9 Wrestlers Who Went To Insane Lengths Researching Their Gimmicks

Raven probably did a bit of method acting now and again. That seems reasonable to surmise based on the physical pain he was prepared to undergo in the aid of the wrestling business. By comparison, a bit of social embarrassment would have been a piece of cake.

The above is just conjecture, though. What we know for sure is that Raven, relative to pretty much every other wrestler of his era, put in a heck of a lot of preparation into his promos, which were peppered with obscure literary allusions and deep philosophical ramblings.

Even in the years since, few mainstream performers have come close to replicating his eccentric style on the microphone. Perhaps Bray Wyatt on a good day, but he is much more about one-line soundbites than long, drawn-out monologues.

Perhaps there's a lesson in there somewhere for the WWE creative team: if you let your wrestlers off the leash every now and then, there's a chance they could produce some solid stuff by themselves. They've seen movies. They've access to the internet. They can do it.