TNA's Raven: A destiny of immortality
Eric Schomburg
January 03, 2006
If you are a wrestling fan then you already know who Raven is. Raven is probably the most underrated wrestler on the wrestling circuit today. While he has had success in ECW, WCW, WWE, and TNA; however, many fans of wrestling really don?t realize the importance of Raven.
Today, wrestling fans remember the Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and even John Cena. Why do they remember them? Because of their maverick personalities; however, what about Raven?
Raven?s character was a nihilistic, amoral, depressed, choleric, enigma that left an elusive outlook to his opponents and even his allies.
Despite the Raven character didn?t debut until 1995, Scott Levy was wrestling as other characters. Characters such as Scotty Flamingo, Scotty the ?Body,? and Johnny Polo. Most of Scott Levy?s characters were high-spirited babyfaces that wore colorful attire; however, Scott Levy?s journey in wrestling would seem like a paradox as the colorful, high-spirited, babyface would take a dramatic turn.
In ECW, Scott Levy transformed into the opposite of his other persona?s, he would transform into Raven. Raven was introduced in ECW with a sycophant known as Stevie Richards. Those who could get ECW were immediately baffled when they saw the scrawny ?Johnny Polo? from the WWE come to ECW wearing torn jean shorts, an old DC Comics ?Sandman? t-shirt, long stringy hair, black combat boots, and a leather jacket.
Despite that some wrestling fans in ECW looked at Raven as ?Johnny Polo in WWE,? he proved everyone wrong by portraying a character that was dark, demented, angry, and satanic in some sense. Raven would feud with the likes of the Pitbulls, Tommy Dreamer, the Sandman, and Terry Gordy.
Raven would prove to every fan in wrestling that he was an impact player, and soon the memory of his old persona?s would diminish and die, and Raven would be apparent like a scar.
While in ECW, Raven was easy to declare the ?backbone? of the company. He would hold the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on two separate occasions, and hold the ECW Tag-Team Championship with tag-team partner Stevie Richards.
One of Raven?s moments were captured in WWE?s ?Rise and Fall of ECW.? Raven was feuding with Sandman, and in one segment he would ?crucify? the Sandman and ?offend? ECW fans and other fans of professional wrestling. For starters, I don?t find anything offending, if anything it gave Raven heel bonus points. This segment would anger Joey Styles and Kurt Angle. Personally, I think both of them need to get a life, because if they want to talk about offensive wrestling angles try looking at the WWE, THE SAME COMPANY BOTH STYLES AND ANGLE WORK FOR!
Raven?s biggest feud was with Tommy Dreamer. The story of Dreamer and Raven goes back to when they were kids. Dreamer and Raven went to camp and while Raven was a kid that kept to himself, Dreamer was a ?jock? that got the attention of a ?fat girl? named Beulah McGillicutty. Beulah had a ?crush? on Tommy, but because she was ?fat? Tommy rejected her; however, she would sleep with Raven.
In an act of vengeance, Raven would bring in Beulah and to Tommy Dreamer?s surprise Beulah was no longer a porky teenage girl. Instead, Beulah would be a thin, sexy, luscious, vixen that was dripping with ecstacy and hungry for revenge against her humiliated encounter with Tommy Dreamer.
In a poignant turn of events for Raven, he would lose Beulah to Tommy as that inner-childhood crush still lurked in her soul. Raven would then bring in another vixen to try and make Beulah jealous, that woman would be Kimona Wanalaya (Come on, I wanna lay ya...HA HA!) However, Raven would be the fool as ECW would introduce the first ever lesbian storyline between Kimona and Beulah.
Raven and Tommy?s feud escalated into one simple formula, Tommy Dreamer could never pin Raven. Raven has been pinned by the likes of Sandman and Terry Funk, but for some odd reason, Tommy Dreamer would come up short. For two years Raven defeated Dreamer, until finally Dreamer defeated Raven on June 1997. A great feud that ended on a high note. Dreamer got his win, and Raven got the recognition he deserved. Raven would leave ECW for WCW.
On a personal note, I thought the Dreamer/Raven feud was good; however, you couldn?t help but cheer for Raven, because you felt that Raven was robbed of Beulah. Here?s Dreamer who didn?t accept Beulah for who she was, only what she looked like, and Raven overlooked the negatives and outweighed the positives and yet Dreamer ends up with Beulah. It wasn?t fair to Raven, but it?s psychology like this that makes that feud stand out as one of the best.
I also didn?t like the idea that Dreamer was using a lot of Raven?s traits. I don?t have a problem with Tommy Dreamer personally or professionally, but couldn?t he have used a different pose besides Raven?s ?wingspan? pose? How about a different finishing move? Did he really have to use the DDT? Not only that, but even when he was feuding with Louie Spicolli, he used the Death Valley Driver, which was Louie?s finishing move. Come on, Tommy, you were like ECW?s Eugene, you?re stealing everyone?s everything.
Back to Raven. Raven would go to WCW, and while Raven would have great feuds with the likes of Diamond Dallas Page, Chris Benoit, and Goldberg, Raven?s run in WCW was reduced to US Title material and WCW Tag-Team material. It?s interesting to note that Raven was the first to leave WCW because of their lackluster way of dealing with creative direction. This departure would be the nebulous of other stars like Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, the Giant (Big Show) and Perry Saturn to make their departure to other wrestling companies.
Raven would return to ECW, and surprisingly would win the tag-team titles with his arch-nemesis, Tommy Dreamer. Both Raven and Dreamer still hated each other, but worked well as a team feuding with the likes of Lance Storm and Justin Credible. Raven would leave ECW for WWE and have yet another and even more lackluster run.
WWE?s problem with Raven is the WWE didn?t know what to do with Raven, and the fact that Raven was very verbose with his promo?s. Raven would use big words in which Vince McMahon was probably scratching his head in confusion. The WWE reduced him down to WWE Sunday Night Heat, a show that NO ONE WATCHED!
Raven?s journey would take him to NWA-TNA in which he still remains. Raven would enter the NWA-TNA in a serious tone, which was smart. Raven was grungy, dirty, dangerous, and hardcore, and WWE and WCW had no clue how to draw that out of Raven. However, TNA knew how to do that, and Raven would make it his ?destiny? in becoming the NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
Raven would have great feuds with the likes of AJ Styles, Jeff Jarrett, Father James Mitchell, Vampiro, Chris Harris, Abyss, and Rhino. Raven spent a couple of years un-fulfilling that destiny until June 19th, 2005 when that destiny was finally fulfilled, Raven won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. To those that are not into wrestling, the NWA World Title has been an active title for over 50 years. In other words, Raven has now declared a legacy in the ranks of professional wrestling.
TNA has recognized Raven as one of the best wrestlers, and has released an action figure and even his own DVD, ?Nevermore.?
Raven, in my personal opinion, is one of the best wrestlers of all time. Raven is a connoisseur in wrestling and it shows as he has won a title belt in every major wrestling company. Raven?s character is still that deranged enigma that is as much an elusive character than a lucid character.
So it is written, so it shall come to pass....Quote the Raven Nevermore.
For more on Raven, please go to www.theraveneffect.com
Today, wrestling fans remember the Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and even John Cena. Why do they remember them? Because of their maverick personalities; however, what about Raven?
Raven?s character was a nihilistic, amoral, depressed, choleric, enigma that left an elusive outlook to his opponents and even his allies.
Despite the Raven character didn?t debut until 1995, Scott Levy was wrestling as other characters. Characters such as Scotty Flamingo, Scotty the ?Body,? and Johnny Polo. Most of Scott Levy?s characters were high-spirited babyfaces that wore colorful attire; however, Scott Levy?s journey in wrestling would seem like a paradox as the colorful, high-spirited, babyface would take a dramatic turn.
In ECW, Scott Levy transformed into the opposite of his other persona?s, he would transform into Raven. Raven was introduced in ECW with a sycophant known as Stevie Richards. Those who could get ECW were immediately baffled when they saw the scrawny ?Johnny Polo? from the WWE come to ECW wearing torn jean shorts, an old DC Comics ?Sandman? t-shirt, long stringy hair, black combat boots, and a leather jacket.
Despite that some wrestling fans in ECW looked at Raven as ?Johnny Polo in WWE,? he proved everyone wrong by portraying a character that was dark, demented, angry, and satanic in some sense. Raven would feud with the likes of the Pitbulls, Tommy Dreamer, the Sandman, and Terry Gordy.
Raven would prove to every fan in wrestling that he was an impact player, and soon the memory of his old persona?s would diminish and die, and Raven would be apparent like a scar.
While in ECW, Raven was easy to declare the ?backbone? of the company. He would hold the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on two separate occasions, and hold the ECW Tag-Team Championship with tag-team partner Stevie Richards.
One of Raven?s moments were captured in WWE?s ?Rise and Fall of ECW.? Raven was feuding with Sandman, and in one segment he would ?crucify? the Sandman and ?offend? ECW fans and other fans of professional wrestling. For starters, I don?t find anything offending, if anything it gave Raven heel bonus points. This segment would anger Joey Styles and Kurt Angle. Personally, I think both of them need to get a life, because if they want to talk about offensive wrestling angles try looking at the WWE, THE SAME COMPANY BOTH STYLES AND ANGLE WORK FOR!
Raven?s biggest feud was with Tommy Dreamer. The story of Dreamer and Raven goes back to when they were kids. Dreamer and Raven went to camp and while Raven was a kid that kept to himself, Dreamer was a ?jock? that got the attention of a ?fat girl? named Beulah McGillicutty. Beulah had a ?crush? on Tommy, but because she was ?fat? Tommy rejected her; however, she would sleep with Raven.
In an act of vengeance, Raven would bring in Beulah and to Tommy Dreamer?s surprise Beulah was no longer a porky teenage girl. Instead, Beulah would be a thin, sexy, luscious, vixen that was dripping with ecstacy and hungry for revenge against her humiliated encounter with Tommy Dreamer.
In a poignant turn of events for Raven, he would lose Beulah to Tommy as that inner-childhood crush still lurked in her soul. Raven would then bring in another vixen to try and make Beulah jealous, that woman would be Kimona Wanalaya (Come on, I wanna lay ya...HA HA!) However, Raven would be the fool as ECW would introduce the first ever lesbian storyline between Kimona and Beulah.
Raven and Tommy?s feud escalated into one simple formula, Tommy Dreamer could never pin Raven. Raven has been pinned by the likes of Sandman and Terry Funk, but for some odd reason, Tommy Dreamer would come up short. For two years Raven defeated Dreamer, until finally Dreamer defeated Raven on June 1997. A great feud that ended on a high note. Dreamer got his win, and Raven got the recognition he deserved. Raven would leave ECW for WCW.
On a personal note, I thought the Dreamer/Raven feud was good; however, you couldn?t help but cheer for Raven, because you felt that Raven was robbed of Beulah. Here?s Dreamer who didn?t accept Beulah for who she was, only what she looked like, and Raven overlooked the negatives and outweighed the positives and yet Dreamer ends up with Beulah. It wasn?t fair to Raven, but it?s psychology like this that makes that feud stand out as one of the best.
I also didn?t like the idea that Dreamer was using a lot of Raven?s traits. I don?t have a problem with Tommy Dreamer personally or professionally, but couldn?t he have used a different pose besides Raven?s ?wingspan? pose? How about a different finishing move? Did he really have to use the DDT? Not only that, but even when he was feuding with Louie Spicolli, he used the Death Valley Driver, which was Louie?s finishing move. Come on, Tommy, you were like ECW?s Eugene, you?re stealing everyone?s everything.
Back to Raven. Raven would go to WCW, and while Raven would have great feuds with the likes of Diamond Dallas Page, Chris Benoit, and Goldberg, Raven?s run in WCW was reduced to US Title material and WCW Tag-Team material. It?s interesting to note that Raven was the first to leave WCW because of their lackluster way of dealing with creative direction. This departure would be the nebulous of other stars like Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, the Giant (Big Show) and Perry Saturn to make their departure to other wrestling companies.
Raven would return to ECW, and surprisingly would win the tag-team titles with his arch-nemesis, Tommy Dreamer. Both Raven and Dreamer still hated each other, but worked well as a team feuding with the likes of Lance Storm and Justin Credible. Raven would leave ECW for WWE and have yet another and even more lackluster run.
WWE?s problem with Raven is the WWE didn?t know what to do with Raven, and the fact that Raven was very verbose with his promo?s. Raven would use big words in which Vince McMahon was probably scratching his head in confusion. The WWE reduced him down to WWE Sunday Night Heat, a show that NO ONE WATCHED!
Raven?s journey would take him to NWA-TNA in which he still remains. Raven would enter the NWA-TNA in a serious tone, which was smart. Raven was grungy, dirty, dangerous, and hardcore, and WWE and WCW had no clue how to draw that out of Raven. However, TNA knew how to do that, and Raven would make it his ?destiny? in becoming the NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
Raven would have great feuds with the likes of AJ Styles, Jeff Jarrett, Father James Mitchell, Vampiro, Chris Harris, Abyss, and Rhino. Raven spent a couple of years un-fulfilling that destiny until June 19th, 2005 when that destiny was finally fulfilled, Raven won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. To those that are not into wrestling, the NWA World Title has been an active title for over 50 years. In other words, Raven has now declared a legacy in the ranks of professional wrestling.
TNA has recognized Raven as one of the best wrestlers, and has released an action figure and even his own DVD, ?Nevermore.?
Raven, in my personal opinion, is one of the best wrestlers of all time. Raven is a connoisseur in wrestling and it shows as he has won a title belt in every major wrestling company. Raven?s character is still that deranged enigma that is as much an elusive character than a lucid character.
So it is written, so it shall come to pass....Quote the Raven Nevermore.
For more on Raven, please go to www.theraveneffect.com