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MORALITY CHECK - WWF Magazine - 2001
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Morality Check
by Steven Richards
WWF Magazine / 2001
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I don't usually make a habit of delving into the personal when it comes to this magazine column.For the most part, I attempt to keep things professional and deliver my message from a moral objective perspective, while offering guidance to the individual being addressed.However, for this month, I am going to throw away some of my self-imposed guidelines.
There is an athlete who entered the World Wrestling Federation a few months ago, one who i know very well both personally and professionally. I won't even bother using the clichéd "give-hints-for-two-paragraphs-and-then-tell-them-who-you're-talking-about" writing technique. I'll get straight to the point. I'm talking about Raven.
For those who didn't know, at one time, Raven and I were the most dominant force in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In ECW, we were two-time tag team champions, and I often defended his ECW title for him against some of the craziest, most insane, hardcore maniacs in the promotion. We were a great tag team as well as great business patners. But, Raven and I were much more than co-workers; he was like a brother to me.
My family life was a little worse than abysmal, and I thought I had found a big brother in him. We both had abusive, alcoholic fathers. Because of my upbringing I made few friends while growing up and had the same luck when I entered the wrestling business ... until i met Raven. Along with taking me under his wing in wrestling, he also offered me guidance in life. I went from being a manic-depressive to the happiest guy in the world. Little did I know that this was all apart of his master plan. A master plan that included making me his personal lackey who would be at his beck-and-call; someone who would wash his clothes, pack his bags, then carry those same bags into the arena the night of the show. What I viewed as friendship, he considered a job. I thought of him as a friend, and he looked upon me as a slave. For almost three years, I was manipulated into believing that the way he treated me was "for my own good". Every slap in the face, every DDT, every humiliating word that cut through my heart like a knife -- all these things were, according to Raven, supposed to make me a better person.
Well, Raven, in a weird way sort of way they did. All your abuse finally made me realize that you don't hate me; you hate yourself. Despite all the pressure and pain that accompanied our broken homes and rotten childhoods, I became a well-adjusted adult, while you did nothing but whine and cry with your "What about me?" nonsense. You claim to be a product of your surroundings; yet, I took those same sorroundings and founded a movement to change them. I'm suprised you've been in the World Wrestling Federation this long without crying for more airtime and title matches. That's probably the reason your father drank so much, he couldn't deal with your constant nagging. Unlike you, I am a man of action and do my best to change what I can and have the wisdom to accept the things that I cannot change.
I realize this may sound like I'm preaching, but believe me, I am not writing this as a sermon. I am writing this as a warning to you, Raven. A warning to stay out of my way. I am not "Stevie Richards"; I am not "kid"; and I am certainly not your lackey anymore. Who I am is the leader of men and women. Children look up to me as a role model. I am a respected member of the community and a valued corporate citizen. That is why I am telling you to stay away from me, Raven. This has nothing to do with the Right To Censor, either. This is between you and me. Don't attempt to bring out the dark side in me, a side with which you are all too familiar. Please do not force my hand because, if you do, I swear on all that is good and moral, you will be begging me to end your misery. But for your sake, I won't. Why not? Because Raven, it's for your own good.
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