Ring Side Roaster

In the early 1990’s, Scott Levy (better known as Raven) was offered a spot in one of the all time hottest factions in Mexican wrestling. Levy was invited to come down and wrestle for AAA in Mexico and join Los Gringos Locos which also included Art Barr and Eddie Guerrero. According to Levy, it was Art Barr who reached out to him and made the offer. Gringos Locos was initially just supposed to be a tag team, but their increasing popularity made Barr and Guerrero expand the tag team into a faction.
Art Barr was very familiar with Levy, as he knew him from Levy’s days working in the Portland, Oregon territory as ‘Scotty the Body.’ Levy said Barr wanted him to portray the exact same gimmick in Mexico and felt that it would get over huge. Levy was supposedly all set to make the trip to Mexico to have his run in the AAA faction, until he says Konnan stepped in at the last minute. Konnan, who himself was a really big star in Mexico wanted to take that spot offered to Levy. Levy accused Konnan of badmouthing him to AAA’s promoter and making Levy look dangerous and unreliable...

“I would be a footnote in this business without Roddy Piper. Roddy took a shine to me and took me under his wing. Maybe it was because I was a Canadian kid like he was, but he protected and looked out for me right from the start from the first time I met him. Along with my brother Owen and Jim Neidhart, the closest guy to me in the business was Roddy. Piper passed the torch to me at WrestleMania. I think I was the first guy who pinned him in the ring. Roddy was one of the first guys to help make me into a main attraction. I was supposed to work at one point with The Ultimate Warrior, but he never passed the torch to anybody. When I think back about my career, with the exception of Mr. Perfect, Roddy Piper was the only guy who said ‘I’m going to help make one of these new guys into a star for the next generation’. I’ll never forget that. Roddy was always about business and trying to help the young guys, and he did that for me. I remember Roddy talking to me, 'you're a great wrestler, but you've got to learn to talk because you won't ever make any money if you can't talk'. And I remember responding like 'the wrestling is more important'. Piper was like 'no, they're about 50/50. If you can't do one, you're not going to get anywhere with the other. Being a great wrestler means squat! You've got to be a good wrestler and you've got to know how to talk'." - Bret 'The Hitman' Hart

Forty-two years ago today, professional wrestling changed forever when Hulk Hogan captured his first WWF Championship by defeating The Iron Sheik. That historic victory didn’t just crown a new champion—it marked the beginning of a new era. Hogan’s win ignited what would soon be known as “Hulkamania,” a movement that propelled professional wrestling into the mainstream and transformed the WWF into a global phenomenon.
At the time, The Iron Sheik was a dominant and controversial champion, making Hogan’s triumph even more impactful. With his larger-than-life personality, unmatched charisma, and unmistakable look, Hogan immediately connected with fans of all ages. His message of strength, perseverance, and believing in yourself resonated far beyond the ring. Children wore his shirts, crowds roared his name, and arenas shook when his music hit.
Hogan went on to hold the WWF Championship for an incredible four years, an almost unheard-of reign that solidified his place as the face of the company. During that time, he defended the title against some of the toughest competitors of the era and headlined countless sold-out events. His reign helped usher in wrestling’s golden age and laid the foundation for the industry’s future success.
Decades later, that title win remains one of the most iconic moments in wrestling history.

Drew McIntyre says CM Punk has the second best title in WWE 🏆
"This is the number one belt. It's the one with all the lineage. So anybody else who has any other title. It doesn't mean jack compared to this. As long as I've got this title, it means one thing, I'm the best in the World."

When Vince McMahon pitched the concept of the Million Dollar Man to Ted DiBiase, the Chairman insisted on doing this in person instead of over the phone.
Ted and his wife flew up to New York then took a limousine to Stanford, where Vince laid out his plans for a bully who flaunted his wealth.
To ensure the character was perceived as wealthy by the public, Vince arranged for Ted to receive first-class flight treatment and limousine service in every town and regularly be provided $2000 in brand new $100 bills.
Even if Ted purchased a pack of gum, Vince insisted that DiBiase slap down a crisp $100 bill to pay for it.

On a Raw taping back in 2002, Vince McMahon wrote into the script that he would jump Kurt Angle from behind in the ring and take down the unexpecting Olympic gold medalist. Following this feat on air, Vince felt it only necessary to remind Angle at every chance he got, gloating about being the only person to be able to take him down.
In the autobiography, “It’s True! It’s True!”, Kurt Angle details what happened when Vince took his gloating too far on an international flight back from London:
“Since I started with the World Wrestling Federation I’ve always had a friendly relationship with Vince, but until the trip to London, I never felt like I was as close to him as most of the other main event guys. I had great respect for him as the boss, but I guess I was somewhat intimidated by him, even though other people in the business told me it was important to develop a strong one­ on-one relationship with him. Also, I wanted to be careful not to step on the toes of guys that I knew were very tight with Vince. So I kept my distance.
“But all of that changed on the charter flight back from England. Vince was moving around, talking to different people, and eventually, he came over and sat down on the armrest of my seat. We started talking about the World Wrestling Federation, and my match in England, and then we started talking about his years in amateur wrestling. He told me that his dad sent him to a military school in Virginia for his high school years and that he had been a runner-up to the state champion among private schools. From there we started talking about the time when Vince took me down in the ring one night on RAW IS WAR. It was set up where he snuck behind me, lifted me up in the air, and took me down, then jumped out of the ring, yelling ‘two’ for the takedown.
“The whole thing was Vince’s idea, and I think he came up with it just because he wanted to take down an Olympic champion. But anyway, on the plane he was teasing me about that, saying he was the only one who ever took me down in the wrestling ring. It was all in fun and we had a good talk for about an hour or so. Finally, as he stood up to walk away, his last words were, ‘Remember, Angle, I’m the only one who’s ever taken you down.’
“Well, at that moment something made me decide to have a little fun with the boss. When Vince got up to walk away, I attacked him from behind, knocked him down, turned him over, and pinned him right in the aisle. There were about eighty World Wrestling Federation people on the plane, and everyone was howling. Everyone except the Undertaker.
“I think he must have been sleeping and woke up when he heard the com­motion. He told me later he saw Vince on the floor and couldn’t tell who was on top of him. Vince and I had been on the floor for about thirty seconds as Vince struggled to get me off of him when the Undertaker came over and put a choke hold on me. He clamped me so tight that he actually choked me out and I blacked out for a minute. When I came to, Vince was standing up and he had this big smile on his face. I think he just loved the idea that he was wrestling with an Olympic champion, and he decided it wasn’t going to end there.
“In fact, he turned it into a competition for the next four hours on the plane. Any chance he had, he tried to take me down. He’d attack me from behind. He’d wait until I came out of the bathroom. Half the time I wouldn’t see him. He’d pop up from behind a chair and jump on me, or leg-dive me. He’d do whatever he could to try to take me down. One time he hit me hard, knocked me backward off my feet. I hit my face on the ground, then got up and attacked him. I took him down, held him down for a while, and then we got up and hugged each other.”
The thing about Vince McMahon is that he is a strong guy. He was involved in amateur wrestling at a young age and was quite agile for his age. Despite Kurt’s prowess in Olympic wrestling, he struggled to take his boss down.
“[Vince] was so strong that he was fighting me off, pushing me back, and then I’d have to come after him again. He’s fifty-five years old, he weighs 250 pounds, and I couldn’t believe how strong he is. I had to do some finessing, fake and wait for him to react, then spin him around. I couldn’t just outmuscle him.
“So we went back and forth for the rest of the flight, and everybody seemed to be getting a kick out of it.
“I figured the whole thing was over when we had to return to our seats for the landing at Newark Airport. But then, I was sitting there, strapped in as we were about to land, and I saw this figure in the dark, crawling up the aisle. The flight attendants were already strapped in, but there was Vince, try­ing to sneak up on me one more time. I turned around and said to Chris Jeri­cho, ‘Do you believe this?’
“Vince was still in the aisle when we landed, and when I got up out of my seat he attacked me again. This time he knocked me into his wife, Linda, who fell on the floor. I said, “Oh my God, I just knocked over Linda McMahon.” But she was a great sport about it. She knew Vince was having a good time, and she probably recognized that it was his way of bonding with me. So we went at it one more time, and finally, when we got off the plane, Vince said, ‘This isn’t over.’
It sure made the trip home livelier than anyone expected, but it also moved my relationship with Vince to a different level.”

A young Nattie Neidhart alongside her uncle Bruce Hart and future husband T.J. Wilson (WWE's Tyson Kidd) when they were International Tag Team Champions in the revived Stampede Wrestling circa 2002!
Bruce had originally won the tag straps with Teddy Hart in Calgary on April 5th, 2002, but an injury sidelined the controversial young wrestler, causing T.J. Wilson to take his place. The history of the International Tag Team Titles is sketchy during the later part of 2002 and all of 2003, but it is confirmed that Bruce and T.J. remained champions through at least September of 2002.
T.J. Wilson would go on to hold the British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship in 2004 and the North American Heavyweight Title in 2005 before becoming an International Tag Team Champ yet again in 2006—and in the same fashion as he had before, replacing an injured "Pyro" Pete Wilson as Juggernaut's partner. T.J. Wilson would leave Stampede Wrestling in early 2007 after signing with .
FUN FACT: While Pete Wilson was billed as T.J.'s brother, they were of no relation. The two had both been part of Eric Bischoff and Bruce Hart's short-lived MatRats production, which featured many of the young standouts wrestling in Western Canada at that time.

🏆✨ Shawn Michaels — The First To Do It All
When Shawn Michaels (Michael Shawn Hickenbottom) became the first WWE Grand Slam Champion, it wasn’t just a milestone—it was a statement. At a time when versatility truly mattered, Shawn proved he could thrive in every role, on every stage, against every style 🖤⏳ His journey wasn’t rushed; it was earned through consistency, trust, and unforgettable performances.
This achievement reflected evolution before it was a buzzword. From tag team excellence to singles greatness, Shawn Michaels showed that adapting and delivering under pressure is what separates great wrestlers from timeless legends 👑✨ Being first meant setting the standard—and for generations to come, that standard carried his name.

A rare shot of the punch Mike Tyson gave to Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 14 when he turned on DX and helped Austin win.
HBK said in his book how he told Tyson basically to punch anywhere around his face and he go down, hence this throat punch lol.
You can tell Tyson took his s**t serious in WWE and he fit right into the WWF attitude era at the time.

Scott Anthony Levy, better known to wrestling fans around the world as Raven, is one of the most intellectually distinctive and psychologically complex characters in the history of professional wrestling. Born on September 8, 1964, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Levy carved out a career that spanned decades across the globe in many different promotions.
Scott Levy grew up in New Jersey and developed an early fascination with professional wrestling. Unlike many of his peers, Levy approached wrestling with a strong interest in psychology, philosophy, and literature—elements that would later define his most famous character...

Royal Rumble 2001 Thoughts *Repost Breakdown*
Royal Rumble 2001 was the 14th annual Royal Rumble PPV event produced by the WWF. The show took place on January 21, 2001 at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. Attendance was said to be at 17,137 with a buyrate being 625,000. With all the stacked talent and great stories, this made it the 3rd highest paid Rumble in WWE/F history.
5 matches took place on the main card with the main event being the Royal Rumble where the winner would headline the main event against the world champion. We also had one of the best single ladder matches in WWE history for the Intercontinental Championship and 2 other great matches which all featured future legends.
The Good
• Best Match tonight wasn't the royal rumble match but the ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship. Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit was a huge highlight of both superstar's careers. To me, it might be their best match against one another ever since they started feuding in the WWF the previous year. The crowd was hot and we got some great spots delivered between the duo.
• The rumble match was also terrific overall and Kane looked like an amazing monster in that ring. This Rumble right here made him one of the best rumble performers of all time. Austin winning did set up something good in the future though that would be on the next PPV. The match also had a lot of weapons used showing some hardcore style booking for a royal rumble match.
• I also like to mention the opening being a great opener for the show and a very exciting tag team match. The Dudley Boyz had a memorable evening winning the gold against bitter rivals Edge & Christian.
The Meh
• I thought the WWF Championship match was really good but one small tiny complaint was definitely it being a bit too slow paced. The finish was also a bit too cheap with Austin getting involved but it did set up what was to come the next month on PPV (a 5 star banger).
The Bad
• The only negative I have of this show was the Women's Championship match being a stupid finish. The set up for the future WrestleMania match could have been done on regular TV, to be honest. The match wasn't really anything.
Overall – An outstanding Royal Rumble PPV event. The build up to WrestleMania started well and we all know how well it ended being the start 2001. Again outstanding show and highly recommended. To some extent, maybe the best Royal Rumble PPV show in history.
Score – 9 out of 10: Awesome
0 = Terrible
1 = Bad
1.5 = Lackluster
2 = Decent
2.5 = Solid
3 = Good
3.5 = Great
4 = Awesome
4.5 = Instant Classic
5 = One of the Best of all Time
1. The Dudley Boyz vs. Edge & Christian: WWF Tag Team Championship – 3.5/5
2. Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit: WWF Intercontinental Championship (Ladder Match) – 4.5/5
3. Chyna vs. Ivory: WWF Women's Championship – 1/5
4. Kurt Angle vs. Triple H: WWF Championship – 3.5/5
5. 30-Man Royal Rumble Match – 4/5
Best Match – Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit
Worst Match – Chyna vs. Ivory
Most Memorable Moment – The Rock & Austin tease staredown. We all saw what was coming. They didn't even lay hands, really.
Top 5 Performers
1. Kane - Outstanding Performance
2. Chris Jericho - Outstanding Performance
3. The Rock - Outstanding Performance
4. Stone Cold - Outstanding Performance
5. Chris Benoit - Outstanding Performance.

My respect for WWE creative head Triple H has increased so much today.
- It was Finn Balor’s home audience in Belfast.
- Finn Balor brought his old song back.
- It was Finn Balor’s mom’s birthday.
Many fans wanted to win the World Heavyweight Championship but Triple H booked him to lose the match against CM Punk.
At first I was mad at Triple H for booking Finn to lose but now after reading the 3 big reasons why Triple H didn’t put the world title on Finn, I’m just happy and have more respect for the boss.