TRJ: First off, thank you very much for allowing me to do this interview. So how are you feeling these days?

RB: Hey Joel, its no problem at all. It's my pleasure. As far as how I feel, well, you can say that I'm just a little banged up.

TRJ: That was my next question, is your knee any worse since we last spoke?

RB: No, its not worse. I mean honestly I still need to get surgery on it.

TRJ: When do you plan on getting surgery on it? And if I am correct this is the same knee you had surgery on in 2000, right?

RB: I think sometime this summer, but I'm not totally sure. But yes, this is the same knee.

TRJ: How did you mess up your knee?

RB: Well, last August I hurt it again playing football. I knew right away it was bad. I stupidly finished the game still. Then I took some time off from wrestling and football until about October. It felt ok enough to start doing stuff again. Then during one of my matches in February it started to hurt very bad. Once I do have this surgery I really don't know how long I will be out, but it will give me a chance to heal up in general. Right now I'm sporting some cracked ribs and a few other minor injuries.

TRJ: So you also play football?

RB: Yeah, just not so much right now. It's basically just a group of guys I know and we all play our hardest and kill each other out there. Everyone out there just loves the sport and the hard hitting. We played at one point every Saturday for almost a year straight. On top of that I had matches on the same night. Needless to say on Sundays I would be pretty much dead.

TRJ: Now in 2000, you had knee surgery and you were also the FWF rookie of the year. If you don't mind, talk about....

RB: When I became diabetic?

TRJ: Yes...

RB: Yeah, no problem. Well, I found out I was diabetic that year. It was kinda upsetting at the time but I'm ok with it now. I started out with a couple shots a day at first. Then my Doctor thought it would be best for me to get an insulin pump. Which I love! Instead of two needles a day I have one every 2-3 days. Basically, to change my pump. It injects into my stomach and the tubing is taped on. One thing I will add, since becoming diabetic everything seems to hurt more, and longer. It's something I've gotten use to though at this point. I guess one thing for sure I'd like to get out to everyone is, if you are diabetic, it's not the end other the world.

TRJ: How long do you see yourself wresting and what are your goals?

RB: Lets talk about the second part first. My goal always used to be to wrestle at the ECW arena for ECW. Most guys would say Madison Square Garden, or Wrestlemania, but not me. That changed when ECW went out of business. But, now with the rumors that it is coming back maybe that could one day come true. It would be awesome, but I'm not holding my breath. Never say never, I've seen stranger things happen. As far as how much gas is left in the tank? I really don't know. I have taken a beating and some big bumps over the years and it all adds up. I feel it everyday. I guess once I'm just not able to do the crazy stuff I love to do, then I'm done.

TRJ: You told me before that you do no take any type of pain medicine, ever. Why is that exactly?

RB: Well plain and simple, too many people in this sport get hooked. I don't want to become one of them, so I choose to take nothing. Not even for something as simple as a headache. In fact, I'm sitting here looking at an unopened bottle of Aleve that my ex-girlfriend bought me a while back. It will never be used. As far as my personal life, I don't drink and I have never done drugs.

TRJ: Are you Straight Edge?

RB: No, I don't call myself that or whatever. I'm not really even sure what all that consists of. I just know drugs and drinking are not for me. For the record I don't hold that (drinking or doing drugs) against anyone. It's just not my style, or for me.

TRJ: I read somewhere you actually hate "Hardcore" wrestling, is that true?

RB: Well, I hate what most people consider Hardcore wrestling. I mean two fat and out of shape guys walking around and hitting each other with random objects to me is not Hardcore wrestling. It's not wrestling at all. Plus the fact that they just hit each other with stuff is not even Hardcore. That's what most people think of when they hear the term Hardcore. I think a lot of it has to do with the former WWE Hardcore division. I mean, I remember once they hit each other with a fake office plant, and who can forget the paper thin trash can lids, or the body slam into a lake. Come on, I think that helped make people frown on the term Hardcore. I mean with zero wrestling involved it is actually very stupid.

Now, what I think Hardcore is and should be is a different story. To me Hardcore wrestling should involve, get this, wrestling. I think the X-Division and the Crusierweight Division are both very Hardcore in their own right. I love seeing all the innovative and risk taking moves. I think Hardcore should involve a lot of those elements. Hardcore to me should also have bits of technical and chain wrestling. Almost all of my so called Hardcore matches I mixed a lot of that in at least in the beginning to build up to the more crazy stuff. Hardcore wrestling also should have some big bumps. My favorite thing is table spots. That's also something that has been watered down a bit from TV. To me, setting up a table in the ring and doing a regular power bomb really isn't all that crazy. I think table spots can be very awesome if done right. The last table spot I was in was in back in February. It was pretty good, I got choke slammed by Ryze off of some movable stairs through two tables stacked on the cement floor. It was pretty high and it looked good. It put an exclamation point on a pretty good match I had with Jaison Moore. Also, working stiff is something people should always do. I mean don't try and kill the guy but lay it in there. Someone pulling a forearm to the back really gets on my nerves. In summary, basically what I think Hardcore should be a mixture of the X-Division, technical and chain wrestling, working stiff, mixed with big bumps and big spots, all while still trying to tell a story. As you can tell I have talked about it before.

TRJ: What are some of your Favorite matches you have had over the years?

RB: Recently in New Port Richey I had a three way with Michael Christopher and Jaison Moore for the AWF Florida title, which turned out to be very good. The three of us have had some great hard hitting singles matches over the past few months so the three way dance was just a continuance of that. I'm not sure what's next for us three, as I really enjoy working both of them. They are both very solid, Jaison makes a great Florida Champion and MC is technically sound. I also really liked the match I had with Kenny King. Kenny is one of the nicest workers I have meet in a long time, he has no ego and he is awesome in the ring. I will always love the Scaffold match I had with Chris Rain for the FWF at the Manatee Civic Center as it was in front of a huge crowd and I got thrown off the sccaffold.

TRJ: Is there anyone out there you have not wrestled but would like to?

RB: Kahagas, for sure. He is great, and stiff as hell which is awesome. I have not worked him on a show and I have not been in the ring with him in a long time. He used to kick my ass on a regular basis in late 1999 and 2000 over in Winter Haven at the FWF Training Center. He's a great guy, maybe one day we'll meet up in the ring.

TRJ: Mr. Beez, thank you very much for this interview and for your time.

RB: My pleasure Joel. I just want to say one last thing.

TRJ: Sure, go right ahead.

RB: Arm drags are awesome and you don't see enough of them. Thanks again.

You can see Ray Beez in action tonight (May 13th) for the AWF. Visit www.AWFPro.com for more information. He did promise me he did have something up his sleeve for this night.