Raven Under-rated or Under-utilized?

ECW, WCW, WWE, TNA star Raven and a look on his positives and negatives in terms with his Pro Wrestling Career

Raven Under-rated or Under-utilized?

Scott Levy is a wrestling genius. That cannot be argued. His portrayal of the character "Raven" was a work of art in ECW, WCW, and TNA but somehow in WWE it just didn't work. Was it because the audience was changing and the character was too edgy? Was it because he was being overlooked for talent with a specific look and demeanor? Was the character itself just too good and as fans we did not appreciate it enough? Was he even as good as I remember? Let's take a look and see what we can find.

"Quoth The Raven, Nevermore..."

Raven was not the first, nor the second character played by Scott Levy. Matter of fact, he'd probably rather us forget his runs as "Scotty The Body", "Scotty Flamingo", and "Johnny Polo" to name a few aliases. But his run as Raven is what we will always remember him for and it started in a little place called ECW. The Raven character brought a bit of a new sinister look to heels. He wasn't this huge monster that was super intimidating in size. He was intimidating in the way he articulated his words and fed them into your mind. Raven was an outcast, a loner. He was determined to take everything that you thought you knew about society and flip it upside down. He wasn't the emo kid in the corner scared of the world. Total opposite, he wished to take the industry by storm even with his brooding ways of lying in the corner like "woe is me". He would get his first real chance to show his stuff against the ECW lifeline, Tommy Dreamer.

Whether you know it as "The Flock" or "Raven's Nest", in some way or another Raven always had lackeys to watch his back. He was brought in by Stevie Richards and thrown at Dreamer right away. Raven would prove to be a fresh, new face that could deliver for the company. He wasted no time rising up the ranks, which was also due in part to talent poaching from ECW by WCW and WWE. If you want a full rundown of his time in ECW, I'd suggest you do yourself a favor and look it up or watch it on the WWE Network because it's better than just words. He would eventually capture the title and keep it for some time before WCW would poach him and bring him back once more, but this time using the Raven gimmick.

Even in WCW it worked as well as something that the Wyatt Family does today. I think there were lots of people interested and intrigued in the character. There were plenty that were disgusted with the way he whined and complained that he actually gained a lot of heat this way. But it wasn't so much the character or the reaction that set him apart, but the way he told a story in the ring during a match. Ask any wrestler that was around during the time, he was great at telling a story. His matches had a lot of similar spots especially when dealing with rivals, but he would tweak them just a bit to give you a real feel of the unexpected. I can remember countless times of his signature drop toe hold into a chair and one time instead of a drop toe hold, he used a backbreaker. It blew my mind even though I was maybe only 9 or 10 years old at the time, should discredit how much this actually means. His style keeps even the smarkiest fan on his toes.

WCW would eventually end and merge with WWF/E. Now, it was the real test. Break free from the chains and standout on an overpacked wrestler. But he couldn't. I never really could understand why not. He was a mainstay in the Hardcore Division winning the championship a record setting 27 times. Also, not to forget beforehand accomplishments in WCW as a United States, Tag Team, and Light Heavyweight champion. Raven would continue to be part of WWE for sometime and found a home on Sunday Night Heat when he was part of the Raw Brand after the Brand split. If you go back on YouTube, you can find some genius promos from Heat that Raven was apart of. So why? Why did Raven not work? It's actually rather simple, he didn't fit the mold.

WWE fans for the most part stick to their guns. They are happy with what they know and they don't need what they don't. The "Raven" character did not work for a man that was losing matches and relegated to Heat much like how Bray Wyatt will not have enough steam behind him because he continuously loses even after having grand promos. He couldn't be used like in ECW because he wasn't viewed at that caliber by fans and higher ups alike. I guess by now you know what that means? Yep, he wound up in TNA in the beginning of their small history. He was quickly thrown into the main event picture with fans eating anything he said or did up. Maybe, if he was given a rightful shot, he could have flourished? It didn't take long however, Raven would soon leave the scene completely to return again with a lackluster feud tarnishing his TNA legacy maybe a little bit. 

So, what is the conclusion? I'd have to say that Raven was just an under-rated worker. He was great at promos and great in ring. Maybe, it wasn't the right time for him to be in the WWE. The clutter from the merger didn't do many people justice and Raven was one. As soon as he went to TNA however, he was a big deal right away which makes me believe that if the right people were behind him he would have done just fine.

If you would like to watch some great promos from Raven you can search them up with his name on Youtube, especially the Sunday Night Heat ones.

Most notable feuds for Raven(in case you want to look for matches w/specific opponents):

Tommy Dreamer ECW
The Sandman ECW
The Pitbulls w/Stevie Richards as Raven's Partner ECW
Chris Benoit WCW
Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko w/Perry Saturn as Raven's Partner WCW
Rhyno WWF/E(Hardcore Match)
Jeff Jarrett TNA
Abyss TNA

Rhyno TNA

Accomplishments in the big companies once more just because:
WWE Hardcore Champion- 27 times
WCW Light Heavyweight Champion- 1 time
WCW United States Heavyweight Champion- 1 time
WCW World Tag Team Champion- 1 time w/Perry Saturn
NWA World Heavyweight Champion- 1 time (TNA)
King of the Mountain Match Winner 2005
ECW World Heavyweight Champion- 2 times
ECW World Tag Team Champion- 4 times w/Stevie Richards(2), Tommy Dreamer(1), Mike Awesome(1)

Thank you guys. Sorry, I was late this week. Hopefully, I will be back on time with another one for Tuesday. As always, leave a comment if you have anything you'd like to suggest. Next week's topic is up for discussion but it may be about how Payback overall as a PPV went. Maybe, I'll talk about things I would have done different. We shall see.