Raven Snorts Drywall

Raven, who wrestled as Scotty the Body in Portland, Oregon before he became a national star, has been open and honest about his past drug use. Drug use that apparently includes… drywall (a.k.a. Sheetrock).

Date: 1989 – 1990
Location: Portland, Oregon
Source: Raven Effect: Old School Wrestling Territory Tales with “The Grappler” Lynn Denton (6-19-2017)

As noted in our Scott Norton and Cats Watch Raven Have Sex story, Raven was popular in the Portland, Oregon territory. Back then, even as the territories were dying out, it seemed everyone in town still watched the wrestling show. As one of the featured new stars, Raven, as Scotty the Body, became something of a local celebrity.

Lynn Denton, who wrestled as The Grappler for most of his career, was a veteran who started before Raven did and had some success in various territories like Mid-South Wrestling. He’s best known for his stint in Portland, where he eventually moved with his family and became a fixture. In addition to being one of the top stars there, he also did booking and promoting at various times.

Raven has always gone out of his way to mention what a positive influence Denton was on his own career and development as a pro wrestler, and has always spoke highly of Denton’s in-ring skills. The two became good friends outside the ring, and remained friends long after Raven left Portland. Denton is also one of the first people to see real potential in Raven as a future star.

Raven and Denton were also partiers, as most everyone in the business was at the time. On this particular night, they were in North Portland looking for what Denton called “a few party favors” from one of their good friends. Party favors = drugs, most likely cocaine.

They pulled up into their friend’s house, but nobody was there. They noticed the front door was leaning off the hinges, and figured someone must have come in and busted into the place. Rather than pull out of the driveway and speed off to call the cops like most people would’ve done, Raven and Denton went inside.

It was pitch black, but that didn’t stop them from going inside to see if their friend had left them any drugs (he was expecting them to come, so it’s not clear why he wasn’t home). Since it was so dark, they went inside their friend’s bedroom where they knew he kept his “stash.” It was still very dark, and the house was really run down and trashed out, with holes in the walls everywhere. They didn’t find anything, but when you’re greedy and hungry for drugs, sometimes desperation kicks in. For example, one time Ozzy Osbourne snorted ants (yes, ants) because he was so high. And another time, the guys in Motley Crue shot themselves up with alcohol (when they could’ve just drank it).

At this point it was like they were panning for gold. Raven, all of a sudden, then noticed what he thought was the jackpot.

“Look, I got a big one!” shouted Raven. It was a big white rock that he thought was cocaine. Raven was either too inebriated to know any better, or not experienced enough with cocaine to really know what to do. Denton knew it wasn’t cocaine, so went after him. Before he got there, Raven had already crushed the rock and snorted ALL of it at once.

It wasn’t cocaine. It was drywall.  Sheetrock.  You know, from the holes in the wall that were obvious to them as they looked around for drugs.

Raven immediately started sneezing and his eyes were watering like crazy. He had just snorted a mineral called gypsum, which is really calcium sulfate dehydrate and is the main component of drywall/Sheetrock. There could’ve also been several other chemical fillers and additives in there, depending on the year the house was built and the materials used.

Once Raven realized what he had done and cleared his throat and eyes, they said, “Holy sh*t, let’s get out of here!” and sped off.

Is it healthy to snort drywall or Sheetrock? Of course not, especially if it was an older home and had asbestos. However, it’s repeated exposure to breathing in drywall dust that causes lung damage, so he was probably not harmed. Still, he took in a huge amount at once and probably irritated his eyes, nose, ears, and throat for a couple days. Snorting drywall is actually not as unique as you think, and there are videos on YouTube of young teenagers doing it.

Raven is truly one of a kind, and this is yet another wacky road story from his past, of which there are several.