Raven Profile
Born: September 8, 1964 (Scott Levy) | Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Billed Hometown: Palm Beach, Florida / The Bowery | Billed Weight: 235 lbs
Other Aliases: Scotty the Body, Scott Anthony, Scotty Flamingo, Johnny Polo
Levy left WCW in February 1993 after a dispute with booker Bill Watts, and was then signed by the WWF. He became spoiled rich kid Johnny Polo, and was mostly used as a manager. Starting with Adam Bomb, he moved onto The Quebecers (Jacques and Pierre), which he led to three runs as WWF Tag Team champions. But frustrated with only occasionally wrestling – as well as more colour commentary – he chose to leave in October 1994 and weighed up his future options. Coming up with the “Raven” character, he decided his next port of call should be ECW.
Raven made his first appearance in ECW on the March 24, 1995 edition of Hardcore TV, where he was introduced by Stevie Richards during an interview with Joey Styles. It was markedly different to anything else Levy had done before, trading in traditional ring attire for rock band or comic book t-shirts, ragged and ripped jean shorts, and his promos depicted him as a troubled and tortured soul that society had forgotten. He ended every promo with the chilling words, “Quote the Raven, nevermore,” and enacted a ‘crucifix’ pose. He also made it clear he was in ECW to get revenge on Tommy Dreamer.
The story unfolded over the weeks and months that the two had known each from summer camp in high school; Dreamer was the popular jock and Raven the loner. Using chilling psychology to mentally work over the people around him, he formed the first incarnation of “Raven’s Nest,” which included Richards, Johnny Hotbody and Tony Stetson.
On the March 18, 1995 edition of Hardcore TV, Raven got the first of many pinfall victories over Dreamer at the end of a gauntlet match, after Dreamer had already beaten Hotbody, Stetson and Richards. Soon, Hotbody and Stetson were replaced by The Pitbulls, and then came the arrival of Beulah McGillicutty, formerly an overweight and unattractive girl that Raven had dated in high school, after she was first turned down by Dreamer. Now, she was a former Penthouse Playmate and wanted revenge on Dreamer as well; at Three Way Dance on April 8, 1995, she helped Raven pin Dreamer again.
Raven and Stevie Richards would have a long and unusual relationship, with Raven routinely abusing him both physically and mentally, but it still did not stop them from becoming ECW Tag Team champions, when they defeated Public Enemy on June 30. Such was Raven’s hold over Steviem, that he convinced him to superkick Francine, who initially was Stevie’s fan. (She would go on to manage The Pitbulls when they defected from Raven).
At Heatwave on July 15, The Nest had a rough night; Raven, Richards and The Dudleys (Dudley Dudley & Snot Dudley) lost to Dreamer and The Pitbulls in a handicap match. After Stevie lost to Dreamer’s new valet Luna Vachon in a bloody steel cage bout, Dreamer blasted Raven in the skull with a chair after having first handcuffed him in a crucifix pose to the cage.
On September 16, Raven and Richards dropped the Tag Team Titles to The Pitbulls after a run-in from Dreamer. They regained the belts on October 7 from The Pitbulls, only to lose the same night to Public Enemy. At November to Remember on November 18, Richards gained a lackey of his own when The Blue Meanie made his first appearance; also on the night, Dreamer and Terry Funk downed Raven and Cactus Jack, the latter of whom had decided to align with Raven and feud with Dreamer.
Raven got his first opportunity to become ECW Heavyweight champion at Holiday Hell on December 30, when he unsuccessfully challenged The Sandman. At the beginning of the new year of 1996, he also lost Beulah to Dreamer, when it was revealed she was pregnant with Dreamer’s child. During the course of the year, Raven fixed his sights on The Sandman, and on January 27, not only introduced a new valet (Kimona Wanalaya), but also went on to pin Sandman for his first reign as ECW Heavyweight champion.
Raven’s twisted psychology caused him to gain the worship of The Sandman’s wife Lori and even his eight year old son, Tyler. But the most shocking moment took place at High Incident on October 26, when Raven, Stevie and The Blue Meanie strapped an unconscious Sandman to a wooden crucifix, topped off with a barbed wire crown. Kurt Angle – who was backstage at the ECW Arena and being courted by the company – was so disgusted he walked out, and threatened if the footage was ever aired, he would sue ECW for everything it was worth. Paul Heyman made Raven apoligise to the crowd, which he did so, but disingenuously.
Raven took time off to deal with some personal issues, and did not team with Brian Lee against Sandman and Dreamer at Ultimate Jeopardy on October 5. Raven chose Stevie as his replacement, and – as per the stipulation – when The Sandman pinned Stevie, he captured the ECW Heavyweight Title. Raven returned on December 7 and defeated Sandman in a barbed wire match for the title, only for Stevie, Meanie and Nova to leave The Nest shortly after.
In the lead-up to the company’s first pay-per-view (Barely Legal) on April 13, 1997, Raven signed with WCW. As a result, he dropped the belt to Terry Funk, and then the two-and-a-half-year feud with Dreamer came to an end at Wrestlepalooza on June 6, where after plenty of run-in’s and interference, Dreamer finally pinned Raven. He debuted in WCW on the June 20 edition of Nitro, where he sat in the front row and ignored Mike Tenay’s requests for an interview.
Raven was rumoured to be Diamond Dallas Page’s tag team partner at Bash at the Beach against the nWo team of Scott Hall and Randy Savage (the spot ended up going to another new signing, Curt Hennig). He continued to sit in the front row of WCW events, and was soon joined by Stevie Richards, who claimed he could get “his man Raven” to sign a contract, only to be physically abused all over again.
WCW Commissioner JJ Dillon repeatedly tried to get Raven to sign but he refused until he was granted certain stipulations, which included that his matches always be fought under “Raven’s Rules” (no disqualification). Finally, Stevie stood up for himself, which led to a match at Clash of the Champions XXXV on August 21, which Raven won. Bizarrely, Stevie began hanging out with Raven again (up until he was let go due to a back injury).
Inevitably, a new group of followers flocked to Raven’s side. After Richards came former ECW star Perry Saturn (who became the group’s enforcer), Lodi (who took the ‘clueless putz’ role when Stevie was released), Sick Boy, Hammer (formerly Van Hammer), Reese and Kidman.
Raven’s first match on Nitro took place on October 27 against Scotty Riggs; before the bell rang, Raven told him to join The Flock, but Riggs refused. Fought under “Raven’s Rules,” Riggs badly injured his eye when he took a drop-toe hold onto a steel chair and the match was ended. Raven continued to court Riggs (now wearing an eye patch), and they had another match at World War 3 on November 23, which Raven won after hitting three DDT’s, which he called the ‘Evenflow’ DDT. The Flock carried Riggs to the back, and then on the following Nitro, Riggs dutifully joined the rest of The Flock in the front row.
Raven entered into a rivalry with Chris Benoit, who had plans on winning the Television Title from Flock member, Perry Saturn. Raven kept feeding Benoit his Flock and finally – after going through every member – Raven stepped up to face Benoit at Souled Out on January 24, 1998. Raven lost the match while in the Crippler Crossface, laughing maniacally until he passed out.
In the rematch on WCW Saturday Night, Benoit won by disqualification and then a brawl broke out between the two. Raven cost Benoit a chance at being United States champion, and took his spot against Booker T for the Television Title on the February 9 Nitro. Raven first suggested that Booker hand the TV title to Saturn, but knowing he would not do it, he set the Flock on him.
In February, Mortis had asked Raven if he could join The Flock – not long after Raven had defeated him on Nitro – but Raven said he needed to prove himself by beating DDP on the February 12 Thunder. Page won the match, and then Raven gave Mortis an Evenflow on the steel ramp. At Uncensored on March 15, Raven faced Page and Benoit in a triple-threat match for the US Title which Page won with a Diamond Cutter on Raven through a table.
In the lead-up to Spring Stampede on April 19, 1998, Raven was routinely attacked by a mystery man and led to JJ Dillon giving him four riot police officers as protection (which Raven also used to attack Page). At Spring Stampede, Raven defeated Page for the US Title after help from new Flock member Horace, but dropped the belt the following night on Nitro to Goldberg. Raven told Page he would never get a rematch, and that their rivalry was done; Page responded by attacking The Flock in the locker room and fought Raven in an impromptu bull-rope match on Thunder.
Raven demanded a “Bowery Deathmatch” in a steel cage for Slamboree on May 17 which Page won; after the match, The Flock were all handcuffed by a riot officer and then Raven was cuffed to the side of the cage and blasted with a steel chair (reminiscent of the Dreamer chair-shot in ECW). The riot officer removed his helmet to reveal it was Mortis, later to be known as Kanyon after the Mortis mask was also discarded.
Feathers began to get ruffled when Raven railed against Saturn on the May 21, 1998 Thunder for not being loyal, and Saturn responded by stating he never considered himself a Flock member, but had just been Raven’s friend – oddly, Raven let this go and apologised. He then called out Mortis and a man looking like him came down the aisle and was captured by Raven’s riot guards. As a melee was going on outside the ring, a ‘fan’ in a blonde wig got into the ring and gave him a Reverse Russian Leg-sweep – a signature move of Mortis – before escaping.
Raven went back on his apology to Saturn and had The Flock attack him. At Bash at the Beach on July 12, Raven got a win over Saturn after help from The Flock. A challenge was made for Fall Brawl on September 13, 1998 when Raven continued to abuse The Flock and Saturn came out to tell them they could leave if they wanted. Raven claimed that would never happen, and Saturn decided he would be the one to stand up for them if they could not do it themselves. If Raven lost, he had to let The Flock go, but if he won, Saturn would have to commit to being a Flock member.
In the lead-up to Fall Brawl, Kanyon oddly aligned with Raven when he turned on Saturn. Saturn lost to Lodi on the August 26 Nitro after plenty of interference, and had to be Lodi’s slave. On the September 7 Nitro, Raven broke Saturn’s fingers when he refused to do it to Riggs. Finally at Fall Brawl, despite multiple run-ins and interference, Saturn beat Raven to free The Flock when Kidman turned on Raven.
Raven grew despondent and depressed after losing his followers, with Kanyon now his only ally. On the October 1 Thunder, Raven got a rematch with Goldberg for the US Title in which Kanyon and Page interfered, before Raven was beaten. After losing to Chris Jericho at Halloween Havoc on October 25, Raven’s mental faculties continued to desert him, and his ‘mother’ made an appearance to get “Scotty” to come home. After Raven and Kanyon got into it in an interview with Mean Gene, his mother arrived again on the December 21 Nitro and pleaded with him not to fight with his friends and to come home.
Raven did indeed ‘go home,’ as shown in a series of vignettes where it was discovered that he had been a spoiled rich kid all along, living in a big mansion with unlimited access to money. In the first of these vignettes, Raven revealed he was not really depressed, and that it was all an act. In later videos, Raven was seen arguing with his family, which included former ECW valet Chastity (who was cast as Raven’s sister). Kanyon made further appearances in these skits, as well as Raven’s best friend, “James” (The Sandman).
He returned to action later in the year, and then in March, reunited with Saturn. They won the Tag Team titles at Slamboree on May 9, 1999, but then needed time off to heal an injury. Saturn and Kanyon (substituting for Raven) lost to DDP and Bam Bam Bigelow on the May 31 Nitro when Kanyon turned on Saturn.
Upon his return, Raven became a part of the short-lived faction “Dead Pool” with Vampiro and the Insane Clown Posse, and mostly worked in the new Hardcore division. In August 1999, Eric Bischoff held a locker room meeting and promised anybody who wanted a release, he would grant it. Despite low morale across the board, Raven was the only one who took up Bischoff’s offer. As promised, he was given his release on August 25.
The following night, Raven returned unannounced at the ECW on TNN taping, where he helped Dreamer defeat the departing Dudley Boys for the Tag Team titles. Despite their past, Raven and Dreamer held them for several months. They defeated Rhino and Steve Corino at Anarchy Rulez on September 19, and at November to Remember, he teamed with Dreamer and The Sandman in a losing effort against The Impact Players (Lance Storm & Justin Credible) and Rhino.
Raven and Dreamer briefly feuded with The Impact Players, and they lost the titles to them at Guilty as Charged (January 9, 2000). He earned another run as tag team champion with Mike Awesome when they beat Dreamer and Masato Tanaka on March 4, but dropped them a week later to The Impact Players at Living Dangerously in a three-way-dance with Dreamer and Tanaka.
At the end of 2000, his contract ran out and he re-signed with the WWF, but not before doing the favour for Scotty Anton (Riggs) in his final match. He reappeared at the Unforgiven pay-per-view on September 24, where he helped Tazz defeat Jerry Lawler. They briefly teamed before Raven moved onto the Hardcore division, and by the end of his time with the company, he was credited with twenty-seven reigns as Hardcore champion. His most memorable match was arguably at Wrestlemania, where he lost the title to Kane in a three-way-dance with The Big Show, in which the power was almost knocked out by an errant golf buggy.
In 2001, Titan Sports – the parent company of the WWF – acquired WCW. Shane McMahon was made the ‘owner’ of WCW, and an invasion storyline began. When it faltered, an ECW faction including Raven was put together and aligned with WCW, but Raven played little part in the overall storyline.
During the brand draft, Raven was sent to RAW, and also did colour commentary on Sunday Night Heat and Excess. He returned to full-time wrestling duties on RAW until he dropped a match to Tommy Dreamer on June 24, 2002. Raven spent the rest of his time on Heat, where he began a ‘seven deadly sins’ storyline of his own creation, which was cancelled mid-way through.
He was released on January 20, 2003, and two days later, debuted for TNA. He immediately went after Jeff Jarrett’s NWA World Heavyweight Title, and after several failed attempts, achieved his goal at the Slammiversary pay-per-view on June 19, 2005. Prior to the title win, he feuded with The Sandman, Shane Douglas and Vampiro before turning babyface. He lost the title to Jarrett on September 15 on a Border City Wrestling event, which was deemed an official title change by TNA commissioner, Larry Zybyszko. He later lost to Sean Waltman and had to leave the company, the first of several comings-and-goings for Raven in TNA, but his relationship with the company would go through until 2010.
Raven also had a memorable feud with CM Punk in Ring of Honor, based on their polar opposite lifestyle choices and developed into a bloody war. Their dog collar match at Death Before Dishonour 2003 saw Raven saved by Tommy Dreamer, after Punk had taped Raven’s arms to the ropes. They also had a Clockwork Orange House of Fun match (steel cage with weapons), and despite Raven winning the battle, he did not win the war. {see video below credit ROH}
