10 Things You Didn't Know About Raven

1. Raven Was An Evolution, Not A New Gimmick

Raven and Johnny Polo initially look like polar opposites. One was a dingy, depressed soul, while the other was a spoiled kid who had no problems flouting his wealth and success in the face of all and sundry. Fans can be forgiven therefore for assuming that Raven was an entirely new gimmick for Scott Levy, that he had abandoned the Johnny Polo and Scott Flamingo gimmicks in favour of something entirely different.

It is somewhat surprising therefore to find out that Raven was actually an evolution of the Johnny Polo gimmick, essentially the ‘real Johnny Polo’. WCW touched on this somewhat in the latter stages of Raven’s run in the company, but Bischoff and co were so creatively bankrupt in 1999 that there was little to no hope for it.

ECW and WCW both acknowledged the character development on TV, with Raven being portrayed as Johnny Polo in a rebellious mode. The character was actually far more nuanced than fans realise; Johnny Polo was a rich, entitled guy who happened to be a loser, someone coming to terms with the fact that money didn’t bring anything. That, in turn, led to the Raven character, someone who despised the world and everything he felt that it owed him. In hindsight, it is a gorgeously detailed character, full of depth, that often-lacking characteristic in wrestling gimmicks.