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

Back in April of 2019, “Ruthless” Ryan Davidson’s career reached a moment that had eluded him for years. Despite his more than a decade of experience, much of that spent as a foundational member of Reality of Wrestling, he walked into ROW No Limits having never been the ROW Champion. In a battle royal that even included NXT’s own Kassius Ohno, Ryan Davidson triumphed over everyone else and captured the ROW Championship for the first time in his career.

“Redemption. Validation,” were the first words Ryan Davidson used to describe what that victory meant to him. “If you look at pro wrestling, the titles are just props. They’re just a tool to help elevate a talent. But when you get to the major levels of WWE, NWA, AEW, ROH, things like that, the titles mean something. Because that ups your payscale and stuff like that. I always looked at it like that. I always looked at it that the championship always elevated you as a star, and I always felt like that was one thing that eluded me for certain reasons that I really didn’t know.”

“I would have times that I would be frustrated and I wouldn’t understand why I wouldn’t get those opportunities. But going back to what I said earlier, whenever you really want something you’re not aligned for it,” Davidson said. “You’re really not ready for it yet, and I wasn’t ready to be the ROW Champion. And looking back on it, the way that it happened, if I was the ROW Champ when I really wanted to be, like let’s say in 2015 or ‘16, [it] wouldn’t mean as much as it does now because in 2019, Reality of Wrestling is at the peak and the highest it’s ever been. And I’ve been the heavyweight champion since [April], and of all these great things that’s still keeping Reality of Wrestling on the map, I’m the spearhead of that.”

“I really didn’t even know about being the Grand Slam Champion until after the fact,” Davidson said of discovering he was the first man to capture all four championships in ROW. “As long as Reality of Wrestling is gonna be around, I’ll always be known as the first one to claim the Grand Slam title. So, it’s very cool.”

Since capturing the title, ROW Champion Ryan Davidson has found himself representing the company against some big challengers. Back in July, ROW did a co-branded show with Impact Wrestling called Deep Impact. I asked him what that event meant for ROW as a whole, but also him as a competitor.

“So, I feel like it was great for Reality of Wrestling. Any time you do a big event with two very reputable companies that can do a cross-promotional event, I think that’s good for both sides, and overall it’s good for pro wrestling,” Davidson said. “I really believe that it was a great night for Reality of Wrestling and it was a great night for the fans, because that’s what it’s all about, right? Not to sound too cliche.”

“For me, not so much. Because me and Rich Swann didn’t get to have the match that we really, really wanted to have. And the way it ended with the locker rooms dumping out like that was not something that I was a very big fan of. If me and Rich Swann had the opportunity and the time to go out there and really showcase our talents, I know we would’ve by far given the match of the night. I just know it. I’ll tell that to anybody,” Davidson said. “Unfortunately, as far as an individual status goes, it was not a great night for me. But even though I didn’t lose, Rich didn’t either, the match got thrown out. Technically, on paper, it wouldn’t have been bad. But me personally, I was really looking forward to really tearing the house down with someone who’s like one of the best.”

Unfortunately for “Ruthless” Ryan Davidson, he would find disappointment once again the next month at ROW Summer of Champions 6. He defended the ROW Championship against Dio Maddin, a former ROW competitor who is now an NXT superstar and commentator on Monday Night Raw. The two had a great contest, but a shot with a steel chain resulted in Maddin being disqualified.

“Summer of Champions 6 was kind of bittersweet. I really enjoyed the event, I thought there were a bunch of great matches,” Davidson said. “Once again, going back to a lot of great talents. Trying to compete against a match that you would have like Gino, Bryan Keith, Rex Andrews, and Ayden Cristiano all in one match. I’m just like, man I gotta follow that? That’s a rough night at the office. Then you had street fights, then you had women’s matches, then you had some tag matches with like Hawx Aerie and Fly Def, like those guys are really good. And so it’s like, a lot of those different factors are going on.”

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“Like me and Dio, we’ve had a past. When he first came in as The Shogun, I was the first guy he faced. I was like the first feud that he had, and really just getting his feet wet, because of just seeing what he was capable of,” Davidson said. “And we had some good matches, and he did very well for himself, and then it kinda all came back full circle for him to come down from NXT and face me because I never had the chance to beat him. And technically I did, not the way that I would like, but I’m still champion and it is a win.”

“And that’s the thing,” Davidson continued. “Obviously everybody would want a pinfall 1-2-3 victory, no conspiracy, but sometimes it just doesn’t go that way. My thing is, a win’s a win. It doesn’t matter how it comes in, a win’s a win. And if I can keep winning and keep being Reality of Wrestling Champion, that’s really all that I care about.”

“Ruthless” Ryan Davidson continues his journey this Saturday at ROW Rise to Wrestling Royalty when he defends the ROW Championship against Bryan Keith. “The Bear From Bellaire” will be looking for a dominant win considering how the last few months have gone for him, but the most important thing will be leaving the World Gym Arena as ROW Champion.

If you’re close enough, the best thing to do is go to the World Gym Arena yourself to see the action live. If you can’t be there, keep up with Reality of Wrestling through their weekly show on Fite and their official YouTube.