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Submitted by Dumass on Friday, April 22, 2005 at 4:29 AM EST
 "Now I can look back and think, you know, Ray Stevens was probably like the best worker in the business at that period. There are a lot of people who will tell you he was the best. I didn't...it took me a while to figure that out." - Dave Meltzer, 2000(link) Credit to Viktor Berry for the pic. Ray Stevens, known as the 'Crippler' long before Chris Benoit was losing teeth, was a god to me when I was younger. He was the wrestler that I wanted to be if I ever got into the business. He had the pose and the strut behind him. He wasn't in the greatest of shapes, but he could easily go 45-to-a-hour and make the match a five (5) star classic. He did everything. He worked the mat better than anyone. He went to the ropes better than anyone. He cheated better than anyone. He was the best of the best. Watching his work, I found myself drawing a lot of similarities to other wrestlers. His biggest rip was from Ric Flair and Shawn Micheals. Before it was the Shawn Micheals turnbuckle spot, it was the Flair spot, and before it was the Flair spot, it was the Ray Stevens spot. Looking at people like Randy Savage and Rick Steamboat and their open to going to the top rope for a knee or a cross body or a double-ax-handle; they had shades and glimpses of when Ray would do the same manuveurs over 20 years before they did. Look at those tapes of when you see Steve Austin or Bret Hart walk down to the ring. That's the second coming of Ray Stevens right there. That strut that he did going to the ring was the stuff of legend. Hear his promos and his interviews and see if you can tell them apart from all the other big promo guys from the 80s and 90s. He was a wrestler that everyone wanted to be.  Here's Ray Being The Badass Mofo He Was By Talking While Bleeding. Credit to Viktor Berry for the pic. He started wrestling when he was 13 years old in Columbus, Ohio and turned pro at 17. He showed me that I could do it, and I did, turning (real) pro at 15 years old, working as a shitty gimmick wrestler and having no way of getting out of it until I got older. Coincidentally, you can't do much when you're that young in the ring, so I mostly had 5-10 minute matches and the rest of my time was spent training and fixing up rings and such. When I turned 17, I got more noticed than when I was 15 or 12(which was my official starting age), but I was so happy that I was wrestling at the same age as Ray that those first 2 years never bothered me. I wanted to be a wrestler because of him. I wanted to be a big star because of him. And, unfortunately, I'm not looked at anymore in the wrestling side of things because I was like him. I met him in 1996. I was so completely in awe of the guy. By that time, the heart problems had really gotten to him and he looked so old. Old, but really dignified. I sat with him for about a hour and asked him about his time in the San Fransisco territory. He told me so many funny road and match stories that I thought I was going to be in a hospital bed with him from all the laughter. He was the best and in such high hopes for how he was. I told him he was a hero of mine and he called me a pencil neck. Classic Ray. That same month, I was reading the paper and I found out that he had passed away.  Credit to Viktor Berry and Nito Gomez for the pic. He was a great wrestler and a great man. No one nowadays knows the name of Ray Stevens. Everyone gives their cheers to guys like Steve Austin, Shawn Micheals, Bret Hart, Ric Flair....they call them the best. I thought Ray Stevens was the best. He won't be remembered by many, but he was the best wrestler I ever copied from. I copied from him because all the greats did before me. ____________________________________ I was in a rememberance mood. You didn't read it, I'll live. If you would like to know more on Ray and the rest of the stars of the best wrestling promotion in my world, Northern California Wrestling, Go Here to look at the past. (link) Don't forget to head over to Wrestling United.com to listen to me and Phantom Lord rant on about the week in review. Thanks for reading I guess. Dumass <----Email me!! AIM: DumassLOP Lethal Wrestling - Damn Pencil Necks. Upvolt!.com - Holding Your Pictures For Safe Keeping...Or Lethal's Money Back!!
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