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Radican’s RF Video DVD Review
Faceoff With Honky Tonk Man & Raven
By Sean Radican, Torch Columnist

“Face Off With Honky Tonk Man and Raven” is a new concept from RF Video that will feature Raven and various wrestling personalities discussing wrestling. The first guest wrestler in this series is the Honky Tonk Man. I would have never thought to put these two wrestlers on camera together to discuss various topics in wrestling, but it ended up working out very well. Both men have been in the wrestling business for a long time and have unique opinions on the business, which results in a lot of hilarious commentary on various topics in wrestling from both men.

The first hour of the DVD focuses heavily on Raven and Honky Tonk Man talking about young wrestlers not knowing how to work a crowd. Both men say that young wrestlers rely too much on high-flying, but don’t know how to cut money drawing promos. The highlight of Raven and Honky’s discussion of young wrestlers learning how to work a crowd is Honky talking about how he learned to animate his body by wearing a mask in the ring for several years. Honky says young wrestlers rely too much on flipping their hair to sell a move, but they don’t animate their body. I think all young wrestlers should wear a mask as Honky did, as their selling is sometimes non-existent, but by wearing a mask, young wrestlers would learn how to sell blows more effectively. I see many young wrestlers on the independent scene not sell moves and rely on using too much high-flying and high-impact maneuvers, which is almost always forgettable.

One of the biggest pluses of this DVD is Raven and Honky talking about how the wrestling business was when they were coming in and how it is now, which is particularly interesting to listen to when they talk about the lack of respect young wrestlers have for veterans on the independent scene and only care about getting their stuff in. It is thought provoking to listen to Honky talk about how difficult to work with wrestlers on the independent scene because they lie about their experience in the ring. Honky comments on how independent wrestlers may say they have 2 years in the ring, but then he finds out they’ve only wrestled six matches. Raven also chimes in about how the young wrestlers he works with on the independent scene get upset when he tells them they aren’t going to get all their spots in during a match, but thank him after doing the match his way.

The topics of Honky getting into the WWE Hall of Fame, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, and Goldberg are all brought up, but the DVD really kicks into gear when Honky and Raven discuss a list of the 101 dirtiest rumors in pro wrestling. Honky and Raven rarely spend much time saying whether or not the stated rumor is true, but instead go on entertaining tangents, which are often funny. One of the best stories Honky tells is about going to Scotland to wrestle with Marty Jannety to get baptized, but it turns out Jannety doesn’t stay true to his beliefs for long and is knocking on Honky’s door at 3 in the morning looking for a drink.

Raven and Honky go on to talk about King Kong Bundy, Britney Spears nude pictures on the internet and Raven’s shocking statement about them to Honky, and other wrestlers finding religion. The DVD closes with Honky and Raven talking about how wrestlers used to settle their differences in comparison to how they settle them in public now. Honky talks about how he had a problem with the Dynamite Kid and goes into great detail about how Dynamite Kid acted backstage. Honky then cuts a great promo on Dynamite Kid to close the segment after telling what really happened between them versus what Dynamite kid wrote in his book.

I give this DVD a high recommendation. Both men are highly entertaining and have been involved in wrestling for a long time. This DVD also serves as an education for younger wrestlers on how to work a wrestling match and sell tickets. There are also variety of topics discussed in this DVD, which runs around two and a half hours. I can’t think of anything they didn’t discuss that they should have. Honky and Raven talk politics, steroids, Bam Bam Bigalow’s death, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Vince McMahon and WWE corporate policy, and much more, which is all hilarious and sometimes chilling to listen to.

QUOTEBOOK

Honky Tonk Man on the importance of having gear: “If you don’t invest in yourself, if you don’t invest in your business, what can you expect to get out of it?”

Raven on today’s crop of upcoming wrestlers: “So they do all the moves that Shawn (HBK) does, but they’re missing the star power, which to me that what makes him entertaining. It’s not the moves. I mean, the moves are great, but that’s all window dressing to me.”

Raven on the selling of cruiserweights: “They go from no selling to dying. There’s nothing in-between. There’s no registering.”

Honky Tonk Man on owing Mick Foley an apology: “I told the guy ten years ago you won’t be around in five years. I had to apologize to him. He’s still around.”

Honky Tonk Man on steroid abuse: “Ill tell you what, when those quads start tearing, when those musceles star tearing, it’s a sign of steroid abuse.”

Raven on talking to Bill Goldberg about selling in their match: “I had to work with him (Goldberg). He goes if someone hit me (in real life), I wouldn’t sell it.”

Honky Tonk Man on Bret Hart saying he wasn’t stiff enough in the ring: “Hey Bret, if you had to work a program with somebody for the next five year, who would you want to work with? Me, who never hurt you or Goldberg, who gave you a one kick to the fucking head and gave you a seizure. Now, you tell me.”

Honky Tonk Man on Rick Flair criticizing Brutus Beefcake’s relationship with Hulk Hogan: “Well listen, Arn Anderson wouldn’t have been dog shit if he wasn’t with you, Ric Flair. For Chirst sakes, he was so far up you, you couldn’t breathe.”

Honky Tonk Man on WWE’s demands on him to be in the WWE Hall of Fame: “If they were going to give me a contract to come in and be an advisor. If Mike Rotundo can be an agent and Barry Windham can come back and be on payroll. I mean, C’mon. At least let me sweep the ring out. If you want to take all my shit away from me give me something for it. Give me something. It would be interesting.”

Honky Tonk Man to Raven after he said he didn’t sleep with a 14 year old Becky Bayless. “You did work for Lawler! You did break into the Memphis territory.”

Honky Tonk Man on what Greg Valentine told him after he found religion: “Greg Valentine told me I’m doing this thing (religion). What do you do? Well I tried to stop lying and I quit double booking myself.”

Honky Tonk Man on is relationship with his wife: “I tell my wife I go out to do a bar show. She doesn’t ask me what kind of bar. She doesn’t know it was stripper gone wild, a dildo on a pole match, a lesbian shower scene. When I brought the money home she said, ‘How was the bar show?’ ‘Fantastic!’”

Raven on people being allowed backstage: “If you’re not one of the boys get the fuck out the backstage.”

You can purchase Face Off With Honky Tonk Man & Raven here

To watch a preview of this release click here

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