In addition to his in-ring abilities, Raven was also a gifted speaker and storyteller. He was able to cut compelling promos that drew fans in and kept them invested in his storylines and has won numerous championships throughout his career.
That being said, Raven plans to resume his career with MLW and explains why he likes it there. During a new interview with Sean Ross Sapp Raven addressed his likely return to the ring, claiming that after undergoing another procedure on his shoulder, he will feel at ease competing in tag team battles until the end of his career.
I’d been working off and on until I had my knees replaced. I had them replaced last year. [I gotta get my shoulder replaced. I had the left shoulder replaced in 2013. I gotta get the right shoulder replaced sometime in this year.
Hopefully, in the fall. Once my knees are healed up completely and my shoulder is healed up completely.] Once that’s done, I’ll probably still do tags. That’s what I’ve been doing. I don’t like being a babyface but on the indies, I have to be. The fans come to see the stars. It’s not fair to just turn yourself to make them boo you even though they don’t want to. Especially for a couple hundred people, it’s just not worth it.
“But as a babyface, I can tag with somebody. I come in on the shine, I beat the guy up, I don’t get touched,” he continued. “Then I tag in my partner in, he gets beat up, he makes the hot tag to me, I bump the other guys and go into the finish.
So I don’t have to take any bumps. But nobody knows because nobody realizes I’m not bumping because the way the storyline is set-up. Look at the Rock ’n’ Roll Express. Ricky bumped all the time and Robert just came in and got the hot tag. Instead of doing a bunch of false finishes, which everybody does anyway, I just go right to the finish.”
“I don’t even use my finish, the Raven Effect DDT, because of the bumping in it, because of my shoulder. What I would do is, I would do the drop toe hold into the chair, which gets the same pop, and then I either let my partner do the DDT because he’s a local guy and he gets the rub or I just pin the guy after the drop toe hold into the chair. That way nobody’s going, ‘Oh, we didn’t get the DDT,’ you know what I mean?
So all the bases are covered. It’s all psychology. If you work smart, you don’t have to work as hard. You can have a career forever if you work the babyface in tags.”
Raven
Overall, Raven was a true pioneer in the world of professional wrestling. He was a gifted athlete, a compelling storyteller, and a generous mentor, and he deserves all the praise and recognition for his years of hard work.
H/T to Fightful
Follow Corey at @CoreyBrennanBS on Twitter
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