“Ruthless” Ryan Davidson discusses his 15-year journey to the ROW Championship

After moving back to Houston in late 2007, Ryan Davidson found his way to Booker T’s Pro Wrestling Alliance. This was before the company re-branded as Reality of Wrestling.

“I met Book in summer of ‘08,” Davidson said. “And my first match at PWA, or under Booker T, was against Gustavo Mendoza, who was the champion at the time, and I was in the main event.”

It was a fantastic way to start things for Ryan Davidson, who was only 23 years old at the time. It was his first taste of working with Booker T, and he’d later get to work extensively with Stevie Ray. Both men are WWE Hall of Famers, and Davidson talked about his experience working with such legendary figures.

“It’s kinda something surreal. Not to sound too cliche, but it really is. I’d kinda compare it to where it’s like if you always grew up playing football, and you idolize let’s say Cam Newton or Peyton Manning,” Davidson said. “If you watch these guys play, and then a few years down the road you’re running down the field and you just happen to catch the ball that was thrown by Cam Newton or Peyton Manning, or somebody like that. That’s kind of like the extent of getting experience and being around Stevie and Book because I kinda grew up watching these guys.”

“Me and Book, we have a very good business relationship. There’s been times where it’s like things couldn’t be greater, and then be other times where him and I would definitely butt heads, and he would shoo me out for things, but it was always what I needed to hear, not always what I wanted to hear. And it made me better for it,” Davidson said. “Book’s respectfully and thankfully, he’s always looked at me like the ring general there. I’ve always thought that was pretty cool. Any kind of Hall of Famer that thinks the world of you, you must be doing something right.”

Since starting with PWA back in 2008, Ryan Davidson has had the opportunity to see both the highs and the lows of what now stands as Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling. Unfortunately, there was a time when it looked like things wouldn’t still be going today.

“When I first got there, we were [at the] Pasadena Convention Center every month. We’d sell that place out almost, and that was because they’re bringing in all these names and all these bigtime wrestlers. And basically, when we changed venues, we weren’t bringing in any names. And everybody basically disappeared,” Davidson said. “I remember wrestling in front of crowds that were like 30 people there, maybe 40. And there’s been a lot of different times where Sharmell and Book, both were like ‘okay, I think we’re gonna close the doors, I think we’re just gonna stop doing shows, and we’ll probably just have the school.’ It’s been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of close calls, but we’ve always made it through.”

Ryan Davidson has been “super, super proud” of the way ROW has grown since the PWA days, despite the periods where things looked dire, saying “every time that you want something you’re never really truly ready for it. You’re not really aligned for it, and we just weren’t aligned.”

“‘Cause we always had talent. We always had the knowledge to do it, but we weren’t aligned to kinda put the pieces into place. Once the rebranding of PWA went to Reality of Wrestling, everything just skyrocketed,” Davidson said. “Next thing you know, the crowds just started exploding. Then all of a sudden it went through the crowds exploding to our first local TV deal with The Cube.”

“I mean, we just broke 100,000 subscribers [on YouTube], which I think this time last year we only had like 30,000 maybe,” Davidson said. “The quality of our shows, and Book with the Hall of Fame radio show, and things of that nature. Just to see where it’s gone, man. And it’s still climbing.”

“I know that sounds like the cliche thing to say, but 2019 has by far been the biggest year Reality of Wrestling has ever had. And me being in the forefront, being the champ, that’s so cool to be a part of that and I’m so grateful for it,” he said. “And it’s not just me, it’s everybody else that’s put in the work and busted our rear ends to get there.”

As we talked about the growth of Reality of Wrestling, something came up that former ROW Champion Gino Medina spoke about when I interviewed him earlier this year. The World Gym Arena, where ROW currently holds events at least once a month, started as a retail mall location before it could become the venue it is today.

“World Gym Arena, that was literally built by us,” Davidson said. “A lot of the walls, the paint, everything inside that building, that’s done by us. We didn’t pay a whole bunch of contractors to do a lot of work, we all did that ourselves. I take a lot of pride in it. It’s definitely home for sure. Like it doesn’t matter where my career goes, like Reality of Wrestling will always be my home.”

The process wasn’t exactly streamlined, and most of them had to learn these construction skills as they went. However, it’s this DIY mentality that speaks volumes about Booker T himself and the values he instilled upon everyone at ROW.

“I tell this story all the time about the type of guy that Book is,” Davidson said. “I’d walk into the building and he’d be sweeping and he’d have his [WWE] Hall of Fame ring on his finger. And I’m sitting there looking at him going, here’s a WWE Hall of Famer and he’s sweeping the floors because he wants to, wearing his ring.”

“It’s just because he loves it so much because he cares,” Davidson continued. “[Booker T] wants to bring Houston wrestling back, and he’s gotta have a nice facility and stuff like that. Let alone the fact that it’s Booker T. He could tell anybody, ‘hey y’all need to sweep this up for me.’ And nobody would bat an eye or have a problem with it, but just because Booker is who he is, he’s gonna do it himself. It’s almost to the point where you have to yank a broom out of his hand to get him to stop. Because he won’t do it.”

On top of being the ROW Champion, Ryan Davidson is one of the lead trainers for Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling. It’s been a beneficial experience for Davidson, who said it was “the best of both worlds.” As a trainer, Ryan Davidson has had the opportunity to pass on his years of knowledge to others within the wrestling industry, including things he’s learned from Booker T.

“Booker always tells people, don’t write down the things that you do right, write down all the things that you do wrong or what not to do. Because if you know what not to do and all the things that are wrong, then everything else will just manifest into itself. And it’s worked. It’s worked a lot,” Davidson said. “I’ve used pretty much that same mindset when it comes to training a lot of the younger demographic of pro wrestling, and it’s great, man. It’s fulfilling because you gotta have patience [while training others], but also at the same time too it’s a refresher course for a guy like me and other talents that have been around.”

“I have a very good eye. I do pride myself on the fact that I know talent when I see it,” Davidson continued. “When I know that they get it and they actually want it, I know exactly what to do with them and have them progress and stuff. There’s been a lot of people that I’ve helped out and showed some things that are on WWE now or they’ve wrestled all across the world, things of that nature.”