| Wrestler: | Raven |
|---|---|
| Real Name: | Scott Levy |
| Birthday: | September 8, 1964 |
| Hometown: | Short Hills, New Jersey Lived in Memphis, Tennessee Lived in Florida Resides in Atlanta, Georgia |
| Marital Status: | |
| Height & Weight: | 6’1″ – 244 lbs |
| Trained by: | Larry Sharpe’s Monster Factory Trainer: Charlie Fulton Jake “The Snake” Roberts |
| Debut: | February 20, 1988 |
| Previous Names: | Scott Anthony (GWF) Scotty The Body Scotty Flamingo (WCW) Johnny Polo (WWF) |
| Finishing Move: | EvenFlow DDT aka Raven Effect |
| Favorite Moves: | Russian Leg Sweep Irish Whip to Corner into Clothesline The Bulldog Drop Toe Hold Into Standing Chair Hardcore weapons to the head Spinning Falling Clothesline Thrust Kick Knee Lift |
Raven Notable Feuds:
| Pre-Raven Feuds: The Southern Rockers Rex King & Steve Doll The Grappler Johnny B. Badd |
ECW Feuds: The Pitbulls Sandman Stavie Richards Tommy Dreamer The Impact Players |
WCW/WWE Feuds: Diamond Dallas Page Chris Benoit Crash Holly Tazz Matt Hardy DLo Brown |
TNA Feuds: Jeff Jarrett C.M. Punk (MLW/ROH) Shane Douglas (TNA) James Mitchell Slash & Sinn Kevin Northcutt Joe E. Legend A.J. Styles Chris Harris Abyss |
TNA Feuds: Monty Brown Erik Watts Diamond Dallas Page Dustin Rhodes Rhino Larry Zbyszko Frankie Kazarian Black Reign Rellik |
Raven Title History
Raven is widely seen as one of the greatest minds in the history of professional wrestling. He is a protege of the legendary Jake “The Snake” Roberts and over the years has been the holder of several gimmicks including the likes of Scotty Flamingo and Johnny Polo, however, the majority of his success and the majority of his career has been under the influence of “Raven”.
Portraying the character of a dark, psychotic villain, twisted and morbid from the effects of his past experiences which drove him to the brink of life, the end of all things good and to a place in which only he can live; his mind. Forsaking everyone else, foreboding any access to the world in which he lives, he became an icon, a unique definition of talent, charisma and mysticism. This is Raven, the man known in real life as Scott Levy, the perfector of dark charisma and evil aura.
Raven started his career in the late 1980′s wrestling under several unsuccessful character gimmicks, but it was not until the beginning of 1995 where he debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling, the cult-like organization created as a brain child from the spectacular mind of professional wrestling promoter and writer Paul E. Dangerously, who may be better known to some professional wrestling fans as Paul Heyman. Levy debuted as the character known as Raven. Self centered, depressed, sadistic and with no sense of morality what so ever. This was the birth of a glorious creation and a glorious career surely to follow.
Raven began feuds with the likes of Tommy Dreamer, the ECW pioneer, and even went as far as involving Tommy Dreamer’s real life wife, Beaulah McGillicutty, into the storylines surrounding his debut. After the feud with Raven and Dreamer came to a halt with Raven being declared victorious, he moved on to a new enigma, the man known as The Sandman, the hardcore icon. The feud with Sandman is comparable to the likes of Sting versus Ric Flair and Vince McMahon versus Stone Cold Steve Austin, it is a feud that has been carried on through decades and will likely continue in the future, despite being friends in real life.
The Raven versus Sandman feud is both legendary and infamous; Raven went as far as to take Sandman’s son, Tyler Fullington, and brainwash him into betraying his father and having him join Raven’s cult-like group which included the likes of Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie, two of Raven’s self proclaimed biggest fans. One of the most infamous memories of the storyline is the Crucifixion of The Sandman’ in which after a match, Raven, Stevie and The Blue Meanie, pulled a Cross from under the ring and tied The Sandman to it before hoisting it up and Crucifying’ him. This was an act against The Sandman in which would continue their feud in the future, however, it backfired, as the man known as Kurt Angle was backstage at the time and said he would not be involved with an organization that represented anarchy against Jesus Christ. Raven was then forced into the crowd and made a major breach of character where he apologized for the incident that had taken place and that he was wrong to do it. This move was something of a letdown to the fans who had just witnessed an awesome and unique spectacle of a feud, something which had never been done.
After ECW, Raven moved on to World Championship Wrestling where he created a similar group of people as he did in ECW, this time called Raven’s Flock. He bought one of the first tastes of Extreme to the mainstream world in a match called Raven’s Rules in which all weapons were permitted and disqualification was omitted. Raven’s tenure in WCW lasted 2 years between 1997 and 1999 before he moved on once again to Extreme Championship Wrestling, and then shortly after, to the World Wrestling Federation where he won the WWF Hardcore Championship a record 27 times. His tenure in WWE was a blatant misuse of character however with him jobbing to bigger’ stars most of the time.
He made the jump to NWA: Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2003 and has remained there ever since, and even achieving his destiny’ by claiming the NWA World Heavyweight Championship while engaging in feuds with the likes of Jeff Jarrett, AJ Styles and Rhino.
Is Gold and Glory in the future for the man known as Raven once again?
written by Wayne K. Wilkins
