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WWF.com - What About Raven?
By Seth Mates
WWF.com
“What about me? What about Raven?”
Those are the sentiments you’ll often hear coming from Scotty Levy’s lips on World Wrestling Federation programming. Since returning to the Federation at Unforgiven in September, Levy has captivated the imaginations of fans as the mysterious Raven.
But Raven’s story behind the scenes is just as captivating as the one you see in front of the cameras. And the man who likes to ask those two famous questions is just as comfortable giving some answers. In fact, Raven is one of the most honest competitors you’ll ever meet - a fact which has gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion.
Don’t believe it? Try some of these sound bytes on for size:
On the state of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) when he walked out of the company in the summer of 1999: “There wasn’t a person in the company that wasn’t miserable.”
On the WCW production staff: “There are some good people there, but there’s also some really lame people.”
On Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) boss Paul Heyman: “I can hate the guy, but two seconds after being with him, he’s the best guy I’ve ever met.”
Indeed, Raven’s path back to the World Wrestling Federation has been full of controversy.
It all began in 1993.
After years of competing on the independent scene, and after a successful tenure as “Scotty Flamingo” in WCW, Levy entered the World Wrestling Federation as “Johnny Polo,” a rich kid which is seemingly the complete opposite of his current Raven character. Polo was a manager, seconding both Adam Bomb and the Quebecers. Although Polo achieved a degree of success - the Quebecers won three Federation Tag Team Championships - Levy was gone from the Federation as quickly as he came.
“It just wasn’t me, which is eventually why Vince (McMahon) took me off television,” says Levy of the “Johnny Polo” character. “But what are you going to do? They had already invested time, so they had to let it run its course.”
Vince might not have seen a future for “Johnny Polo,” but he instantly picked up on the fact that Levy had an incredible mind for the business. In addition to his on-screen persona, Levy soon became an associate producer for Monday Night Raw (now RAW IS WAR), in addition to several other Federation shows.
“I enjoyed it, but it’s not what I wanted to do, and it’s not something I want to do now either,” Levy said. “I want to be a performer. I have the utmost respect for everyone behind the camera, but it’s just not something that I want to do.”
In an attempt to find his true place in the sports-entertainment business, Levy left the Federation.
“When I left, it was with every intention of coming back as rapidly as possible,” he said, “But I took a rather circuitous route and ended up right here after a lengthy absence.”
Levy wound up in ECW, working for Paul Heyman, a.k.a. Paul E. Dangerously. He morphed into Raven, a depressed and dark individual who was abused as a child, and who felt he was given the short end of the stick in life.
The results were instant. “Raven” caught on, and on Jan. 27, 1996, he captured the ECW title. After a second reign in early 1997, Raven left ECW for WCW. He won championships in WCW as well, but his troubles backstage were well-documented.
“Everyone was very upset there,” Levy said. “There wasn’t a person in the company that wasn’t miserable. I was so miserable that it had a delirious effect on everybody. Even if things turned around, it was so miserable that it was infectious. It was dragging me down as a person, in my real life.”
Levy said that many of WCW’s competitors were venting their frustrations in the mainstream media, and he was no different, appearing on the Mancow radio show in Chicago. Unfortunately for him, WCW head Eric Bischoff happened to hear his appearance.
“That made him very upset, because I buried his production staff,” Levy said. “And rightly so. I mean, there are some good people there, but there’s also some really lame people. So Eric called a meeting, and I kind of figured he was going to address the thing. So the first words out of his mouth are, ‘Our attorney is outside. Raven, if you’re unhappy with the company, there’s the door.
’ So I stood up and said, ‘See ya,’ and walked out. Then he proceeded to lambaste half a dozen other guys, offering them the same option. No one took it.
“At that point, I was hoping to come here to the World Wrestling Federation, provided they were interested in having me,” Levy continued. “Bischoff said, ‘I’m not giving you that option, so you can go to ECW or you can come back and work for me.’ He offered me my job back numerous times. He was really fair to me; I always got along with him. In fact, he had even more respect for me for walking out on him. Instead of despising me for it, I actually became more popular in his eyes. But I was unhappy where I was, so I thought it was time to move on.
“I love being miserable when I’m on camera because I can deal with my own personal demons,” he continued. “I don’t like to stay miserable when I leave the on-air area, which is part of the reason why I left WCW.”
With his options limited, Levy chose to go to ECW for a year until he was completely free and clear of his WCW contract. His return came with a lot of hoopla, but the honeymoon soon ended after some backstage squabbling with Heyman became public.
“We just butted heads, and unfortunately, it became public fodder,” Levy said. “I was just as wrong as he was for making it public knowledge. We got past that. I can hate the guy, but two seconds after being with him, he’s the best guy I’ve ever met. Paul E. is just of that nature.
He’s probably the most charming man I’ve ever met, and probably the most creative mind I’ve ever met, other than Vince.” Raven’s time in ECW ended quietly earlier this year, and rumors circled that he was headed back to the World Wrestling Federation. Indeed, at the Unforgiven Pay-Per-View in September, Raven finally came back home - ironically enough, in Philadelphia, where he first earned his stripes in ECW.
“You really can’t beat that,” Levy said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better place to be. The noise that the fans made was indicative of it being the right decision.”
But it’s not just the Philadelphia fans who have taken a liking to Raven since he came back to the Federation. Fans across the country seem to be drawn to his character.
“[Fans have] always been very responsive to me,” Levy said. “I think I bring something to the table, whether it’s my natural personality, whether it’s my charisma, or whether it’s just that X-factor. People seem to grasp a hold of me, whether they can relate to me, despise me, what have you. I’ve always been able to get strong reactions from the crowd.”
Glad to be back, Levy says his on-camera partnership with Tazz works well because on-camera, the superstars are “just two miserable bastards.” The history between Tazz and Raven actually goes back to ECW, where both men were top-tier competitors.
“A lot of people thought that Raven and I had a feud in ECW, but we only wrestled each other once or twice on house shows,” said Tazz. “We never had a feud. Tommy Dreamer and Raven had the big feud; my feud was with Sabu. It’s funny that people think that, and I think a lot of people in the WWF backstage thought that too.”
The partnership of Tazz and Raven is capable of great things - as is evident by something the two men put together several years back.
“Raven and I were talking in the locker room together on a house show once in Tampa, Fla., a few years back for ECW,” Tazz said. “We kind of came up with the Dudley Boyz gimmick, with the name and the look, before we even found the wrestlers to be D-Von Dudley and Buh Buh Ray Dudley. We came up with the whole ‘black guy and a white guy as brothers.’ Actually there was more guys - we had the idea that there was a black guy, a white guy, a Chinese guy and a Mexican guy as brothers.”
Today, Levy has the opportunity to come up with great ideas with an entire roster of Federation superstars; in fact, he says that his favorite thing about the Federation is the camaraderie in the locker room - something that was definitely missing while with WCW. In fact, things have been so positive for him since Unforgiven that he can now speak his mind and not worry about negative consequences.
His honesty was even on display as the interview came to an end.
“Honestly, I think this is the most boring interview I’ve ever conducted, because I’m too new to really give you any kind of opinion or statement,” Levy said. “I’ve only been around a month. I haven’t seen enough of this company yet to say much more. Right now, I’m just glad to be back. You’ll probably find me a much more interesting interview the next time you come around.
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