Raven talks about Sacrifice PPV, TNA TV deal, his match with Sabu against Rhino & Jarrett and more…..

Raven on Between the Ropes Recap

by Richard Trionfo

This week on Between the Ropes, the current NWA World Heavyweight champion Raven joined Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci to talk about the Sacrifice pay per view, his match with Sabu against Rhino and Jeff Jarrett, TNA’s new television deal on SpikeTV, his NWA title reign, and other issues in the world of professional wrestling. 

Raven was asked what the focal point of the company needs to be to give an alternative to the WWE.  The key is to accentuate the positives and hide the negatives like Paul did with ECW.  The X Division needs to be the focus.  You need to be able to teach guys to talk, not do different moves in the ring.  You need characters who are three dimensional.  You need to use name stars that are not in the WWE, but with the right balance.  You need stars to get the casual viewers and hook those casual fans to see the new stars.  It is necessary to have two hours, but with an hour you need to capitalize on the hour.

The new television deal is going to be a big thing for TNA.  They needed to get the right people in the right places.  The people who are the armchair bookers don’t know what they are going to do.  The people most of the armchair bookers want on top cannot cut promos so they cannot get people in the seats.

He thinks Sean Waltman and Kevin Nash are good people to get the casual fan.  When Kevin is on, he is brilliant.  If the Dudleys can sign with TNA, they would be successful.  Raven says that he came up with the idea of the Dudleys and Bubba and D-Von were not even the first two in the gimmick.  They would have a new set of opponents for them.  You need to use the guys in the right way. 

Raven thinks that some of the guys might be a little uncomfortable cutting a promo while they are fearless when they try a dangerous move in the ring.  Some people stay in their comfort zone.  It can become a disservice to the company.  A heel should look like a jackass.  A.J. is working on his promos.  Kid Kash was able to get people to hate him when he talks. 

A booker needs to be the coach to get the best out of the wrestler.  He needs to motivate everyone on a night when they are not at their best.  Paul Heyman was able to do that.  It looks like Scott D’Amore is working on that.  He would get motivated by Jeff as he went to the ring and that helped him for his match. 

He disagrees with the concept Vince uses that nobody under 220 can work.  Kevin Sullivan was a smaller guy and he got over because he could talk. 

It is harder to do a great babyface promo because you have so much more to work with on a heel promo.  You are constrained as a face in what you can say.  The X Division wrestlers that are supposed to be heels won’t work heels.  He pulled someone aside and told them that regardless of how hard they want to be hated, they are not hated by the people.  You need to convince people that you hate them in order to get over as a heel.  In the old days, the heels were nicer people because their egos were less while the faces were the primadonnas.  There needs to be more selling and psychology in their matches, but they are able to do amazing things in the ring.  He would love to be able to do what they can in the ring.  Some of these guys are going to be stars.

He does not think they need to build on the hype from the ECW PPV.  Raven did not get the title because of the ECW nostalgia.  He went back to the gear when he was over the most with the crowd.  ECW was lightning in a bottle, and he thinks it would be stupid if the WWE made another ECW product.  ECW changed the business, but you cannot have the same revolution.  The purpose of ECW was to be creative and original.  If there was going to be a new change in the business, it has to be something different.  The same guys are on top because there is nobody new to wrestle.  You need to start something new and fresh.  If you get stagnate, it will get old.  You could redo ECW, but it will not flourish unless it is something completely new.

Right now, he is carrying the flag right now for TNA.  The last time he was a champion was ten years ago in ECW.  As the champion, he is going to be the biggest draw in the company.  He talked about the buildup for his previous title match against Jeff Jarrett when everyone thought he was going to win the title, and he said that is just the way things go. 

Between the Ropes airs every Wednesday from 10:00 p.m. until Midnight on 740 The Team in Orlando, Florida with hosts Brian Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci. Check out www.betweentheropes.com to listen to the live stream of the show every week. Archives of past interviews with Paul Heyman, Mike Tenay, Terry Funk, A.J. Styles, Rob Van Dam, Tully Blanchard, Mick Foley, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Matt Hardy, Jerry Lawler, Bobby Heenan, Steve Corino, Shane Douglas, Elix Skipper, Harley Race, Bubba Ray Dudley, and many more people in the world of professional wrestling can also be found on www.betweentheropes.com.