“Ruthless” Ryan Davidson discusses his 15-year journey to the ROW Championship
Speaking of WWE, while Ryan Davidson isn’t yet a WWE superstar, he’s gotten to be an extra for the company on more than one occasion. Davidson was clear about the value of the experience but had some words of caution to others in the industry.
“It’s a great experience. I totally recommend [it] for everyone that’s involved in pro wrestling or just starting off. If there’s an opportunity to be an extra for WWE, they should,” Davidson said. “I just have a different opinion of people who are always an extra for WWE, because if you mentally are like ‘oh, I’m just gonna keep doing all these extra gigs,’ that’s the only way that WWE’s gonna look at you if you’re an aspiring talent. If they always see you as the extra guy, then you’re always gonna be stuck in that. That’s something that Booker has talked to us a lot about too, is just being extra careful about not doing something like that too much.”
“I’ve had some great experiences as an extra,” Davidson continued. “And then I’ve had some really crappy ones. A real good one would be, believe it or not, WrestleMania 25. I don’t know if you remember the John Cena entrance with all the John Cenas that came out. I was one of the John Cenas.”
“When the Rosebuds were relevant, I was a hot dog and I think Bryan Keith was a hot dog, and so was Rex [Andrews],” Davidson said. “We kind of have this little funny pact against ourselves that we just all somehow organically were the guy that wore the hot dog suit for the Rosebuds. We all ended up as the hot dog. And me and Bryan Keith were the actual Easter Bunny [with] the Rosebuds.”
Dressing up like a hot dog or an Easter Bunny to have a brief glimpse of WWE may sound a bit out there, but that’s nothing compared to what Ryan Davidson saw when he went to Japan. Last year, he had the opportunity to work with DDT Pro-Wrestling in Japan, a company known for mixing high-quality wrestling with complete and utter absurdity. For example, it’s the same company where Kota Ibushi wrestled a doll.
“This time last year I went to DDT. It was awesome, man. I think about Japan every day. I’m actually supposed to be returning sometime this year, might [be] in the beginning of 2020,” Davidson said. “They originally told me October of this year, but there’s been some changes within the company as far as bringing over foreign talent that they’re only going to be able to bring in a few at a time. Because when I went, there was like six or seven guys there with me. And they’re from all different parts of the world and they left at different times.”
“I was there for about seven weeks, and it was just the most wonderful experience ever. It did so much for me not only in-ring but it did so much for me mentally,” Davidson said. “Because, in pro wrestling everyone talks about the physical aspect of it, but nobody really talks about the mental aspect. And I think that’s the make or break of any male or female star is the mentality game of it. Believing in yourself, treat people the way that you want to be treated, and just having that confidence of going in there and doing the deed. And like, I always knew that I was talented and I always knew that I was a good wrestler, I just didn’t know how good.”
“It was always like an internal struggle. Oh, I’m good, well am I that good?” Davidson would ask himself. “Everybody gets in their own head. I go to Japan and I just get blown out of the water with confidence, because I’m wrestling people from all over the world and I’m wrestling some of the best talent that Japan has to offer and they’re putting me over and singing my praises.”
“I was only guaranteed six matches there, and I ended up doubling that because of how good I was doing. And I take a lot of pride in that because not a lot of guys and girls get that opportunity or have that happen to them,” Davidson said. “Like they’ll just go over for whatever set agreement they have and that’s it. If they really like you, they’ll try and throw you everything they can. That’s what they did with me. I take a lot of pride in it, man. It’s such a beautiful country and the culture’s amazing. The respect is second to none. I can’t say enough great things about it and I can’t wait to go back.”
“I’m the type of guy that I’m very open-minded,” Davidson continued, giving some context to his feelings when doing some of the crazier things in DDT. “Like I’ll do anything if it makes sense. If it makes sense or I know it’s gonna be entertaining, then I’ll definitely do it. I’m not one of the guys that’s kind of like a square to where they’re like ‘oh, I only like this type of wrestling, and everything else sucks.’ You’re not gonna last long in pro wrestling, you have to have a wide range of interests and stuff. And going back to what we said earlier, it’s all about perspective. You never know what somebody’s gonna like.”
“I would see this guy dress up like Rambo and shoot BBs at this giant tofu block that acted like Godzilla and was killing him and throwing things at him, but the people are eating it up,” Davidson explained. “And then the very next match you have a five-star classic with two young very athletic competitors that are just pulling out some of the greatest wrestling you’ve ever seen. And that’s kind of the beauty with DDT, you never know what you’re gonna get.”
“They treated me so well and I had so many great athletes to wrestle with, some of the best that Japan has to offer, and then one day they’re like, ‘hey, Ryan-san, would you go do our campsite match?’ And I’m like, ‘yes, of course.’ So I go two hours outside of Tokyo in the middle of a forest. Like, I don’t know where I’m at,” Davidson said. “All I know is I’m two hours outside of Tokyo. I’m literally in the middle of a forest, and they have like this gigantic wrestling match.”
“They have their yearly campsite match,” Davidson said. “Kenny Omega did it, El Generico did it, like a lot of different guys that came through DDT, they all did this. Like Kota Ibushi, they all did it. They’d go around to different parts of the forest and you’d just wrestle in the forest. It’s like a free for all, anything goes.”
“As a part of this match, going around, I was in a tent and they knocked my tent over and I got mad and I took a log and I swung it around and was hitting people with a gigantic log from the forest,” Davidson said. “Then I get “murdered,” and they go off and fight, and I “rise up from the dead” and have an impromptu sumo match with one of their wrestlers. And then there you go. So, DDT’s out there. I explained what I did to people in DDT, and they look at me like ‘are you serious?’ And I’m like, DDT Universe, man. Go look at it. I’ll show you the match. It happened. It’s super cool, and definitely one of my favorite things I’ve done in wrestling.”