches. What went into those? It’s kind of hard to fake getting thrown into a brick wall, getting hit in the head with a chair, trash can or kendo stick.
R: What you see is what it is. There is no other way to describe it. I mean you know the creativity was usual mine. Well obviously my opponent had input too but I tried to make mine more creative than everyone else and add more psychology so mine would stand out.
M: What have you done in your career that you are most proud of?
R: I don’t know. I’m not sure. I really don’t know. Probably being successful at it. When I got in the business, I was the smallest guy in the business. The fact that I was able to make it and have such a long running career after consistently burning so many bridges and being so small comparatively. Now I’m 6’2 when I started I was 5’11 220 at the most. When I was all roided out I was 220 so I never lifted weights after 160. My graduation weight and Jericho’s, I mean I’m much bigger than Jericho but he graduated high school at 185, I graduated at 160. And that was after 2 years of lifting so you could imagine how small I was. And I didn’t have any abs so I was small with a thick waist. The fact I was able to make it with my size and lack of athleticism speaks volumes I think.
M: Of all the things you brought to the ring, what was your favorite?
R: The Frankenstein doll or the ficus plant
M: So you had a storyline that was offered to you on Sunday Night Heat involving the Seven Deadly Sins…can you tell us a bit about that?
R: No they didn’t offer it. I came up with it. They botched it. One of the best storylines I ever came up with but they never let me do it right. And so it just never happened but what I had originally created was so fantastic, so brilliant, so clever.
M: What advice would you have for a young start-up into the business?
R: Wrestle in High School, Wrestle in collage…they like that. Get abs, they like abs. The leaner you look the better. It’s not about style anymore it’s about appearances. Eddie Guerrero was 180 lbs but he looked like he was 230. He wasn’t very tall but his build made him look much bigger. Don’t get me wrong much guys are a lot bigger. He just happened to be a smaller guy that looked bigger. Then you got guys like Billy Gunn who are legitimately 6′ 5″ and 280 lbs shredded. Anyway, just do that and watch as much wrestling as you can.
M: Last question, one of the most controversial moments of your career was when you crucified Sandman on ECW. After you did the deed, you were then made to go out and apologize. My question is, would you have done it differently or not at all in hind sight?
R: Of course I would have done it, it was brilliant! The only reason there was controversy was because Kurt Angle was there. If he wouldn’t have been there, if they hadn’t been trying to recruit him, there would have been no controversy. it would have gone over like it was supposed to, I wouldn’t have had to go out and apologize. It would have worked like a charm. But because Kurt Angle was there, he got pissed. Then Tazz and some others jumped on the band wagon. Normally they wouldn’t have said anything, or if they did it would have been in private. It had the right effect though. There was just a hush over the crowd, everyone was silent. But it was a good kind of silence. But whatever you know, it happens…
M: I actually read a comment that went something like, “Well why didn’t you tie him to a Star of David?” and you answered, “Well then we would had to roll him out of the ring!”
R: No it would have rolled away on its own. It wouldn’t have had the symbolism. it had nothing to do with religion. It was all symbolic.
M: so it’s not about the religion or the politics it’s about the message basically…
R: Yeah, you know I was the martyr for societies dysfunction and so I was going to make Sandman feel my pain..that’s all…which we would have explained as the story went but we didn’t get a chance to because it got kabosched.
Did you like all of that? I loved it! Not often do I get struck fanboy style. This was one time for sure. But you know, the advice he gave me caused me to hit the rest of the interviews with a ferocious vengeance. A lot of other people that weekend thought he was a bit grumpy. But to me, I thought he was him. He was a legend in the flesh. Real great with kids. Jazzy loved him. He made a new fan. Stay tuned Darlings…we have a Scream Queen up next!!!
Until Next Time, My Freaky Darlings,
Malice Psychotik
Review of Fatality Fest 2013…What a Weekend!
Unless some of you have been living under a rock or just not paying any attention, you know that I paid a visit to Fatality Fest 2013 last weekend. It’s taken me a bit to write this because I wanted to fully take everything in and really give a good approach to present it to you all. We had such fun! Hands down one of the best times I have had at a horror convention. The people rocked, the guests rocked, the area was cool as shit…Can’t say enough good things at this point. But how do I convey this? I just feel writing a short review will not do the weekend any justice at all….not only that but that seems to be what everyone else has done as well (Post included) Nope, I hold myself to a much higher standard than just that. I feel I not only owe you, the reader more, but I owe the rest of the fine people who took the time to put together a top-notch show that as well. So let’s take this day by day shall we? Yes, I think we shall…
Day 1: June 7, 2013
Day one the weather was a bit dreary. A Tropical Storm decided to rear its ugly head and it almost looked as if the weekend was going to be a wash. I was very pleased as I arrived at the event to see the lovely girls from ADA Management looking back at me from down the hallway. Rain or shine…the show must go on. I love that attitude. The venue was a very large hotel. When I say Large I mean the hotel shot straight up rather than take up more space girth wise. Very swank looking, and was pleased to find the whole thing was delightfully air-conditioned. We found ourselves in a lovely room on the 9th floor Elite level, thanks to partner Derek Shembarger from Infinite Focus Photography (He really saved the day that weekend and made the whole trip possible.)After settling in..it was time for…the Zombie Walk!
Right as we started heading to the Zombie Walk…rain. The Zombie Walk was to be held at the Mellow Mushroom at City Place. Sadly that did get washed out. Apparently no one wanted to Zombie in the rain (Not that I blame them, but come on people commitment!) We decided to sit down to eat anyway. I wasn’t too fond of the food. I found it to be a bit overpriced and just not worth my money. I’ll save that for later though…It really was a shame to see it not happen. The team member that was there apologized. I didn’t see it as a big deal. Taking the weather into consideration, day one was still technically in the tail end of a storm. Back to the convention center it was…except for more rain…and we were on foot…sigh…
Back at the convention area, Seras decided to freshen up, and dry off, while Derek and myself scoped it all out. I checked to see what vendors were here and what was going on. When Seras had joined up, we hit the celebrity room for some autographs. Picked up Butch Patrick, Oliver Robbins, and Jazzy charmed Raven to death and scored a free autograph. I had managed to take a peek at the dealer’s room. Jazzy didn’t like something in there and I don’t know what it was, but she wouldn’t go in. She got a little fussy, so I tagged Seras in and we retreated for some Father Daughter time. She spread the good word with a lot of the guests. She was deeply impressed with everyone she talked to as they were all very approachable. She even got her very first celebrity interview ever with Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster). She was nervous, but she did great.
When she came back up for the night and I took storm, I found the same thing to be true. Celebrity guests were very approachable. Ended up with an epic picture of Christopher Judge in my hat! I pretty well finished up by enjoying the dealer’s room and setting up interviews for the next day. I didn’t see a whole lot of traffic, but again…Tropical Storm Andrea was still pulling away. Overall a very fun relaxing first day.
Editor Note: The Event schedule wasn’t printed at the time. To be honest, everybody that was there was able to ask event staff and they knew when and where to go. Good save! Most conventions Staff doesn’t know their ass from a whole in the ground…
Day 2: June 8, 2013
Day two was a bit more busy. Had a full list things to do. Interviews, Dealers Room, VIP later…Derek did movie screenings and Q & A’s. Seras checked out in detail some more of the vendors and the Ernie Hudson Q & A. Good news was, we had an event schedule! One of the main things we were looking to cover was the Costume contest. The Costume contest was small, but then again not many people looked to be in the full festive mood of costuming. Of the four you had a woman dressed as a comic book character I didn’t recognize off-hand (I’m terrible forgot to ask), Two Jasons, and Jazmin as Bat Girl. Jonathan Tiersten was the judge. He announced that because he was heterosexual the woman won for the Adults. Since Jazmin was the only child, she won for the kids (SHE WOULD HAVE WON ANYWAY!!!). The crowd egged him on to choose which was best between the Jasons. The one with the undermask won. I was surprised the Ghostbusters that were there didn’t join in…but hey…what can you do.
Editor Note: The Costume contest was announced by a drag queen going from room to room. Babette Bombshell, The Plus-Size Goddess of Gore…national treasure!
The Costume Contest!
Moving on, according to Derek, the movie showings were very nice. Hopefully he will have some reviews coming up soon for those. Q & A’s were very down to Earth…kind of like bull shitting with the stars…but I like that. We were able to see the vendor room and really appreciate it. I liked that it wasn’t the same nonsense. You had lot’s of home-made things. Lot’s of crafts and food. It was very different and refreshing. I get sick of the same old shit. Nothing more annoying than walking into a dealer room and seeing t-shirt, t-shirt, figure, t-shirt, figure, figure, t-shirt, bootleg DVD, bootleg DVD…etc. etc. ad nauseam! We will have more on the dealer’s room as the days pass. Still compiling info. Stay tuned!
Danny Hicks and Dee Wallace at the VIP Party. Photo by Derek Shembarger of Infinite Focus Photography.
I would love to spend more time on the celeb’s and interviews but I have gotten so many of them…I don’t want to wear you thin. Instead I will move on to the VIP party. I was late, we caught a later dinner at Grease on Klamatis (review coming soon!) I only caught the tail end. Everyone was having fun though. Derek made it there in time, he said it was awesome sauce. Personally I thought the addition of karaoke would have been nice. I’m never going to forget seeing Dee Wallace cut a rug. Elliot’s Mom can dance! I wasn’t able to attend the after after party…ah…being a parent (Next time though…next time!) Derek was able to attend that though. He said it was off the chain at Off the Hookah. Nothing like getting a buzz with Leatherface (Andrew Bryniarski). Saturday was a success!
Left to Right: Paul Barbosa, Sarah Joyal, DJ Tre, Andrea Albin, and Marko Adams. Picture By Derek Shembarger of Infinite Focus Phtography.
Day 3: June 9, 2013
The saddest day of any convention is the last. It wasn’t really too busy that day. Then again most Sundays aren’t happy. It signifies the end of a great weekend. We didn’t really get into a whole lot that day. I can say this, the celebrities were mingling with everyone. The Q & A’s were choice. Was very funny when I was interviewing Joe Bob Briggs and we ended up hosting our very own Q & A…unofficially! You see we were trying to sit down somewhere where we could hear better. Mr. Briggs chose the Main Event Room. Don’t blame him, it was in between shows. Well people started to show up for Dee Wallace’s Q & A…and we just kept going. That was until Dee showed up and we had to leave…lol…Another great moment in my life!
Ernie Hudson. Picture By Derek Shembarger of Infinite Focus Photography
The rest of the day was spent in the Celebrity room finishing up interviews and shooting the shit with the lovely Jessica Cameron. Words can’t describe it…really they can’t. I was so sad to leave, but you know…I left with positive advice from Raven and Jessica Cameron. It has served me well. Met some awesome people from this place called The Movie Studio. Hopefully I’ll be able to review their new film staring Corey Feldman, Exposure. I also met some awesome awesome dude from a group called Muscle Wolf Productions. You guys keep an eye out for them, because we are so covering them!!
In Conclusion…
Not a bad show at all. It had some problems…but what first show doesn’t have issues. Every first year has them, just try to iron them out for the next show. I loved it and will be going back…but where does it find it self on the Top Hat Scale? To be honest…5 out 5 Top Hats Why? A lot of stuff that was bad was either because of a Tropical Storm or First Year Problems. If this was a show in its 3rd or 4th year…then yeah..we could knock it. We all had fun, we all loved it, we are all going back, and others are too. It reminded me of old times…good times.
For those that may be interested, yesterday the next Florida Fatality fest was announced for October 11-13th in Ft. Lauderdale. I’ll tell you more as I find it out. Just look out people…because here Fatality Fest comes! I have more interviews coming soon. Please be patient…
Until Next Time, My Freaky Darlings,
Malice Psychotik
Encyclopedia Psychotika 