When we last left, Raven a mind behind the misery, Scott Levy’s career brought him back to World Championship Wrestling, but would he would form a new version of his flock?
Raven’s Flock
Raven then began acquiring more followers to his flock. WCW claimed Raven was a free agent not yet signed by them.
Of course, this was not true. The story was Raven would only accept a contract if he could compete under Raven’s rules. This meant no DQ under any circumstances.
Raven made his in-ring debut in October for WCW. He defeated Scotty Riggs. When Riggs refused to join the Flock, he drove his face into a steel chair with a drop toe hold.
This temporarily blinded Riggs in one eye. Riggs challenged Raven to a match at World War 3. Raven defeated Riggs, then made him a part of his flock.
Raven’s Flock was growing. It seemed everywhere he went, he had a magnetic charisma that misfits could not help but follow. The flock added Billy Kidman, Van Hammer, and Saturn to its fold.
This led to a feud between Raven and his mentor, DDP. Page was now the WCW United States Champion and undoubtedly one of the most popular faces in the company.
At Spring Stampede, Raven defeated DDP, thus winning the US Title. He was only champion for one day as the next night on Nitro he lost it to the rising star Goldberg. Raven also appeared in a music video for the band Stuck Mojo.
After the loss, just as he did in ECW, he blamed the Flock. Again, this caused internal fighting in the group. Raven gave each one a match.
If Raven lost, the Flock could fly away on their own free will. This led to a match at Fall Brawl with Saturn, who won the Flock its freedom. This allowed Saturn and Billy Kidman to go on and achieve singles success.
After that, Raven went through an on-screen depression. He refused to wrestle for World Championship Wrestling. They showed vignettes where Raven would tour his hometown.
This was genius. It allowed Raven to be an extension of Johnny Polo. Again, Scott Levy is a master of psychology. When he returned to WCW, he had a new valet named Chastity.
On-screen, this was his sister. In a classic case of WCW’s “it never happened writing, Raven reunited with Perry Saturn, winning the WCW tag title.
The duo lost the championship to the Jersey Triad of DDP, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Kanyon. After that, Raven teamed up with Vampiro in Deadpool.
By this time, WCW was on its last leg. The NWO angle had worn out its welcome. When Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo came in, they asked anyone who wanted their release to speak up.
Levy got up and walked out. In a shoot interview, Raven later said that it was Scott Levy walking out, not Raven. Creative had no direction.
Again, Raven felt left out. His second tenure with WCW was another abysmal time. Dejected, Raven and WCW parted ways.
Return to the Land of the Extreme
After leaving WCW, Raven was bound by a non-compete clause. There was, however, a loophole. Raven took advantage of that and went back to ECW.
He surprised everyone by returning and winning the ECW tag team championship with former rival Tommy Dreamer.
They defeated the Dudleys, who were on their way to the WWF. They had one of the first on-screen odd-couple tag-team angles, which is a common part of modern pro wrestling. They held the titles for a few months before the team lost them, and it imploded.
He then tagged with Mike Awesome. Raven also acquired the services of Francine. The team won the tag titles but lost them a week later to the Impact Players.
At Cyberslam 2000, Francine turned on Raven, joining the new tag champs. Raven’s final ECW match was against Rhino. During this time, Raven had a torn rotator cuff, so his in-ring appearances were sporadic
World Wrestling Federation: The Raven Years
On September 24, 2000, at WWF Unforgiven, appropriately enough, Raven made his WWF debut. Things have changed a lot since Scott Levy was last in the World Wrestling Federation.
The Attitude Era had brought violence, sex, and chaos to the WWF. Sounds exactly like ECW, doesn’t it, folks? At the event, Raven interfered in a match between another ECW alumni Tazz, and Jerry Lawler.
He DDT’d Lawler, putting an end to his tirades about calling ECW “extremely crappy wrestling”. He teamed with Tazz for a while before concentrating on the Hardcore Division.
Raven was known for bringing a shopping cart loaded with weapons. The WWF Hardcore division was perfectly made for someone as Extreme as Raven.
Raven won the WWF Hardcore Title a record 39 times. Most of those were short-lived, though, because that title was under 24/7 rules.
The WWF usually used it as a gimmick where someone, anyone, would win the title, including valets, referees, and managers.
It was very chaotic. Despite being in the WWF twice, Raven only competed once at WrestleMania. It was at WrestleMania X-Seven when he lost the Hardcore Title to Kane.
Shortly after WrestleMania, the WWF Purchased WCW. This ended the Monday Night Wars. That summer the WWF started an invasion angle with WCW/ECW vs WWF.
It was the perfect angle on paper that should have made history, but due to contract issues with many of the big WCW stars, it ultimately proved disappointing.
Raven, nonetheless, was part of team ECW/WCW led by Paul Heyman, Stephanie McMahon and Shane McMahon.
He also found himself in a storyline with his old rival Saturn. Saturn had been relegated to being in love with a mop instead of his valet Teri Runnels.
It was later revealed to be a punishment from the WWF for Saturn. He briefly teamed with Justin Credible but then slowly began to fall off WWE TV.
After the alliance angle, Raven was drafted to Monday Night Raw. He was on Smackdown. Before he left, he defeated Maven for the Hardcore title.
His first match on Raw ended with him losing the title to Bubba Ray Dudley. Raven then went back to announcing, which was very similar to the career path he took when he was in the federation in the 90’s.
He became color commentator for Heat. He did return to Raw but was ‘banished” by his arch-nemesis Tommy Dreamer.
It was clear the McMahons did not think Raven was a star. He was wished well in his future endeavours again on January 20, 2003. Again Raven was passed over for other talent. He again felt dejected and angry. Raven was again the misfit.
Ring of Honor
After WWE, Raven made his presence known in Ring of Honor. One of his most notable feuds was with a young guy named CM Punk. CM Punk is now a sure-fire Hall of Famer and multi-time WWE Champion. Then he was just learning the ropes. A lot of people say his fight with Raven put him on the map.
When asked about it, Raven says
“The problem with that is I was booked to lose and put him over. I think if Gabe (ROH owner) had allowed me to beat him a few times, Punk would have been able to come up and beat me with more momentum. He beat me every match we had.”
The TNA/Impact Years
A new wrestling promotion had been gaining momentum in the early 2000’s. The promotion was called Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling, aka Impact Wrestling.
This company was owned by Jeff Jarrett, who also had a nasty falling-out with WWE. Raven arrived in TNA, attacking its founder, Jeff Jarrett, and stealing the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Raven claimed it was his destiny to win the title.
TNA was where Raven’s creativity was allowed to shine. He devised a match called the Clockwork Orange House of Fun Match. It was basically an extreme elimination chamber.
Raven finally got his shot at Jeff Jarrett, but he came up short. Raven was then defeated by another ECW alumni Shane Douglas in a hair vs hair match.
Douglas won with Vampiro’s help. Vampiro and Raven were frequently involved in brawls. Vampiro stated that he tore his ACL, so the feud ended.
Raven formed “The Gathering”. This group included Julio Dinero, Alexis Laree, better known as Mickie James, and a very multi-time WWE/F Champion, CM Punk.
The Gathering eventually turned on their leader. Raven was very instrumental in bringing former ECW talent to TNA. This included Mikey Whipwreck, New Jack, Saturn, and Justin Credible.
Raven then began a feud with another dark character, the sinister minister James Mitchell. Raven destroyed anyone that Mitchell put in his path. He began an undefeated streak.
The Gathering acquired the services of James Mitchell; however, they were no match for The Raven. ECW alumni Sabu arrived in TNA. The two extremists waged war against Abyss and The Alpha Male Monty Brown.
Their explosive partnership eventually disintegrated, with Raven reverting to his old tricks. He demanded a match with Sabu.
In order to get it, he attacked Sonjay Dutt, Sabu’s confidante. The homicidal, suicidal, genocidal athlete accepted the challenge.
On Aug 4th, 2004, Raven defeated Sabu in a Raven’s Rules Match. Sabu’s back was injured shortly after so the return match was cancelled
Raven competed in the first Monsters Ball match with Abyss and Brown. Supposedly, they lock the combatants in a room for 24 hours, no food, light, or water, then fight in a no-holds-barred match. Whether they actually do that is up for debate, but most likely not. The match became Abyss’s signature match.
Raven Wins NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Raven’s destiny was finally fulfilled as he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on June 19, 2005, at Slammiversary.
He ended up defeating AJ Styles, Abyss, Sean Waltman, and Monty Brown in a King of the Mountain Match. Rave was a fighting champion.
He defended the title against Abyss and Rhino. However, he lost the title to Jeff Jarrett with the help of America’s Most Wanted. TNA let the decision stand, as The Director of Authority, Larry Zybszko, declared it official.
Raven blamed Zybszko. Zybszko brought in many wrestlers to take Raven down. Finally, Sean Waltman aka Xpac challenged Raven to a loser-leaves-TNA match.
Raven lost. I think Raven is literally the only star to have a loser leaves town match in every major company besides AEW.
Raven returned to TNA and defeated Larry Zbyszko in a hair vs hair match. Raven left TNA after a Hangman Horrors Match.
During that time, rumors were flying about a new group with Kazarian, Johnny Devine, and Matt Bentley. All questions were answered when Raven revealed himself as the new leader of Serotonin.
Raven would control members of Serotonin by hitting them with a Singapore cane, one of his favorite weapons. Raven lost a match to Chris Harris after Kazarian interfered.
Later on, after Kaz’s match, Serotonin attacked him. Serotonin then went through a short feud with Triple X aka Christopher Daniels, Elix Skipper and Low Ki.
Raven won a House of Fun Match on Impact along with Robert Roode and James Storm, aka Beer Money, against Chris Harris, Rhino, and Kazarian.
Raven lost his grudge match against Kaz. After that, he went back in the Monsters Ball. He aligned himself with James Mitchell after Abyss turned on Mitchell and became a fan favorite.
Raven then saw the light, sort of, and helped Abyss in his quest against Relik and Black Reign, better known as Goldust. Raven then took a sabbatical from TNA.
Raven returned as a heel, surprisingly attacking the monster Abyss, whom he helped a year before. He had Steven Richards back at his side, who was now known as Dr. Stevie.
He also had the scream queen herself, Daffney, at his side. Raven went back to his winning ways, picking up a victory in a Clockwork Orange House of Fun Match over Jethro Holliday, aka Trevor Murdoch. At Slammiversary, Raven and Daffney were defeated by Abyss and Taylor Wilde in the first mixed Monsters Ball.
Mick Foley had just arrived as the TNA Director of Authority. He had taken Abyss under his wing. If anyone could understand the Monster Abyss, it would be Mankind. Raven immediately targeted Mrs. Foley’s baby boy. On an episode of Impact, he threw a fireball at the Legend’s face.
Foley and Abyss challenged Raven and Dr. Stevie to a Foley’s Funhouse Tag Team Match. In the meantime, things were changing in TNA.
Rumours were flying that the company was going under new ownership. Eric Bischoff, former president of WCW and Raw General Manager, had arrived.
He enlisted Raven, Homicide, Tomko, and Desmond Wolfe, aka Nigel McGuinness, to take out Abyss. A few weeks later, Raven was shown in the crowd at iMPACT.
He was sitting with Dr. Stevie, but there was also a face from Raven’s past, Tommy Dreamer. The next week, there was another ECW alum, Rhino.
On July 15 it was like an ECW reunion as Raven was joined by Dreamer, Richards, Rhino, Dvon Dudley, Pat Kenney aka Simon Diamond, and Al Snow.
Not only that, but Mick Foley was in charge of this group. Recently, Rob Van Dam, another ECW/WWE alum, became TNA World Heavyweight Champion.
The group attacked the TNA locker room. This prompted TNA president Dixie Carter to give the group their own PPV called Hardcore Justice: The Last Stand.
The week after that, Raven reignited his feud with Tommy Dreamer with a vicious Evenflow DDT on a chair. This was obviously one of ECW’s most famous angles, and the two wanted to revisit it in TNA.
A match was set for Hardcore Justice where Raven defeated Dreamer, putting an end to the feud once and for all. The ECW group now were called Extreme Version 2.0 or EV2.0.
On the next episode of iMPACT, the TNA locker room surprised the Extreme team with a beatdown. This prompted Raven to again turn face and join EV 2.0.
At Bound for Glory, Raven and EV 2.0 defeated Fortune in the Lethal Lockdown Match. The next PPV, AJ Styles, the leader of Fortune, challenged EV 2.0 to a 10-man tag team match where every member of the Extreme team would put their careers on the line. Sabu showed up to help his team fight off TNA. However, EV2.0 lost, with Sabu being pinned. Sabu was released.
Raven was forced to put his career on the line as well in a match against new TNA Champion Jeff Hardy. Unfortunately, Hardy defeated Raven.
He was released from TNA. His last match was against AJ Styles in a non-title match for the TNA Television Championship.
The Independents
Raven made a few appearances with Juggalo Championship Wrestling. During a championship match, the lights went out, and when they came back on, Raven had DDT’d the JCW Champion and stolen the belt from JCW Champion Corporal Robinson.
Raven announced that Robinson’s opponent that night, Sexy Slim, was a new member of the Nest. Sexy Slim then knocked out Robinson, and the two began to shave his head.
This prompted the arrival of Sabu. Sabu chased off Raven. Raven and Sexy Slim developed a rivalry against Sabu and Robinson. He even fought Sabu in a Raven’s Rules Match
He also made other indy appearances. He became the CWA champion but was stripped of the title after missing shows. He also wrestled against the Vampire Warrior in a flaming tables match in Australia.
Raven also won the VCW Championship in Norfolk, VA. Back at JCW, he competed in a 7-man match called Philly Madness, which was won by another ECW alum, Rhino.
Raven and Slim also won the JCW tag team title. He also took on his protege, Steven Richards, in yet another Loser Leaves Town match that ended in a no-contest.
He wrestled for Billy Corgan’s Resistance Pro Wrestling with Saturn. He also appeared in a music video for Corgan’s band The Smashing Pumpkins.
He went to Nigeria to wrestle for the NWF, where he teamed with the Steiner Brothers. He also won the NWF Heavyweight title.
TNA Hall of Fame
On December 6th 2018, he made a surprise appearance as a mental patient helping Eddie Edwards. A month later, he assisted Tommy Dreamer with an attack on Eli Drake aka LA Knight.
Once again, he turned on Dreamer, attacking him with a kendo stick. After that, he was a special guest commentator for the Clockwork Orange House of Fun match between Moose and Sami Callihan. He was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame by none other than his greatest rival, Tommy Dreamer.
In 2022, Major League Wrestling’s talent were being mysteriously attacked. It wasn’t long before Raven was revealed as the assailant.
He also had a new group of followers called The Calling. The Group consisted of Ricky Page, Akira, Delirious, Dr Cornwall and Mandy Leone.
He also competed in their annual over-the-top-rope battle royal, Battle Riot. During the match, Raven eliminated himself.
Outside The Ring
Raven currently hosts a podcast called the Raven Effect. This is a unique opportunity to get behind the mind of the madness. Scott Levy is a member of Mensa with an IQ of 143.
This fact was brought up many times during his Johnny Polo Days. He is a huge comic book fan who co-wrote a Spider-Man comic.
Levy is not viewed favourably by World Wrestling Entertainment due to his 2010 lawsuit over not providing benefits. It was thrown out because WWE talent are considered independent contractors; therefore, WWE does not need to provide benefits.
In 2005, an amazing documentary on Raven’s career entitled Nevermore: The Raven Effect. It was produced by acclaimed director Geordie Day.
Raven said he agreed to the documentary only if it told the true story. He wanted the bad and the good of his journey to be told. He feels that without the bad, the character of Raven would never have existed.
Whether you are a Raven fan or not, you can’t deny that Scott Levy is the ultimate entertainer. He could be a flamboyant heartthrob, an annoying mouthpiece, or a maniacal misfit shunned by society.
The man behind The Misery is a smart, educated human being with a mind for pro wrestling. Some say Raven is a creation of Levy’s frustrations when dealing with WWF and WCW.
Others say The Raven was Scott Levy’s true personality all along; either way, you can’t deny Raven is a legend in pro wrestling…..evermore.
