Raven opens up the DVD with a blowjob joke. Nice.

Raven starts off talking about how it's easy to get into wrestling today and how anyone can open up an indy school. He talks about how indy guys, who haven't done shit and aren't stars on a national level are running indy schools this day. This made me think of AWA (Union City) right away.

Raven says he's talked to guys who have been in wrestling schools for 2 years. He says after 6 months, you should be working in front of people, because you need to interact with the fans. He says the basic stuff in wrestling is easy to learn, but you learn more from fucking up and making mistakes in front of people, then being in wrestling schools and trying not to fuck up.

Raven talks about his time at Larry Sharpe's wrestling school and his trainer there. Raven says he really only trained for a month, before working in front of crowds. He said it took him 8 months to get into a territory. He says 2/20/1988 was when he was officially fulltime in the wrestling business.

Raven says that (illegal) drugs and alcohol aren't as big in wrestling as it used to be.

Raven says if he ever ran a school, he'd pipe in crowd noise of people booing and cheering, so his students could learn from interacting with people. This is kind of like how in the NFL, head coaches pipe in crowd noise during practice, to get ready for a road game. Make sense, and I won't be surprised if some schools started doing this.

Raven talks about earning pushes, and how you have to earn your push and not expect to have it get handed to you.

Raven says every indy wrestler should be shaking hands with each other whenever they walk in a locker room. He brings up a funny story about Mr Fuji during this. He talks about people being intimidated about shaking hands with stars. He says it doesn't matter if you're intimidated, because it's a wrestlers obligation.

Raven talks about the Rick Steiner/Erick Stevens vs Vordell Walker/Dustin Rhodes match, which is included at the end of this DVD. Raven talks about how it's not necessarry information to know your opponent when you're a big star, because it's all about making money. He says on your way up it's important, but when you get to a certain level, it doesn't make a difference.

Back to the Steiner/Vordell match, Raven says the show was held in Florida, and the locker room was split into indy guys and "name" or accomplished guys. Raven says Steiner blew off Vordell before the match, because Steiner thought Vordell was wrestling Raven. Raven says Vordell never came back to talk about the match with Steiner. He said during their match, Vordell was doing his own thing, and wouldn't sell Steiner's punches. Steiner then started stiffing the crap out of Vordell. Raven said he then read in the sheets that Vordell beat up Steiner and said that was false. Gabe Sapolsky says he saw the incident and says that Steiner got the better of Vordell. Raven agrees, and said that Vordell only got on top of Steiner because Steiner gassed up.

Raven says he heard Vordell complaining after the match and asked Vordell what was going on. Vordell told Raven what happened and Raven said Vordell told him "at least I got my kicks in", which weren't shown later on in the match, which leads you to assume it never happened. Raven said he asked Vordell did you at least talk to Rick before the match? Vordell said he did but Vordell said Steiner blew him off. Raven said it was Vordell's fault because Vordell did not try to clear the air before the match. Raven said it was Vordell's responsibility to clear the air with Steiner because Steiner doesn't know who Vordell is, and it's up to the young guys to get the respect of the veterans.

Raven then said he went to Steiner and Steiner told him that Vordell wasn't bumping for Steiner's punches. Raven said that was Vordell's fault too, because Steiner is a 260 pound guy with a reputation of being a tough guy, so Vordell should be bumping for those punches. Raven said he'd understand if Steiner was 120 pounds or something but that wasn't the case here.

Raven said Rick busted up Vordell's lip. Raven said he tried to settle the issue, and Steiner apologized to Vordell. He said Vordell needs to realize that no one knows who the fuck he is, because of the way the business is today. Raven said he couldn't believe the stuff he read in the sheets and on Vordell's website because it never happened the way Vordell described. Raven says it all started because Vordell didn't make it clear that he was wrestling Steiner and not Raven that day. Raven says it's Vordell job, and other indy wrestlers jobs, to introduce themselves to bigger names.

Raven says that guys with less years in the business should always approach the veterans to introduce themselves. He says the younger guys should always let the veterans go over what's going to happen in a match. Raven then brings up a personal story with Ricky Steamboat, and says how he respects this philosophy.

As Raven talks about this philosophy, he goes off on many tangents, which is a common theme in this shoot. He says he has no problem putting people over, but says you don't want to put some people over at the expense of the gate.

Gabe interrupts Raven to say that Vordell Walker is genuinely a good guy. Raven says Vordell infuriated him because Vordell wouldn't listen to his advice. Raven then reads what Walker wrote on his website, which Gabe printed out and gave to Raven. Ha, Gabe caught stirring the pot. Raven reads aloud what Walker wrote on his site, and Raven says it really set him off, because Vordell wasn't telling the truth on his site, because Walker didn't kick Steiner's ass, according to Raven. Raven says Vordell didn't do anything to Rick. He says Vordell really had no respect for Steiner to write that.

Raven talks about a Traci Brooks story, where Traci didn't listen to the advice he gave her. Raven says there are too many rookies and greenhorns who think they know everything, and shut off the veterans who want to help them.

Raven says there are more veterans accessible than ever before to up and coming guys but the up and coming guys aren't taking advantage of that.

Raven talks about "looking stupid", but says sometimes you need to look stupid to get over. He bring up his Scotty The Body days in Portland, when Piper told him to pick his nose there, and despite it looking stupid, it got over big time. Raven then brings up Vince McMahon doing things that made Vince look stupid and says he has respect for a billionaire to do things like that.

Raven says back in the day everyone used to talk wrestling, but no one does that anymore. Raven brings up some of his personal stories here. Raven says that young guys should always offer the front seat of a car to a veteran, because it's a matter of respect.

Raven talks about interrupting conversations to say hello to people and says it's ok under certain conditions, but you gotta use your brain when introducing yourself to people.

Raven talks about "bump cards". This is something Matt Hardy has addressed in the past. That's why Matt is taking his bumps in WWE and not TNA, because he gets paid better to take the bumps there. Raven says it's another reason why you don't want to be in wrestling school for too long, because you use too many bumps in your bump card. Raven brings up Johnny Swinger as a guy who shouldn't be bumping around for WWE, unless he's on the main roster.

Raven talks about being the booker of HWA for a while, just so he wouldn't have to bump. Raven says he brought Mike Sanders in to be his assistant booker. Raven talks about how he and Sanders took advantage of their spot as bookers, in regards to not having to take bumps during drills. Raven says it was messed up that the WWE sent him to a school to take bumps, since he was already accomplished in WCW. Raven says Sanders was writing decent stuff as a booker in HWA, and when Raven left to go back to the WWE, Sanders was starting to thrive in HWA.

Raven then goes off on a tangent and talks about his Johnny Polo days, and how he was an associate producer, and had an office in Titan Towers.

Raven then talks about hanging with Shane McMahon and how it hurt himself with Vince McMahon.

Raven then talks about a story with Sanders and HHH. Raven says HHH was on crutches during his quad injury in 2001, and met Sanders in Atlanta. He said Sanders blew HHH off after HHH went to give him a handshake, and after that Sanders career was buried for good. Raven says Sanders was wrong in this situation.

Raven then brings up a funny story about ADD, and says he has ADD and that's why he's all over the place in this shoot.

Raven said time in the business, not where you are on a card is what matters the most. You can be on the top of a card one day, then on the bottom of the card the next day, but you can never lose the time you put into the business.

Raven then talked about a respect situation with Hugh Morrus, Albert and Christian.

Raven then talks about first class tickets on airplanes, and how Billy Silverman got heat for taking first class plane tickets.

Raven says there aren't that many fulltime spots left in wrestling and says that there are alot of guys in wrestling who will just never make it.

Raven brings up Rhino and in a joking manner, says Rhino has killed every territory that he's ever been in.

Raven then tells a rib that the Fargos used to pull on hitchhikers. Raven says that all young guys in the business should take a rib like a man and not get upset about it.

Raven then brings up some classic ribs that have occurred during his career.

Gabe asks Raven about the Lance Storm/JBL incident, where Lance told students in OVW that "kangaroo court" (Wrestlers court) was stupid, and how JBL confronted Storm about it at Wrestlemania. Raven says Lance is wrong about kangaroo court because it does serve its purpose. Raven says it's pretty much about abiding by the law of the land.

Raven then talks about stars being on indy shows. Raven defines what a wrestling star is, in his mind, which to him, is a guy who has received a push in WWE or WCW. Raven then goes off on a tangent and talks about having a wrestling figure made in 4 major companies. (ECW, WWE, WCW & TNA.)

Raven talks about stars doing jobs on indy shows and talks about how it does and doesn't make sense. It says it only makes sense when the indy star has been established. He brings up his ROH feud with Punk, and says that it made sense for him to lose to Punk 7 months in a row, and says both guys stocks rised because of it.

Raven brings up credibility and says that if someone is going to put someone over, it has to make sense or the fans will crap on it and might not come back to the next show.

Raven talks about signature moves and how they need to be hit on shows, because fans are paying for it. He likens it to seeing Skynyrd and not hearing "Freebird" at a concert. If people are paying to come to a show, they want to see the big moves, just like they want to hear the popular song at a concert. Makes sense.

Raven then gets into booking and the differences between how things are done today and in the past.

Raven then talks about an angle he did in Portland, where he dumped a girl at the altar.

Raven is rushed to finish by the ROH staff, which makes no sense to me. If you got someone talking, might as well keep him going as it makes a better DVD. However, ROH is all about business, hence the time limit on this shoot. It also leaves you wanting "Secrets of the Ring with Raven...Volume IV". Raven closes the shoot with a middle finger. What a gentleman.

BONUS FOOTAGE
Rick Steiner/Erick Stevens vs Vordell Walker/Dustin Rhodes
This was the infamous shoot incident, where Rick Steiner goes crazy on Vordell Walker. Raven talked about this match, which you can read about above. We only see clips of the match, which only featuring Walker & Steiner interacting with each other. Steiner starts kicking the shit out of Vordell, with some rough knees. Steiner then digs his elbow in the back of Vordell's neck. Vordell just looks flat out confused, most likely because he is trying to have a wrestling match, but instead he got a shoot. Steiner bullies Vordell around some more, but Vordell eventually ties Steiner down. Vordell gets Steiner in an amateur wrestling hold, and keeps Steiner down in referee's position. Eventually both guys tag out. We then cut to a scene of Vordell and Steiner near the concession stands where Vordell shoves Steiner and asks what the fuck is going on. Dustin Rhodes, seeing this, and fearing that Steiner is going to go off on Vordell for shoving him, grabs Steiner away and the tape fades to black.

This footage looked like it was there to bury Vordell, because we don't get to see the punches that he allegedly no-sold. You can't really tell if Vordell got his "kicks in" or not, because the match was edited to only show you some parts. However, from what I saw here, and from what Raven said, you can tell that Vordell didn't give Rick Steiner the ass whoopin that we all believed to be true. However, Vordell did handle himself, and after hearing what Raven said, it all could've been prevented if Vordell and Steiner were on the same page before the match. I would really like to see Vordell's response to Raven's words and version of the story here.

Final McWord
Like most of these "how-to-do-business" shoots, I enjoyed this. Raven is an interesting character who has done alot and has been successful all over the place during his career. His words do mean something, and like most of these shoots, I'd recommend this shoot to any aspiring indy wrestler. Raven fans and internet fans will enjoy this too, as you get alot of inside dirt on people as well.

The Vordell Walker stuff dominated this shoot, and who would've thought Raven would be speaking more about Vordell Walker then Tommy Dreamer in a shoot interview! That's what probably drew me to this shoot the most, as Raven really discussed indy wrestling alot.

Overall
Definitely worth picking up. My biggest complaint with this shoot was how the ROH staff rushed Raven throughout the shoot. That's why I think the RF shoots and even the DOI shoots are better than the ROH shoots, because no one is rushed and you get more for your money. The ROH shoots only hit the 2 hour mark, in order to come out with a Volume 2 to sell more DVD's. It's business and I understand it, but you can get more for your money elsewhere. However, with that said, this DVD is worth checking out.

For ordering info, check out ROHWrestling.com

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com