Wrestling legend Raven recently spoke to WrestleZone’s Kevin Kellam on a variety of professional wrestling topics. Raven was asked if the business is starting to feel how it used to during his heyday given all the current big promotions and groups around. He also discussed All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and what the promotion has that separates them from the pack, and what other promotions are lacking.
Does the business feel like it used to during his heyday with all of the current big promotions and groups around:
“I think it will once AEW gets on TV. It hadn’t, without somebody else having the national slot on a powerhouse station, it was never going to be the same. But now with AEW going on TNT, I think it’s really going to crank things up.”
What does AEW have that separates them from the pack:
“Youth. They’re not relying on a bunch of guys that have been on top for 20 years. Not that WWE is either—you have the younger guys that are going to be behind the scenes as well, they’re going to be willing to listen. Let me re-phrase this. The youth behind the scene means new ideas, fresh ideas, young ideas. Obviously, they’re going to have some veterans there for psychology reasons. It’s gonna have a more—it’s gonna have a flavor you’re not gonna have in a company that’s run by guys that are much much older, who don’t interact with pop culture as much.”
Do other promotions not have their finger on the pulse the way AEW does
“I don’t watch current wrestling, but I [keep up enough] with it. I think that’s been the big problem with wrestling always, is they don’t keep up with what’s current. That’s why Paul E [Heyman] was such a great booker because he understood what was popular and zeitgeist. He was able to use that and correlate that and make his stuff seem so trendy, but in wrestling, generally, people behind-the-scenes are in a bubble. They’re in a wrestling bubble, just like politicians are in a bubble and they only see the political lens.”
See Raven with comedian Tim Gonzalez and fellow wrestling veteran Johnny Swinger as they tell TALL TALES live at Doc Holiday’s Saloon in Griffin, GA on Thursday, May 30. Proceeds will benefit Operation Lunchbox, which helps children in need get extra meals around their school lunches.
Griffin comedian, Tim Gonzalez, and the Sellers Law Firm, LLC, are hosting Tall Tales at Doc Holliday’s
Saloon in their joint effort to raise awareness for Operation Lunchbox and its mission to feed hungry
students in the area.
Tall Tales, a live stand-up comedy show with road stories from some of the biggest, funniest, and most
notorious names in sports and entertainment, is hosted inside the historic saloon, once owned by the
Wild West legend himself, Doc Holliday.
Scheduled guests include the following:
HEADLINERS: RAVEN (Scott Levy) best known around the world as the leader of the flock–from ECW,
WCW, WWE, & TNA, a 27x world hard core champion, who is also a nationally touring and headlining
standup comedian, writer, actor, and host of the weekly podcast “The Raven Effect”. Also on stage will
be actor and former world champion professional wrestler, who is best known for his appearances in
WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA,, Johnny Swinger, aka Johnny Parisi.
COMEDIANS: As seen on Bounce TV, NBC’s Stand Up for Diversity, and Laughing Skull Comedy Festival,
Yohance Collins. Along with Joe Gallois (Bravo), Justin Harris (Laughing Skull Fest); and hosted by Tim
Gonzalez (NBCsn, MancaveTV)
General admission tickets are $10.00, and if you bring any new, nonperishable food item, you will
receive a free meet and greet pass. You can also sponsor a kid for $250.00 and insure that for an entire
year he/she will not go hungry.
“I believe that together, we can end child hunger starting in our community.”
Dave Newman- Operation Lunchbox
www.operationlunchbox.org
About the mission: Operation Lunchbox is a non-profit organization that has packed and delivered food
to area schools weekly for over four years. Currently Operation Lunchbox is feeding 33% of the 4,800
children that have been identified by their schools as being “hungry” over the weekend.
