spotlight: raven

today's spotlight is going to be on one of the most controversial wrestlers that ever graced the squared circle, raven. influential, psychotic, drug addict, innovator, mastermind, hardcore, genius, all these terms have been used to describe raven. we will take a look at one of the masters of psychological warfare and some of his most memorable moments.

raven started his career as scotty the body. he would wrestle around several independent federations going by both scotty the body and scott anthony. he would gain his first national exposure as part of the global wrestling federation that aired nationally on espn. he would wrestle and announce for the gwf.

raven would join wcw as scotty flamingo. he would mainly wrestle in the light heavyweight division and win the wcw light heavyweight championship, which was a precursor to the wcw cruiserweight title. he would join the diamond mine faction with diamond dallas page, vinnie vegas(kevin nash), and the diamond studd(scott hall). he would feud with brian pillman, brad armstrong, and johnny b badd(mark mero) mostly during this run. the biggest match he had was a boxing match against johnny b badd at clash of the champions xxi. flamingo would pick up the win when ddp and vinnie vegas poured water into his gloves to make them heavier.

he would go on to a short run in wwf as johnny polo. his gimmick was to be a spoiled rich kid. mostly he was a manager for adam bomb and more successfully the quebecers. he would lead the quebecers to 3 tag team title reigns as their manager. he also would do some behind the scenes work as a producer for monday night raw.

raven would grow tired of his role in wwf. he would make a move to ecw and become one of the most interesting wrestlers on the planet. he would debut in ecw helping stevie richards attack tommy dreamer. upon his debut he became raven, a nihilistic character with a grunge style ring attire. he would immediately start a feud that would define booth men's careers with tommy dreamer. raven would claim that dreamer was an enemy form his childhood summer camp. beulah mcgillicutty was brought in as raven's valet. according to raven she had a crush on tommy dreamer when they were kids but dreamer would not date her because she was fat. beulah would grow up to be a penthouse pet. raven and dreamer would feud for the better part of 2 years with dreamer always falling short, until raven's last match in ecw before joining wcw.

his feud with the sandman would generate some of the most controversial angles in the history of wrestling. raven would brainwash the sandman's son and have him denounce his father and join raven. he would also have sandman's wife lori join him in raven's nest. this lead to a bloody feud that would include the most controversial moment in the history of ecw. after a match with the sandman, raven would have his lackeys bring out a large wooden cross. he would tie sandman to the cross and place a crown of barbed wire on sandman's head. kurt angle was in attendance and was contemplating joining ecw, but he was so incensed that he threatened to sue ecw if his name was involved at all in the same episode as the crucifixion. paul heyman forced raven to go out and apologize to the fans. raven would dominate the 2 years he was in ecw. he had 2 runs as the world champion and 2 tag team championships.

during the summer of 1997 raven would be seen in sitting in the front row at wcw tv shows. he won his return match in wcw against former ally stevie richards. he would continue to show up in the front row at wcw events, only wrestlers would join him and become the faction known as the flock. eventually raven would accept a contract with wcw commissioner james j dillon. as part of his contract his matches would be contested under raven's rules, which mean there are no rules. raven managed to win the us title from ddp at spring stampede only to loose it the next night to bill goldberg. raven blamed the flock for his loss, mainly perry saturn, and this would lead into the demise of the flock. he would loose a match at fall brawl against perry saturn that would officially put an end to the flock. after his faction disbanded he would walk out in matches and cut interviews in a depressing manor. after a match at halloween havoc with chris jericho he would not be seen for a little while.

vignettes showing raven's childhood home would be shown. he was shown to be from an upper class neighborhood. this was supposed to be in reference to his earlier persona's in wrestling. he would have feuds with kanyon, bam bam bigelow, and hardcore hak(the sandman). raven would join a short lived stable called the dead pool with vampiro and the insane clown posse. at one wcw event eric bischoff would offer any contracted wrestler that was unhappy there release right then. raven was the only one to take up his offer. the only stipulation to his release was that he could not immediately go to the wwf.

on the debut show of ecw on tnn raven would make his return. the dudley boyz were leaving ecw and this was there last show on ecw and they threatened to leave with the tag team titles. tommy dreamer would defend the honor of ecw and go out to wrestle the dudleys on his own. during the match raven would come out hit a ddt and pick up the win for the team of raven and dreamer. dreamer would continue to be confused by raven helping him after years of feuding. the two would have a successful run as tag champions despite the personal differences. he would also team with mike awesome after him and dreamer lost the titles. him and awesome would also gain tag team gold. he run in ecw was short, basically just long enough for his no compete clause to end so he could go back to the wwf.

upon his return to the wwf he would be involved in the hardcore division. he would win the hardcore title a record 27 times. raven would appear in his only wrestlemania match at wrestlemania x-seven loosing the hardcore title to kane in a three way match that also involved the big show. raven would join the wcw/ecw alliance during the invasion angle. when the alliance lost the winner takes all match at survivor series raven would not be seen until the brand extension where he was drafted to the raw brand. raven would become an announcer for both sunday night heat and excess. after a few months as commentator he would quit to resume his wrestling career. he would loose a match against old nemesis tommy dreamer where the stipulation was he would leave raw. he would go back to wrestling on heat. raven was given the opportunity to start a gimick based off the seven deadly sins with him being the main draw on heat. this again did not last long. raven would go back to raw for oine match, he would loose to jeff hardy and be fired from the wwe.

after his stay in wwf/e he would go on to mainly appearing on nwa-tna as well as wrestling in one of the biggest feuds in the history of ring of honor with cm punk. immediately after joining tna he would engage in a feud with jeff jarrett over the nwa world heavyweight title. he would claim it was his destiny to win the belt. he would again start a faction this time called the gathering. it would include his rival from roh cm punk, julio dinero, and alexis laree(mickey james). he mainly feuded with james mitchell and his disciples of the new church faction. this would lead to raven loosing a match to shane douglas where he would have his head shaved. during the head shaving james mitchel cut a little to deep and it looked like a scalping. the gathering would turn on raven and join up with james mitchell.

in june 2005 raven would fulfill his self stated destiny and win the nwa title at slammiversary. he would keep the belt until september when he lost the belt to jeff jarrett at a border city wrestling show. during the match there was a run in by america's most wanted to help jarrett win. tna director of authority larry zbyszko declared the title change official. this lead to a feud between raven and zbyszko. zbyszko would bring in wrestlers like chris k(kanyon) and pj palaco(justin credible) to take on raven. he would loose a match against sean waltman where the stipulation was if raven lost he had to leave tna.

after a hiatus from wrestling raven would return to tna. he would form a faction called serotonin. he served mainly as the manager of the faction, occasionally wrestling. this faction did not last very long. he would eventually be released from tna. after that he would wrestle on in independent federations. eventually we would return earlier this year to help old friend dr stevie(stevie richards) in his feud against abyss. he was mainly brought in to help promote tna's slammiversary pay per view. it is not known at this time if he will be brought back to tna full time or not.

the future is a big question mark for raven. who knows if he will return to tna. he seems to have burned a bridge with the wwe after being a part of a lawsuit against them for health care and other benefits. no matter what he does raven will always stay one of the most interesting men in the history of pro wrestling.