10 DUMB WWE Signings (We Didn't Want To Admit Were GENIUS!)
8. Raven (2000)
This is one Vince McMahon thought was dumb.
The then-WWF figurehead actually asked Jim Ross: 'Who the hell hired Raven?'. Of course, the answer was simple: JR had convinced the former WCW and ECW man to put pen to paper on a federation contract. It was an inspired move. Raven had wasted time on Paul Heyman's dime before the jump, but he had a lot to offer.
He wasn't the same behind the scenes nuisance he'd been in the early-90s as Johnny Polo. Instead, Raven was a well-rounded worker who held weight with some members of the fanbase. He'd go on to do Ross proud by becoming a key part of the entertaining Hardcore Title division. That was Raven's ceiling, but he knew his role and was damn good at it.
Even McMahon must've admitted (privately, if not publicly to his staff) that bringing Raven back into the nest was a shrewd decision. All the hardcore fun that followed made it clear that snatching him away from ECW helped the WWF's midcard.