AAMS Presents: Cult Superstar! 3: Raven

[Cult Icon]

Cult Icon here, welcoming you to the third edition of the Cult Superstar!, a AAMS production. The biggest week in the wrestling calendar has come and gone, and now it’s time to go over the show and give you all another superstar to learn about. You ready to begin? Then let’s turn it up and bring the noise.


Wrestlemania Thoughts


-I was able to watch Wrestlemania yesterday at a friend’s house and I must say on a whole, it wasn’t as good as I hoped on either account. However, while Wrestlemania wasn’t exactly great, I’m not going to go as far as to call it bad. Yes, taking off what I’ve heard to be a good Tag Titles match for a stupid Kid Rock performance, wasting an IC title defense and blowing Randy Orton’s huge push were all time bad things. Still, the good outweighed the bad at the end of the day. MITB was entertaining as usual; Santino had his moment in the sun, the Hardy’s were entertaining and hell, John Cena and Big Show overachieved at the right time. That’s not even mentioning HBK-Taker, which is one of the best matches I have ever seen in my life. Combine all that, I’d say the good outweighed the bad. Let’s just hope that next year’s mania delivers even better.


-On a different note, 20 days till the Cult Icon attends Backlash! Get excited kids!


Alright, enough monkey business, let’s get onto the main event!



Cult Superstar! Raven


Today kids, I will tell you the story of the superstar who may fit the definition of Cult Icon better than even myself. I can only be talking about Raven. Unlike the last two Cult Superstars! Alex Wright and Mikey Whipwreck, Raven is a wrestler who is known throughout the wrestling world. Want to know more? Well, let’s now take a look at the superstar known as Raven.


The Career


Raven was born Scott Levy on September 8, 1964 in New Jersey. Levy first broke into the business in the 80’s, being trained by The Original Sheik and Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Many who have followed both the careers of Roberts and LEvy will notice that there is a lot of similarities between the two. However, Levy started off in a completely different way, going by the name of Scotty The Body in a Memphis territory. Compared to his later years, Levy was a lightweight superstar more known for performing aerial attacks then hardcore wrestling. He would for the most part bounce around the indy scene his first several years, wrestling in Florida, Vancouver, Portland and Texas for the most part. Finally in the early 90’s , Levy would manage to cut himself a break.





In 1992, Levy joined WCW under the gimmick Scotty Flamingo. No joke kids, that was in fact his name. The gimmick was that of a surfer and although there is no photographic evidence I found of it, Levy in fact brought a surfboard with him to the ring. Surprisingly, Levy was able to get over enough with this gimmick to become a staple of the WCW Light Heavyweight Division (a precursor to the Cruiserweight Division that would pop up years later). Levy would in fact win the short lived and basically almost forgotten WCW Light Heavyweight championship from Brian Pillman in June of 92. Unfortunately, Levy never achieved much success after that and was regulated to primarily fighting guys like Pillman, Brad Armstrong and Johnny B. Badd (Marc Mero of WWE fame). After Bill Watts took over WCW booking in 1993 and thus banned top rope moves, Levy took his leave from WCW. In one of his last matches before leaving, he interestingly fought future ECW alumn Rob Van Dam (then going by Robbie V). The match is nothing special except for ECW fans who want to see their favorite guys before stardom. If you wish to see it, click the link below.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjnHH_bi1jU





Despite being let go from WCW, Levy wasn’t without a job long. WWE signed him quite quickly and packaged him as a manager named Johnny Polo. As Polo, Levy portrayed a spoiled rich kid who rarely ever wrestled and often focused on managing. He had some success, managing the disastrous Adam Bomb gimmick (who would later become Bryan Clarke of KroniK) and the Tag Team The Quebecers (who won 3 Tag Titles under his watch). Still, Levy appeared to be going nowhere fast and after only a year, Levy left the WWE. Little did he or any other wrestling fan know that it would be the best decision he would ever make.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_n6JfCZqfc (Raven a Johnny Polo)





After being away for a year, Levy joined ECW in 1995. However, Levy showed up drastically different then previously. Bulked up from about 200 lbs to nearly 240 lbs and fashioned in a grunge like style, Levy had transformed into Raven. Unlike his other gimmicks, which were upbeat and charismatic, Raven was a darker, misanthropic like character who preferred to be alone. In the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD (in the Raven vs. Dreamer match in Disc 2), Tommy Dreamer states that this gimmick was actually the closest to how Raven was in real life. He immediately made an impact in ECW, feuding with Dreamer. The storyline behind the feud was that the two had been at summer camp together as kids, and that Raven had come to get revenge on Dreamer for being the bully during that time. The feud would eventually become noticeable for many brutal matches that always lead to the same result; Raven getting a victory over Dreamer. During his feud with Dreamer, Raven would form a stable known as Raven’s Nest, a cult like following that consisted of wrestlers such as Stevie Richards, Blue Meanie, The Eliminators, Cactus Jack, Brian Lee and numerous others. Raven and Richards would hold two ECW Tag Title reigns during this time.


After his feud with Dreamer cooled a bit, Raven set his sights on the ECW Heavyweight Title and it’s champion, The Sandman. In a emotional feud that saw Raven steal away both Sandman’s wife and son, Raven was able to capture the ECW Title from Sandman on two occasions. During the feud, Raven infamously crucified the Sandman in one of the most controversial moments in wrestling history. The moment was never shown on ECW TV (it is in the Rise and Fall DVD) and Raven was forced to come out and apologize for his actions. During his two reigns as champion, Raven would defend the belt against the likes of Terry Gordy and Dr. Death Steve Williams in impressive fashion. However, after losing his championship to Terry Funk at ECW Barely Legal (thanks to help from Dreamer) Raven would set his sights back onto Dreamer once more.


While the feud had cooled for awhile, it never had died. Raven eventually brought in (before his title reigns) Beulah McGillicutty, a girl who had gone to camp with Raven and Dreamer as kids. The storyline stated that McGillicutty, who was fat as a kid, had liked Dreamer but had been rejected by him, so she hence sided with Raven. Over the course of the feud, Beulah went from being Raven’s girlfriend to becoming Dreamer’s girlfriend, a fact that only intensified the feud even more. The feud was finally settled once and for all at Wrestlepalooza 97 in a Loser Leaves ECW match between Raven and Dreamer. Raven finally lost to Dreamer in this match, effectively ending his first run in ECW. It would be the last time in awhile Raven would be on top of the wrestling world.





Even before his match with Dreamer, it had been found out that Raven had signed a contract with WCW. After his final ECW match, Raven would debut in WCW in June of 1997, taking Stevie Richards with him. He wouldn’t wrestle however until August of that year, defeating Richards in a non sanctioned match at Clash of the Champions. From there, Raven would appear in the crowd mostly, watching matches with a group of flunkies he dubbed The Flock. Basically another version of Raven’s Nest, The Flock notably contained future stars Perry Saturn, Billy Kidman, Lodi, Stevie Richards and Kanyon at certain points of the stables run. Raven, proclaiming to be a free agent, was eventually signed by WCW, stating in his contract he would wrestle only when he wanted to wrestle. However, this promising start went downhill from this point forward.


Raven would start a feud with Chris Benoit and Diamond Dallas Page in the beginning of 1998 of the US Title, which Raven would later win at Spring Stampede 1998. However, he lost the belt the next day to budding star Bill Goldberg, and never got close to winning the title again. From here, Raven and The Flock would flounder in the mid card, and eventually imploded before the year was out. After the end of The Flock, Raven’s character fell into a bit of depression, and in fact disappeared from television not too long after. His return showed some signs of success, as he and Saturn would reunite to win the WCW Tag Titles from The Four Horsemen at Slamboree 99. However, he would not get past this point on the card, instead being de-pushed into WCW’s “Hardcore” division. Seriously, other than “Screaming” Norman Smiley, this division was nothing more than a joke for most of it’s run. By August of 1999, Raven was fed up being with WCW and decided to leave. He would take this oppuritunity to return back to his old stomping ground.





No sooner did Raven leave WCW, he signed a one year deal to return to ECW, which he did August 25th. The next day, Raven returned to win the ECW Tag Titles with his former enemy Tommy Dreamer, ironically defeating the departing Dudley Boyz (who were on their way to WWE). Despite this, Raven’s second ECW run was nowhere near the success as his first one was. Him and Dreamer had a solid reign as Tag Champs, but never got farther than that. After losing the Tag belts, Raven and Dreamer restarted their feud, which would incorporate wrestlers Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka. Raven would go onto win the Tag Titles once again with Mike Awesome, only to trade the titles with the team of Dreamer and Tanaka. After losing the titles for good, Raven was taken off TV and left ECW after being owed money by Paul Heyman. This would be his last run in ECW.





Now once again a free agent, Raven decided to sign on once again with the WWE. After months of rumors regarding his return (including a rumor he was to be paired with Kane) he returned at Unforgiven 2000, helping former ECW alum Tazz defeat Jerry “The King” Lawler. Tazz and Raven would form a Tag Team, but the team would go nowhere and disbanded months after. From here, Raven would focus on the Hardcore Division, which would lead to numerous high quality moments. Raven would get to defend the Hardcore Championship at Wrestlemania (his only Mania) against Kane and the Big Show, losing in a fairly underrated contest. He then participated against Rhino next month in a very good Hardcore Title match, although he was once again on the losing end. It should be noted that originally Raven was to receive the European Championship in a match against Eddie Guerrero at Backlash, but was taken out after Matt Hardy demanded and was awarded the championship after his brother Jeff was pushed. What Raven would’ve done in that reign will never be known, but it can definitely be contributed to the downfall of his WWE run.


After his match with Rhino, Raven steadily dropped down the card. He was a basic non factor during the Alliance Storyline, most notably destroying former Tag partner Perry Saturn’s love interest Moppy (an actual mop sadly). After the Alliance was destroyed, Raven was basically regulated to Sunday Night Heat, where he would remain for the rest of his tenure. He tried numerous things to impress the WWE, including trading in his trademark grunge look for a look with braids and a kilt. However, this did nothing to help him, and Raven would languish in the background until he was finally released from WWE in 2003. Interestingly enough, WWE is the only federation Raven didn’t start a formation of Raven’s Nest.


Since his release from WWE, Raven was able to sustain somewhat of a revival in TNA. He debuted just a few days after his WWE release and was a main event staple throughout most of his time in the promotion. Most notably, he formed the stables known as The Gathering and Serotonin, which included the likes of Mickie James (as Alexis Laree), CM Punk and Kaz. He was eventually awarded with the NWA World Heavyweight Title in 2005, which he held for several months. While wrestling in TNA, he would have a notable feud with Punk in Ring of Honor, in which helped establish Punk as a pretty good wrestler. After Raven lost the NWA title in late 2005, he was put in the mid card where he would stay for the rest of his time there. After one last attempt at pushing Raven as an aging Hardcore Icon, Raven left TNA for good. Today, Raven is running his own wrestling school and still occasionally wrestles on the independent circuit. Most recently, he was in the news for filing a lawsuit against WWE.


Conclusion


Raven is one of the most accomplished wrestlers of the 90’s era. He is one of the few men to win major titles in all four major American Wrestling organizations (WWE, WCW, ECW, TNA), is considered by many to be the best ECW wrestler of all time, holds the record for most WWE Hardcore Title reigns (may not mean much but still) and has held a world title in two separate organizations (ECW and TNA). I’d say that’s a pretty damn good resume right there don’t you think? Not only that, but Raven has been a huge influence on many wrestlers and gimmicks you see today, and wrestlers like CM Punk, Mickie James, Tommy Dreamer and many others owe a lot to Raven for helping them get over. Now, was Raven the greatest technical wrestler ever? Not even close. However, as a performer, Raven is one of a kind. Paul Heyman states in the Rise and Fall DVD that Raven was the only man who could have grasped the gimmick and made a run like he did. As a hardcore wrestler and a heel, Raven is one of the best hands down. A large part of that can be thanked to Jake Roberts for teaching him the psychology of wrestling. Either way you want to look at it, Raven is a great performer and honestly must be one of the top 20 hardcore wrestlers of all time. I highly recommend you go check out some of his other, more impressive work on youtube.


Alright, that does it for this week’s Cult Superstar! As this is the month of the cult, this month will host the first annual Cult Hall of Fame on Friday April 24th. Today, our first inductee will be announced and he is none other than…



Woo! “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair! Check in next week to see who the next inductee will be. The Cult Hall of Fame will once again take place on Friday April 24th, live only on the Cult Network.


Phew, I’m spent. Thank you all for reading the column, and I really hope you enjoy it. This is your host, the Cult Icon telling you all now to go outside and play. See ya next week kids.

[Martin Riggs]

What can i say? You keep on impressing me. Your cult superstar profiles are engaging, interesting, well written and excellently researched. You are a credit to character profiles! I have nothing else to say, i'll let others deal with any negative critisism, i didn't spot any. Good work!

[James_A]

Damn dude I really really enjoyed this. Well researched (or if it's straight from memory I applaud you) and your presentation was really good as well. I've only read one other Raven column but that was more of a personal opinion on Raven and not an entire look at his career. I think a lot of why I liked this was because I wasn't around for most of Raven's best years nor was I around to witness the original ECW. This made me feel as though I was there. I'll catch your next one.

[NightofDay]

Nice job Cult. Raven never really did anything for me when I was younger but thanks to the DVDs that WWE release and matches on YouTube I can sit here and say that Raven must have been one hell of a character. At least he can say he was on WrestleMania X-Seven, even thought he went through a glass window and nearly got his leg crushed by a golf cart.

Great job. Looking forward to the next one.

[Leonard]

Even though I never was a big fan of "The Raven" (thanks, Adamle), you did a great job of profiling his career and showing me why he is indeed such a cult favorite. I've really got no criticism as far as structure, grammar, or content goes. I look forward to the next one.

--Leonard

[Cult Icon]

thank you my four loyal fans for reading and enjoying this. it seems that i definitely have the formatting and such down, and none of you really had any complaints except for maybe who i picked (which is always risky). ill probably have more feedback for the feedback when the rest is all in.

thanx again to those who have read thus far and for thus who havent, keep the feedback coming in

[fallenone]

Good work, i enjoyed reading about one of my fav wrestlers through out ECW and WCW, keep up the good work

[The Maz]

Awesome stuff here once again. Keep these bad boys coming and I will keep reading.

I have never been a fan of Raisin but then again I am heavily focussed towards WWF/E. This was an interesting look at his career.

Keep it up and if you want a challenge for a possible subject, it is coming your way via PM.