 |
 |
WCW Magazine - Feel My Pain - October 1998
WCW Magazine
Feel My Pain
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark McGwire, the St. Louis Cardinals' slugger, had to be impressed; there's no two ways about it.
Kanyon, the former Mortis, now battling without his warped look, stood about six feet away from Raven. In the center of the Slamboree ring in May, with a chain-link fence surrounding the ring, Raven was trapped against the cage, his arms to the side like an airplane's wings, his unprotected head hovering, heightwise, at Kanyon's waist. Kanyon, with fire in his eyes, grabbed a steel chair, then - with McGwire force - rocked Raven's world. Bang! And we're not talking a BANG! from DDP. We're talking, The Chair Shot Heard 'Round The World. Home Run. Clearly the most viscious chair shot in pro wrestling history.
No worries, Raven insists. It didn't faze him one bit. Not the attack from Kanyon, or the power with which he did it. The pain and suffering, well, Raven kind of liked that.
Twenty-four hours after that Bowery Death Match against DDP, Raven lost the U.S. Heavyweight Championship to Goldberg.
But Raven was there, competing, challenging, fighting ... living.
"I doubt there is anyone else in the company who could have endured that chair shot and not spent the next three weeks in the hospital," Raven said matter-of-factly. "Kanyon is a hairlipped, moronic, insecure, thin-legged geek who was unpopular in high school and likes to dress up in little comic book outfits and play super hero. Well, you saw where that took his career. Now he's trying to be a regular guy, yet I know Kanyon... and he's no regular guy. Not unless you consider Lodi a regular guy."
What's the saying? The pot calling the kettle black. Shoot, "regular guy" is never used around Raven. He's nothing more than a sadistic soldier, a brawler who thrives on pain. He's a cunning leader who manipulates minds - strictly for his benefit. He's cold and calculating, and yet has a knowledge of the English langauge better suited for a Harvard honors student.
His Ivy league tongue is surrounded by barroom brawling body.
"Kanyon's steel chair shot at Slamboree knocked me unconscious. But when I came to, there was a feeling of serenity, a feeling of hope, a shining aura that left me in what one would best describe as jovial," Raven said. "Was I actually smiling after that(chair shot)? Yes, of course. Will Kanyon be smiling when i'm done with him? I don't think so."
"Very dew things in life catch me by surprise. There's a random probability for certain events occurring, and statistically speaking, the odds of this sort of betrayal are quite heavy. It's obvious that I've studied analysis; it's obvious I've immersed myself in literature and all the arts and sciences; I'm not one to be taken lightly. I hope Kanyon knows that. I also hope Saturn knows that. Both will feel my pain."
The Raven-Saturn fued is as bitter as any now brewing in the sport. If only because it's a fall out of a friend friend relationship. Sure, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash aren't seeing eye-to-eye, but they don't have anything on Raven/Saturn in the brutality category. Raven claims Saturn is nothing more than a childhood friend turned traitor. The question is, why? Or better yet, why is the Raven/Saturn split such a shock? It shouldn't be. Raven is self-centered, the ultimate "me, me, me" person. If it doesn't help him, he doesn't want a part of it. Raven never really respected Saturn. He basically just accepted Saturn. If the fans cheered Saturn, it angered Raven. Why him, and not me, Raven would think.
Saturn on the other hand, is a dictionary definition of the word "loner". One has to even wonder what was the real bond between the two in the first place. Maybe it was just a love for the suffering that wrestling can bring, coupled with the misery, anguish, and agony. Or maybe it's the hurt and tormenting wrestling can bring. Or perhaps, quite simply, they saw the other as a mirror image.
"Saturn has proven to be like every other person I cared about, a selfish and self-serving user who took what he could from me, riding on my coattails to fame and glory - then ditching me at the first opportunity he had," Raven said. "There will be no reconcilliation between Saturn and me. There will only be pain, torture, and agony for Saturn...because he knows what I'm capable of and what's in store for him. Saturn may know a lot about me, but not enough.
"The fact that we were such good friends, that I helped him out of so many tough situations makes this war hurt that much more. But I've lived with hurt before, and I'll live with hurt again."
Raven's woes also include the Flock. One day he loves them - the next he hates them. One day he hires them - the next, he fires them. One day he wants them - the next, he could not care less about them. One day they want him - the next, they could seemingly not care less about their master.
Heck, Raven's closest ally right now may be Lodi.
That's right Lodi.
Feel free to laugh right now.
But Raven rejects that claim, saying Lodi's "best friend" status is nothing more than a complete misrepresentation of the facts, nothing more than a complete overlooking of the obvious.
"No one is close to me unless I let them be, " Raven said. "Lodi is such a clueless ignoramus; I'd never allow him to be close to me. Lodi is a strange little man whose hopes and aspirations mirror those of freaks and misfits everywhere. His goal is just to be accepted, by anyone or anything. So, he will follow my wishes to their fullest extent, just for the slightest hint of acceptence from me. That's so similar to Reese, the world's largest man with the world's smallest intellect. Reese is an absolute moron; he has the IQ of a pea-brain."
As for wrestling, Reese is also a loser. Case in point - falling to Juventud Guerrera, whom Reese dominated by over a foot and a half and oh, about 300 pounds.
"We expect nothing from Reese and so, when we recieve nothing because of his sheer incompetence, it fits right in; we are then not surprised when these things befall him," Raven said. "So why have Reese with me? Why not? Is winning and losing all that matters? Is he still collecting a paycheck, whether he wins a match or not? Enough said."
What about the others in the flock? Raven's carefree, perhaps, careless attitude towards each is as obvious as ever. Raven only associated with them for his own benefit --not theirs. Just consider ...
Horace Boulder
"Boulder is valuable to me for one simple reason; he has a relative in this sport who is very high up, and I will utilize that to my advantage when the time is right."
Riggs
"Thanks to me, Riggs has a career. I was there for Riggs. When Riggs lost his eye, I was there for him. What I did and did not cause, in relation to Rigg's eye injury, is of no consequence to WCW Magazine. Some may say the flock has fallen apart as of late, but hasn't my life been a mess since childhood?" Raven asked. "To me, the Flock is a bunch of worthless, incompetent, useless malcontents. They hang on my every word, my every movement. They are a cult of personality, by my doing, my say so. Everyone needs something or someone to believe in - I am that person. Everyone needs something or someone to get them throught he night - I am that person; I give the Flock something they can't find elsewhere; I give them hope; I give them redemption; I give them salvation.
"Why I do things in relation to the Flock, no one else may know - but I certainly do. And what I do is no one else's business. Everything I do has a purpose, a set reason.
"I've heard people say I have a callous, cold attitude...and I find those statements completely untrue. Anyone who uses those terms about me ... well, I may just have to sue them."
Hmm, part Chris Jericho spewing from Raven's lips. Too bad Raven hasn't had Jericho's championship success. Whereas 1998 is Jericho's best season to date, Raven's run with the gold- as legal champion- has been just all of one day.
Raven has tasted gold, but hasn't savored it's flavor.
"I was forced to face Goldberg without time to prepare after facing DDP in unquestionably, the most brutal match of the year," Raven said. "I was smacked with VCR's, chairs, and so much more during that match against DDP. Goldberg is a hot, young prospect, no doubt. Many would say it was a fluke that I lost, given my experience; many also said it was inevitable that I would lose under the circumstances. It's obvious that no one could have faced Goldberg and done as well as I did. In fact, no one has to date. No one has given Goldberg a bigger beating than I have, or lasted as long against him. Saturn may have done well against Goldberg in their matches, but not nearly as well as I did. Anyone who questions that is obviously delusional, and either short or bereft of any of the brain cells or gray matter that may be neccisary to function properly as a human life form. Anyway, where do you think Saturn got his game plan for Goldberg? From me, of course."
Raven insists he wants another shot at Goldberg, even if gold is not on the line. Raven just wants time to prepare physically, not necissarilly mentally. So, will JJ Dillon sign a Raven/Goldberg rematch? Perhaps. But will Dillon be doing so just to spite Raven? Think of all the pain Goldberg can inflict on Raven. And let's face facts, Raven and Dillon just don't see eye-to-eye. Talk about the "worker" rebellnig against the "suit".
Think back to the bodyguards Dillon authorized for Raven. There are probably better Rent-A-Cops at a community college in Idaho than those four misfits.
"I think he hired the most inept, most inexperienced, most inexuseably bad riot cops. They're gone and now I'm gonig without protection, even though this is the 90's," Raven said. "I'm sure that pleases James J. Dillon, because he's nothing more than a pompous, overbearing, overweight, overpaid horrific excuse for a Chairman of this or any other corporation."
Again, another person who doesn't "do" for Raven, so another enemy of Raven's.
BACK TO MAIN INTERVIEW PAGE
|
|  |
|
|
