History Wrestling / Raven

Raven (real name Scott Levy, b. 1964) is an American [[ProfessionalWrestling pro wrestler]], booker and producer with a career spanning thirty years and eleven promotions.

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** The Flock would often rebel in WCW, because he could not help but be a dick to them.

** Serotonin was another incarnation of the Nest in {{Wrestling/TNA}}. In this incarnation, Raven's main involvement was hitting members of the group with a kendo stick after a match (whether they won or lost) in his belief of "torture builds success". The group broke up on the November 15, 2007 episode of Impact when Havok betrayed the group and helped Team 3-D (former Nest members) against Serotonin.

** After his return to ECW, near the very end, he joined up with Wrestling/MikeAwesome, Wrestlng/SidVicious and Judge Jeff Jones to create The Court.

* ThemeSong: Some of his themes are {{Music/Nirvana}} and Music/PearlJam knock-offs, particularly the WCW ones:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxkiRYV0Tzk "Short but Thick"]] by Wrestling/JimmyHart.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON_BqmOCXQY "Raven"]] by Jimmy Hart.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWkYzOSmbTk "What About Me"]] by Jim Johnston.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9N_1DPKP_Y "Offspring"]] by Dale Oliver.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XCJYw_9v8U "Scream"]] by Dale Oliver. It's pretty much sampled from his WCW theme, but some people prefer TNA's version.

* NietzscheWannabe: It started with his depression in ECW and continued until his return to fight the Dudley Boys. In the words of the man himself, "Raven is a martyr for society's dysfunction."

* StandardFemaleGrabArea: He used this in TNA to drag Alexis Laree off to the "Sports Entertainment Extreme" office. To be fair, she had taken a shooting star press after a long match with Trinity and had no clue what was going on.
* StraightMan[=/=]TheComicallySerious: To [[LargeHam Stevie Richards]], as seen in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqAN1aJNb_A this promo]] from the July 4, 1995 ''ECW Hardcore TV'', where Stevie is bragging about them defeating [[Wrestling/{{TPE}} The Public Enemy]] for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-t.html ECW World Tag Team Championship]], while Raven and Beulah stood there completely silent with absolutely stoic, emotionless faces.

* TheStoic: Raven usually, especially during his early ECW days alongside Stevie Richards or the Blue Meanie.

* TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty:
** Even before WCW decided to have him wrestle "like an ECW wrestler", Scotty Flamingo had still used a roll of coins and a "loaded glove" to knock out Johnny B. Bad while otherwise wrestling more conventionally. There is one rule of combat Raven would have done well to pay attention to though, ''don't attack your allies''.
** He's thrown a fireball on occasion, such as at Abyss and Foley in TNA.

** Later Known as The Flock/The Dead Pool in WCW and The Gathering/Serotonin in TNA, Raven's Nest was a mega-stable originating in ECW in 1995. Raven's Nest was, as the name implies, led by Raven. The faction was used to assist Raven in feuds against Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman. The members fluctuated often and the group had reached almost 30 different members and allies before it ended in ECW, including: Stevie Richards, Beulah [=McGillicutty=], Brian Lee, Cactus Jack, Chastity, Don Bruise, Johnny Hot Body, Kimona Wanalaya, Lupus, both Pitbulls, Ron Harris, Don Harris, Super Wrestling/{{Nova}}, Wrestling/TheBlueMeanie, and Tony Stetson. Whew!
### The Centerpiece: Raven himself.
### The Enforcer: Sick Boy originally served this role, but when Kidman got popular, he was promoted to this spot.
### The Muscle: Van Hammer and [[Wrestling/RonReis Reese]].
### The Point Man: Scotty Riggs.
### The Hanger On: Stevie Richards and Lodi.
### The Heir Apparent: Perry Saturn was originally in this spot, but when he turned on the stable, Horace was given the spot. Towards the end of the stable's run, Horace was demoted and Chris Kanyon got the spot.
** Near the end of ECW, he joined up with Wrestling/MikeAwesome, Wrestlng/SidVicious and Judge Jeff Jones to create the Court.
** In WCW, Raven's Nest became The Flock. Upon arriving in 1997, this group would amass members who felt that they were social outcasts and would seek acceptance with The Flock. The group was popular, but lost more matches than they won. Members of the Flock who garnered title reigns included Raven and Perry Saturn (the former held the WCW United States Championship, the latter held the WCW Television Championship, and the two were tag team champions together). In the end, The Flock was disbanded when Saturn defeated Raven at the 1998 ''Fall Brawl'' to win the freedom of the cult members from Raven. During the latter part of this run, Raven formed The Dead Pool (a.k.a. Necro Ward, a.k.a. Dark Carnival), which was seen as a sub-group of The Flock. After Raven left WCW, the group continued on without him in Wrestling/JuggaloChampionshipWrestling. The group won the WCW tag team championship (The Great Muta and Vampiro).

** The WCW run started out strong, but the emphasis on politicos like [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder Nash, Hall and Hogan]] squashed it quickly and made him midcard fodder. He almost had that feud with the top guys for a few weeks, and even cut a promo on {{Wrestling/Sting}}. Then they just served him up to Goldberg, who won the World Heavyweight Championship almost immediately ever, making Raven's U.S. title reign kind of meaningless.

* BoringButPractical: The Evenflow. Such a simple move, but done in a way to make it look like death. His drop toe hold [[ChairmanOfTheBrawl onto a chair]] is especially cringe-wor

* {{Trope2000}}: Deadpool 2000 when reuniting with the Insane Clown Posse and also picking up Wrestling/BallsMahoney.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: WCW vs. nWo/Dreamer vs. Raven were early examples of long-form storytelling, in an age when wrestling angles lasted a few months at most. Raven was able to make everything feel like he was outside of corporate control, even moreso, ironically, than the [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder nWo]]. (Raven and [[Wrestling/HulkHogan Hogan]] represented the two main competitors to WCW.)

* BoringButPractical: The Evenflow. Such a simple move, but done in a way to make it look like death. (His drop toe hold [[ChairmanOfTheBrawl onto a chair]] is especially cringe-worthy.)

* CareerEndingInjury: Even in the summer of '05 when he became NWA (really TNA) World Heavyweight Champion, he was still physically in good shape and putting on good matches. By the time TNA moved on Creator/SpikeTV at around October of '05, he lost control of his vices, his thyroid issue came calling at him, and he became the man who ate Raven (leading to some dark hilarity when he called Tommy Dreamer "fat"). Must have sucked, because it looked like he aged 20 years and gained 50 lbs. in a matter of months. This lead to him just looking really poor in-ring and having a hard time getting booked. But he finally got clean, dropped the weight and got his health back in order. His hair is gone for good, though.

** Another during his WCW and WWF/E run: "What about me? "What about Raven?"

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Clearly his best work was as [[https://imgur.com/0Qj0mbd Johnny Polo, manager of Adam Bomb and The Quebecers!]] So strange looking back at that character when you compare it to Raven. He was a high-flyer in his early days but was able to change it up when the Raven gimmick started (he wasn't doing "spotkateer shit" as he refers to it). You might also know him as Scotty Flamingo in the early days of WCW. He went cheap and dirty and just brawled his way through ECW, because the gimmick was a cheap and dirty guy with no flash whatsoever.

* FiveMovesOfDoom: Raven wasn't the best wrestler but, like most things in ECW, he intentionally went minimal in the ring to suit the gimmick. He proved it wasn't just luck, though, as he took his corner of WCW and made the most of it. According to Raven, he has a problem with what he calls "spotkateers", who are basically that minority of indie wrestlers who do flippy-doos to get themselves over (the way Teddy Hart always did in his career), and who care more about impressing an audience with their flips than telling a story which gets fans invested. Probably he most revealing thing Raven has ever said about the inner workings of wrestling is that (in his opinion) guys use too many moves; Raven is adamant that he only has five moves, including sitting in the corner.

* HostileShowTakeover: Raven was a similar character to Wrestling/BrayWyatt because it seemed like he didn't care if he won or lost as long as he got his message across. In June 1997, Raven made his on screen début in the front row of WCW events, with his first “match” taking place at ''Clash of Champions''. We use the term match loosely as it was unsanctioned. Raven jumped over the railings, had his match, won easily, just jumped back over the railing and watched the rest of the PPV. It was during this time he created the Flock, something of a cult that followed Raven.

* JustYouAndMeAndMyGUARDS:
** A guy who could be a vicious, brutal guy in the ring, but still be a final boss pussy outside of it, sending his minions to do his dirty work and never taking a clean win when he could have a dirty one. Raven's Nest was successful in helping Raven capture the ECW World Heavyweight Championship twice, along with two tag team title reigns, both of which were by Stevie Richards and Raven. At ''Spring Stampede'' (WCW), he competed for the United States Title. Raven, he took on Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage for the title later on in the night, and while the Flock didn't become the new contenders for the title, because the title match was held under Raven's Rules, it meant with the help of the Flock, Raven became the new U.S. champion.

-->'''Kanyon''': What's "Ver-case?"

* NerdInEvilsHelmet: He used to wear Creator/VertigoComics T-shirt to the ring. That's brand synergy right there: ''{{ComicBook/Sandman}}'', owned by Vertigo, part of DC Comics, as owned by Time Warner, who bought out WCW.

--->"''Quoth the Raven: Nevermore!''"

* MeanCharacterNiceActor:
** [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Steve Austin's]] known Raven since his Scotty the Body days, and they used to tour together. From all accounts, Raven is a big joker and never ever stops talking. Heyman, when asked what wrestler is the least like the character they portrayed, has said Raven by far. Raven has mentioned that on a couple of podcasts and disagreed, saying Raven was just another aspect of him that people didn't see as much.
** Seems to be this with The Sandman in real life. See their interviews together, in which they banter like an old married couple.

He's a card-carrying member of MENSA with an IQ of 143 (the highest possible score is 160) and, according to Wrestling/PaulHeyman, Raven is the only person in the industry to rival him. He walked away from a job with WWE Creative around 1994: He was being groomed to be a big shot, but between his on-again off-again substance abuse problems and thinking he's smarter than everyone else in the room, he didn't make for a good soldier. (And taking Wrestling/VinceMcMahon to court didn't help.)

** During his ECW reign, he fucking defeated Wrestling/DrDeathSteveWilliams. Steve Williams was undefeated for 10 years and was super-popular from his stint in Japan, and he lost to Raven.
** Tommy Dreamer. Run-ins are commonplace in wrestling, and in ECW, it done to build up tension. A few members of the Nest would take out Dreamer, some would get floored by him, but it kept the audience guessing as to whether Dreamer would finally win one. It was a company-wide story: Some of Cactus Jack's best promos emerged from this feud, Wrestling/TerryFunk's career was resurrected because of it (Raven vs. Funk closed out the ''Barely Legal '97'' pay-per-view), and it was two years until Dreamer finally beat Raven. The feud continued after Raven came back from his stint in WCW.

-->--'''Raven''', ''The Steve Austin Show'' (2010)

Raven has played an interesting role in every U.S promotion over the last twenty or so years. His "mind for the business" is always touted, along with the gift of gab and a [[ImprobableWeaponUser predilection for stop signs]]. He was instrumental to {{Wrestling/ECW}} becoming the sensation it became, and is one of the unsung icons of the Wrestling/AttitudeEra. And he did it in all three major companies (ECW, {{Wrestling/WCW}}, and {{Wrestling/WWE}}) as we've said.

He's a card-carrying member of MENSA with an IQ of 143 (the highest possible score is 160) and, according to Wrestling/PaulHeyman, Raven is the only person in the industry to equal him as a booker. He walked away from a job with WWE Creative around 1994: He was being groomed to be a big shot, but between his on-again off-again substance abuse problems and his opinion that he's smarter than most people in the room, that didn't make for a good soldier. (And taking Wrestling/VinceMcMahon to court didn't help.)

He used to have a video podcast on his Website/YouTube channel, though Raven often brings up his ADHD whenever he goes off on a tangent. ([[WriteWhoYouKnow Imagine Raven as a tangentleman.]]) He currently hosts a nonsensical (but entertaining) podcast, ''The Raven Effect'', on The Jericho Network: Most of it is non-wrestling topics, like the "Flat Earth" conspiracy theory. There is an episode with [[Music/TheSmashingPumpkins Billy Corgan]], which was a pretty big get for a fledgling podcast. Raven now has a series with Kayfabe Commentaries, ''Raven's Restler Rescue'', where he does just that: He takes an indie wrestler and tells them what they need to change in order to be successful.

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Raven's Rules.
* AdvertisedExtra: He's one of those guys who will work hard trying to figure out how not to work. He admits it himself in some of his shoot interviews. Some of his stories from RF Video are hilarious because of it, too: After the [=InVasion=] angle went south (a crossover between WWE, WCW, and ECW was abandoned in part due to contract disputes), he got a job working in WWE Creative ''and'' WWE 24/7 because [=McMahon=] saw he had a good mind for the business. So, rather than go to work, he calls Creative and says, "I'm going to be at 24/7 studios", and then he calls 24/7 studios and says "I'm gonna be at Creative", and basically got paid to do nothing for a couple years until they figured it out and fired him.
* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Raven was able to make everything feel like he was outside of corporate control, even more, ironically, than the [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder nWo]]. (Raven and [[Wrestling/HulkHogan Hogan]] represented the two main competitors to WCW.) WCW vs. nWo/Dreamer vs. Raven were early examples of long-form storytelling, in an age when wrestling angles lasted a few months at most.
* ArcWelding: The transition from Johnny Polo to Raven was actually a part of the character in that it was acknowledged on ECW TV(with Stevie even dressing like Scotty Flamingo). WCW implied that not only did Scott Levy play Johnny Polo and Raven, but that Raven was actually just Johnny Polo being rebellious. Believe it or not, the Raven character grew up with rich parents and unjustly became "emo" about his relatively good life. If you go back and check out his feuds and promos from his entire ECW[=/=]WCW run, he was a loser whose money couldn't help him get everything in the world that he wanted, and he became very bitter about it. It was a more nuanced character than some people realized. (They probably went ''[[{{Flanderization}} too]]'' overt with it during his WCW mansion days.)

* AsideGlance: His Ferris Bueller-style of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTnd0BdgtU talking to the camera.]] Despite portraying himself as a tortured soul, Raven was always the cocky rich kid who took the over-dramatic route.

** The Flock would regularly rebel in WCW because he could not help but be a dick to them.

** During a hardcore match with Wrestling/JeffJarrett vs. the members of the Gathering, Raven interfered and put Jarrett through a table...after Jarrett had already set two of Raven's disciples (Julio Dinero and Alexis Laree) on top of it, without bothering to move them out of the way. Raven's mistreatment of the rest of the Gathering made it easier for Wrestling/JamesMitchell to take control of them.

* BadassMustache: The leather jacket and [[ManInAKilt flannel skirts]] were a constant, but the handlebar mustache and hair he had around ''[[{{Wrestling/WrestleMania}} WrestleMania 17]]'' (before the braids and dye) showed time had passed since his original ECW run. He looked like a guy who'd grown and evolved into an older-but-still-degenerate version of Raven who'd somehow found himself in a world he was even more uncomfortable in than the ECW environment.

* CareerEndingInjury: Even in the summer of '05 when he became NWA (really TNA) World Heavyweight Champion, he was still physically in good shape and putting on good matches. By the time TNA moved on Creator/SpikeTV at around October of '05, he lost control of his vices, his thyroid issue came calling at him, and he became the man who ate Raven (leading to some dark hilarity when he called Tommy Dreamer "fat"). Must have sucked, because it looked like he aged 20 years and gained 50 lbs. in a matter of months. This lead to him just looking really poor in-ring and having a hard time getting booked. But with that said, he finally got clean, dropped the weight and got his health back in order. His trademark hair is gone for good, though.

* HostileShowTakeover: Raven was a similar character to Wrestling/BrayWyatt because it seemed like he didn't care if he won or lost as long as he got his message across. In June 1997, Raven made his on screen début in the front row of WCW events, with his first “match” taking place at ''Clash of Champions'. We use the term match loosely as it was unsanctioned. To take a page out of Goldberg's book, Raven jumped over the railings, had his match, won easily, just jumped back over the railing and watched the rest of the PPV. It was during this time he created the Flock, somewhat of a cult that followed Raven.

* LighterAndSofter: The segment with him and Kanyon going on a shopping trip, which also introduced Sandman in WCW (as a "family friend"). He's just lounging around by the pool in glasses and a polo. While funny, others might grimace at how much potential was squandered for random entertainment.

** [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Steve Austin's]] known Raven since his Scotty the Body days, and they used to tour together. From all accounts, Raven is a big joker and never ever stops talking. Heyman, when asked what wrestler is the least like the character they portrayed, has said Raven by far. (Raven has mentioned that on a couple of podcasts and disagreed, saying Raven was just another aspect of him that people didn't see as much.)

* OffhandBackhand: There’s this rule in the wrestling business that if fans get in the ring, wrestlers can just beat the living hell out of them with no repercussions After a fan tried to drag him out of the ring ([[https://streamable.com/zloww by his hair!]]) Raven just went right back to doing his promo, even with a seemingly-broken mic. (He continued his sentence and yelled "door" as he was being dragged out. In {{kayfabe}}, Raven would've just used the broken mic as another example of society holding down misfits like him and stopping him from having a voice.) Raven had a ton of heat at the time; he had just taken the U.S. title off of DDP.

** According to Raven, the character needed an environment where time is set aside for character development to occur. However, WWE didn't really get his character and or know what to do with him outside of the hardcore stuff. (Raven was unfortunately a comedy act by that point.) He then sued the WWE to try and establish a proper union and bring healthcare to his fellow workers, but not a whole lot of people joined him. He lost. On top of everything, he ended up losing the Hardcore Championship. What about him? What about Raven?

* RealSongThemeTune:
** "Come Out and Play (Keep 'Em Seperated)" by {{Music/Offspring}} in ECW, Ring Of Honor, the International Wrestling Cartel and TNA.
** "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana in ECW.
** "Sin" by Music/NineInchNails in Ring Of Honor
** "End of Everything" by Stereomud elsewhere.

** Raven is one of just five wrestlers who held singles titles in WWE, WCW, and ECW. If you add in TNA, the list drastically goes down. In fact, Raven would be the only one. (If you include tag titles, Foley would qualify too.) He's also technically a NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and if you factor in the Hardcore Title Reigns, Raven has actually had 32 title reigns--meaning he's has won more titles in his WWE career than Wrestling/JohnCena. And it only took him 603 days to accomplish this historic feat. (But the exchange rate means 300 Hardcore title reigns are worth .01 World title reigns.)

** Wrestling/{{Sabu}}. There was that time Sabu did a table spot, but the table didn't break, [[https://gfycat.com/SmoothDefensiveKid so Raven had to improvise.]] No pausing, no gesturing "I'm gonna drop the elbow now", no half-a-second of assessing if this is the smart thing to do. Probably wasn't entirely pleasant for Sabu, either, assuming he can even still feel pain. (It's Sabu. He would've gotten back up and put ''himself'' through the table.) This led to an underrated match between the two as well. They later teamed up together in TNA, but then feuded with after Raven attacked his friend Sonjay Dutt and failed to assist him against Monty Brown and Abyss. (Since they were mentioned, Monty Brown and Abyss also count during this period. Rhino would eventually find his way into the mess, too; he former two didn't show up enough to really highlight their feud.)

** Raven also helped Wrestling/CMPunk make a name for himself in ROH. (During that period they were working together in all the east coast indies. ) They had a pretty heated feud in the early 00s where Punk was the heel.

'''[=Raven=]''' (legally known as '''Scott Levy''', born in 1964) is a {{professional wrestl|ing}}er, booker and producer with a career spanning 30 years and a whopping ''eleven'' different U.S. promotions. He is best known for his extensive work in Wrestling/{{ECW}} during the mid-90s.

After brief runs in {{Wrestling/WCW}} and [[{{Wrestling/WWE}} WWF]] as '''Scotty the Body''' (proto-[[Wrestling/ShawnMichaels HBK]], with Missy Hyatt holding his leash), '''Scotty Flamingo''' (token 80's surfer) and '''Johnny Polo''' (proto-[[Wrestling/TripleH HHH]]), Levy rose to fame as Raven, a scion who who turned his back on the aristocracy to join Philly's wrestling underground. In spite of his wild-man makeover, Raven's silver tongue and love of literary references [[WickedCultured betrayed his privileged background]]. His promos were dark and nihilistic, and he was followed by a stable of misfits known as "Raven's Nest", which at different points included such wrestlers as the Pitbulls, the [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Dudleys]], longtime lackey Wrestling/StevieRichards, and even [[Wrestling/MickFoley Cactus Jack]]. Raven is the closest thing ECW had to a WrestlingMonster: a brooding sociopath, with a penchant for manipulating the weak-willed into doing his bidding.

Raven's ECW run was marked by two long and controversial feuds -- one with Wrestling/TommyDreamer, and the other with [[Wrestling/JimFullington Sandman]] -- and two ECW World Championship reigns. He's credited with popularizing the wearing of street clothes during matches, his uniform consisting of cut-off jeans, a flannel shirt, and a leather jacket; the typical {{grunge}} look.

In 1997, Raven returned to WCW, where he formed "The Flock", which included Stevie, Wrestling/PerrySaturn,and Wrestling/BillyKidman. While still popular, The Flock wasn't as successful, and dissent within the ranks eventually caused its dissolution. Raven often competed in a Raven's Rules Match, which basically meant any match Raven participated in was a hardcore match, and introduced some of ECW's signature violence into the product.

Raven rejoined the WWF (now-WWE) in 2000. He would win the WWE Hardcore Championship 27 times, but he never achieved anything approaching the success he found in ECW... and due to WWE's legalese of classifying wrestlers as "independent contractors", Raven (and the other wrestlers involved in his class action suit against them) became ''[[{{Unperson}} persona non grata]]'' in Connecticut. Following his departure from WWE, Raven spent the next seven years performing on-and-off in {{Wrestling/TNA}} and [[Wrestling/RingOfHonor ROH]] -- and even managed to net the {{Wrestling/N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA World Heavyweight Title belt in this period.

Outside of wrestling and TV production, Raven co-wrote an issue of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan’s Tangled Web'' (with Creator/BrianAzzarello) which revolved around the wrestler Peter Parker defeated in his very first adventure.

!!! "What about me? What about my tropes?":
* AbusiveParents: Raven said his dad was an alcoholic and his mother kicked the crap out of him
* ArchEnemy
** Tommy Dreamer ([[SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp boyhood rival]]), and The Sandman ([[YourCheatingHeart cuckolded husband]]) in ECW.
** Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage in WCW.
** Fellow "monster" Abyss in TNA. The former two didn't show up enough there to outshine their feud.
** Wrestling/CMPunk in Wrestling/RingOfHonor & Wrestling/{{MLW}} but not quite in TNA.
* AtrociousAlias: Raven's opinion on "Thumbtack Jack"...and Scotty Flamingo.
* BadBoss
** The Flock would regularly rebel against him in WCW because he could not help but be a bad boss
** He interfered in a Clockwork Orange House Of Fun match Wrestling/JeffJarrett was having against the members of the gathering and put Jarrett through a table...after Jarrett had already set his disciples Julio Dinero and Alexis Laree on top of it, without bothering to move them out of the way. Raven's mistreatment of the rest of the Gathering made it easier for [[Wrestling/JamesMitchell SinisterMinister to take control of them]], as they had plenty of motivation to kick Raven out.
* BastardUnderstudy: Not in the storyline, but he was trained by Charlie Fulton, Wrestling/JakeRoberts, Wrestling/LarrySharpe and [[Wrestling/EdFarhat The Sheik]], and took down Heel notes from each. Certainly, the influence of Jake the Snake is prominent in his ramblings.
* BecauseDestinySaysSo: Or so says Raven, who believed it was his destiny to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship while he was in TNA.
* BreakupBreakout: Raven was already well-established when he created The Gathering (aka Raven's Nest iteration #387) in TNA, but he's been outshined by two of its members. One is Wrestling/MickieJames, who became one of the most popular and recognizable female wrestlers on the planet (although overall Raven is probably still the bigger star). The other is Wrestling/CMPunk, who probably outstrips everyone to ever be a part of any of Raven's stables in success (Raven included), being a five time world champion in the WWE and a superstar whose popularity could only rival Wrestling/JohnCena and Wrestling/DanielBryan. The third member, however? Julio Dinero has faded into almost complete obscurity afterwards.
* {{Brainwashing}}
** He did this to make the Sandman's son his follower.
** What the TNA commentators accused him of doing to the members of the Gathering
* BraidsOfAction: He wore braids in TNA, blonde braids.
* CaptainErsatz: In 2006, another "Scotty The Body" started wrestling in Canada, earning chants of "Raven".

* CombatCommentator: Johnny Polo served as one in WCW for a time with Wrestling/JimmyHart and on WWF with Wrestling/VinceMcMahon and Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon. Raven would later serve as a commentator on WWF {{B show}}s ''Sunday Night Heat'' and ''Excess''.
* CombatPragmatist: Even before WCW decided to Raven have do his matches "like an ECW wrestler", Scotty Flamingo had still used a roll of coins and a "loaded glove" to knock out Johnny B Bad while otherwise wrestling more conventionally. There is one rule of combat Raven would have done well to pay attention to though, ''don't attack your allies''.
* ContinuityNod: Unlike ECW and WCW, The WWF decided to ignore Raven's stint as Johnny Polo. They did however remember his run as Scotty The Body in Pacific Northwest Wrestling (never mentioned by name and mostly alluded to on [[BShow Sunday Night Heat]], but still)
* CoolOldGuy: Continued to tour the indies at 49.
* TheCorrupter: Raven was to [[Wrestling/{{Goldust}} To Black Reign]], as if he needed more help.

* CrucifiedHeroShot: Raven did this to The Sandman in ECW -- and it was this crucifixion which caused Wrestling/KurtAngle (who had attended the event to begin a program involving Taz) to put off entering professional wrestling for years and threaten ECW with a lawsuit if it ever showed footage of him at the event. Whenever people demand to know what he was thinking, Raven says he considered tying Jim to a Star of David, but he would've just rolled away.
* {{Cult}}: Raven's Nest and Flock groups, as well as TNA's Serotonin, all had this vibe. The gathering had all the terminology of one but was a just a small part of a much larger stable.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu?: Gave Wrestling/DrDeathSteveWilliams his first loss in a decade
* DoNotCallMePaul: I dare you to call him "Scott" or "Scotty".
* DrugsAreBad: Raven's battle with drugs over the years are well known, and were one of the factors in his misuse in Wrestling/{{WCW}} and Wrestling/{{WWE}}. There's even a persistent rumour that he once accidentally snorted sheet rock after mistaking it for a rock he found in a dealers house. Luckily he has by all accounts since cleaned himself up.

* EtTuBrute: He did not take Perry Saturn abandoning the Flock too well in WCW.
* {{Expy}}: Raven is one to the Zen master of crime from ''Film/PointBreak1991''
* EvilMinion: Scotty the Body to Missy Hyatt and Eddie Gilbert

* {{Fireballs}}: He has thrown them on occasion, such as at Abyss and Mick Foley in TNA.
* FiveMovesOfDoom: One of Raven's pieces of advice in his "Secrets of The Ring" interview falls along these lines -- all wrestlers should have five moves they can do perfectly, instead of five hundred moves they can only do half-assed.
* ForceFeeding: Drinking, he forced CM Punk to drink his first beer. With the help of Tommy Dreamer [[EnemyMine no less!]]
* GarbageWrestler: An interesting case. Raven actually does have some actual wrestling skill, but works best as a brawler.
* GeniusBruiser: Raven has an IQ of 143 and is a registered member of UsefulNotes/{{Mensa}}.
** TheCastShowOff[=/=]ShownTheirWork: At the Russian promotion [[http://www.wrestlingfederation.ru/ IWF]] President's Cup 2007 event, he made a surprise appearance and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBBrvu9XBhk cut a promo in Russian]].
** PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: He recorded a rap song in 2008. He's got mad skills.
* GimmickMatches
** Scotty Flamingo had a "boxing match" with Johnny B Bad in WCW.

** The gimmicks really piled on during a Pro Wrestling Unplugged\Juggalo Championship Wrestling Crossover whose main event was a caged and cuffed last man standing war games match. This match being the one that kicked off Raven's feud with Corporal Robinson when it managed to go to a "no contest".
* GoMadFromTheIsolation: He hated the solitary confinement that came before his first Monster's Ball match, saying the only reason he did not go crazy was that because he realized he was already insane.

* HeelFaceReturn: Scotty The Body left Pacific Northwest Wrestling booed but came back cheered
* HypocriticalHumor: Calling Tommy Dreamer fat.
* IncrediblyLamePun: Wanted to have a "Bound For Gory" match with Wrestling/{{Rh|yno}}ino and Abyss. Abyss gave him his signature "Monster's Ball" match instead and invited [[Wrestling/{{Goldust}} Black Reign]].

* IWasBeatenByAGirl: Tried to {{invoke|d Trope}} the reaction from CM Punk in Ring Of Honor, the plan being for Trinity to jump and beat the stuffing out of him. Punk returned the favor by having his girlfriend Lucy Furr do the same to Raven (though Punk didn't want it to be a ''sneak'' attack and told Lucy to stop stooping to Raven's level)
* IWasQuiteALooker
** Raven originally wrestled as pretty-boy babyface "Scotty the Body" -- but time and drug use have really roughed him up.
** ChickMagnet: Based on his [[http://thesmartmarks.com/old_site/artman/publish/article_774.shtml own]] [[http://thesmartmarks.com/old_site/artman/publish/article_1110.shtml accounts]], the guy has a history of getting women that would likely rival a Wrestling/RicFlair or a Wrestling/ShawnMichaels.
* [[KickTheDog Kick The Mop]]: Raven feeding Perry Saturn's mop girlfriend, Moppy, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2EA8_rqLo8 to a woodchipper]].
* ImpliedDeathThreat: To Thumbtack Jack and Steve Douglas in the German Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Raven saying he came to the country to make some corpses and upset some parents.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Dale Oliver did "Scream" and "[[ContinuityNod Offspring]]" for him, however, his most (in)famous was Jim Johnston's "What About Me?"
* LetsYouAndHimFight: His plan for Kurt Angle, Wrestling/{{Christian}} and Wrestling/SamoaJoe in TNA

** He lost a loser leaves ECW match to Tommy Dreamer, his ''first'' loss to Tommy Dreamer, and that lead to his second WCW run. Later he would come back to ECW to help Tommy Dreamer with the Dudley Boys but they would go back to feuding again and Tommy Dreamer went back to losing to Raven.
** Raven lost a loser leaves TNA match to Wrestling/XPac, which prevented him from getting his revenge on Larry Zbyszko...for a little while.
** Raven lost a loser leaves JCW Ladder match to Corporal Robinson
** Extreme Rising put him in loser leaves town match against Stevie Richards

* ManInAKilt: Dressed this way at times.

* NietzscheWannabe: Started with his depression in ECW and continued until his return to fight the Dudley Boys. In the words of the man himself, "Raven is a martyr for society's dysfunction."
* NotMeThisTime: When CM Punk's girlfriend Lucy was laid out during his trip to Wrestling/ProWrestlingZero1, Punk returned to ROH accusing Raven, who in spite of a calling card eerie similar to his being left, had nothing to do with it.
* OfferedTheCrown: In addition to wrestling, Levy also worked behind the scenes as a commentator and producer during Hulkamania's heydey. The legend goes, Wrestling/VinceMcMahon wanted to groom him back in the early 90's to take over for when he eventually retired because Levy is ridiculously smart, creative and understands wrestling better than anyone else in the business. But Levy wanted to be a wrestler, so he turned him down and became Raven. Then Raven sued the WWE, and was expunged from WWE history for a short while. They have since re-established professional ties.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When he injured Villano IV off a doubleteam [=powerbomb/neckbreaker=] combo, he immediately broke character and stayed sitting next to Villano until it was clear that the injury wasn't life-threatening. For the time being, the incident (starting with the powerbomb) can be seen [[https://youtu.be/eNTOyl5WzY8?t=3m55s here]].

* PerkyFemaleMinion: At various times [[Wrestling/TerriPoch Taylor Made (Aka Tori)]], Wrestling/BeulahMcGillicutty, Terri Runnels, Trinity, [[Wrestling/MickieJames Alexis Laree]] and Wrestling/DaffneyUnger
* PerpetualFrowner: In ECW, because he was depressed

** Scotty was part of Cartel with Cactus Jack, Makhan Singh and Rip Rogers
** Scotty Flamingo was in Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage's Diamond Mine with The Diamond Studd and Vinnie Vegas
** Raven's Nest in ECW Stevie Richards, Beulah, Brian Lee, Cactus Jack, Chastity, Don Bruise, Johnny Hot Body, Kimona Wanalaya, Lupus, both Pitbulls, Ron Harris, Don Harris, Super Wrestling/{{Nova}}, Wrestling/TheBlueMeanie, Tony Stetson. Whew!
** Raven's Flock Wrestling/{{WCW}}
*** The Centerpiece: Raven himself, naturally.
*** The Enforcer: Sick Boy originally served this role, but when Kidman got popular, he was promoted to this spot.
*** The Muscle: Van Hammer and [[Wrestling/RonReis Reese]].
*** The Point Man: Scotty Riggs.
*** The Hanger On: Stevie Richards and Lodi.
*** The Heir Apparent: Perry Saturn was originally in this spot, but when he turned on the stable, Horace was given the spot. Towards the end of the stable's run, Horace was demoted and [[{{Wrestling/Kanyon}} Chris Kanyon]] got the spot.
** Also in WCW, The Dead Pool with Vampiro and the Insane Clown Posse
** Court near the end of ECW with Mike Awesome, Sid Vicious and Judge Jeff Jones
** The Alliance in the WWF
** The Gathering in TNA with Julio Dinero, Alexis Laree and CM Punk. The gathering itself was part of the larger Sports Entertainment Xtreme stable.
** Serotonin in TNA with Kazarian, Johnny Devine, and Matt Bentley
** EV 2.0 in TNA, lead by Wrestling/MickFoley with Tommy Dreamer, Stevie Richards, Wrestling/RobVanDam, Sabu, Rhino, [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Brother Devon]], Pat Kenney[[note]]ECW's Simon Diamond[[/note]] and Wrestling/AlSnow. A group doomed to failure because it relied on Raven and Dreamer coexisting.
* RealMenWearPink: Scotty Flamingo wore pink and black hot pink v neck.
* RealSongThemeTune
** "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana in ECW
** "Sin" by Nine Inch Nails in Ring Of Honor
** "Come Out and Play (Keep 'Em Seperated)" by Music/TheOffspring in ECW, Ring Of Honor, the International Wrestling Cartel and TNA
** "End Of Everything" by Stereomud elsewhere

* RichBastard: Johnny Polo, who incidentally was a rich spoiled prep turned manager. Even as Raven, WCW kept up the idea that he came from money.
* RingOldies: He's been at it since 1988.

* ShoutOut
** To Creator/EdgarAllanPoe
** To Music/PearlJam: his FinishingMove was known for a time as the "Evenflow DDT"
* TheSlacker: On the rare occasions Raven plays a face, he kept the nihilism but became more interested in chilling than in making other people miserable. Seen part of the time he did commentary in WWE, and when he formed a post-Flock tag team with Perry Saturn in WCW.

* TheMadHatter: In TNA, Raven decided he was mentally unbalanced, it couldn't ever be fixed, and that he had grown to like it that way. He tried to pull a NotSoDifferent on Abyss by suggesting he would end up just like Raven.
* TheRival
** Vampiro was a friendly one in WCW, not so friendly in TNA.
** Raven's most prominent TNA rival was Wrestling/JeffJarrett though
** James Mitchell in TNA, especially after he took the Gathering away from Raven. Raven did eventually join in on Mitchell's efforts to kill Abyss but then later took Abyss's side.
** Wrestling/{{Sabu}}, who Raven first teamed with in TNA but then feuded with after Raven attacked his friend Sonjay Dutt and failed to help him against Monty Brown and Abyss. Since they were mentioned, Monty Brown and Abyss also count during this period. Rhino would eventually find his way into the mess too.
** [[Wrestling/DavidHeath The Vampire Warrior]] In Europe. He's chased after Larry Zbyszko in TNA and around Europe.
** Corporal Robinson in Wrestling/JuggaloChampionshipWrestling, and Sabu, again.
* TheSlacker: Always had elements of this in his gimmick, but he played it up a lot more on the rare occasions he worked as a face.
* TheStoic: Raven usually, especially during his early ECW days alongside Stevie Richards or the Blue Meanie

** From Shane Douglas after Vampiro interfered in their hair vs hair match.
** Raven gave one to Larry Zbyszko following his return to TNA
** Shaved Corporal Robinson's afro in JCW but only finished half of it

* UnrelatedBrothers: An unrelated sister in his WCW manager, Chastity
* VillainousRescue: Made his return to ECW from WCW on the September 3 (taped August 26), 1999 ''ECW on TNN,'' helping longtime nemesis Tommy Dreamer defeat [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-t.html ECW World Tag Team Champions]] Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys for the titles on the Dudleys' last night with the company.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Seems to be this with The Sandman in real life. Their interviews together in which they banter like an old married couple are hilarious.
* WeaponOfChoice: A Singapore cane in Serotonin, which he mainly used to beat his own stable mates, even when they won.

--->"''Quote the Raven: Nevermore!''"

* <a href="https://scottishkiltshop.com/modern-kilts-for-men">men in kilts</a>

* ManInAKilt: Dressed this way at times.

** EV 2.0 in TNA, lead by Wrestling/MickFoley with Tommy Dreamer, Stevie Richards, Wrestling/RobVanDam, Sabu, Rhino, [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Brother Devon]], Pat Kenney and Wrestling/AlSnow. A group doomed to failure because it relied on Raven and Dreamer coexisting.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Raven was able to make everything feel like he was outside of corporate control, even more, ironically, than the [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder nWo]]. (Raven and [[Wrestling/HulkHogan Hogan]] represented the two main competitors to WCW.)
* AsideGlance: His Ferris Bueller-style of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTnd0BdgtU talking to the camera.]] Despite portraying himself as a tortured soul, Raven was always the cocky rich kid who took the over-dramatic alternative style route.

** TNA caught a lot of heat from internet fans, for whatever that's worth, for having Raven and Wrestling/CMPunk in a stable together right after they had a feud in Wrestling/RingOfHonor. It's that the exact same thing as British Strong Style: Pete Dunne is with Mustache Mountain outside of the WWE, but within it he's their foe. But the difference is how fierce the rivalry was between Punk/Raven in Northeast Indies (most notably Ring of Honor) and how Punk was, essentially, in a version of Raven's flock in TNA at the same time. While not the same situation, when Nakamura and Joe were at the peak of their feud in ''[[{{Wrestling/WWENXT}} NXT]]'', had they also been doing weekly ''[[Wrestling/WWESmackDown SmackDown]]'' in a tag team, it would have hurt them overall.

* ArcWelding: The transition from Johnny Polo to Raven was actually a part of the character in that it was acknowledged on ECW TV(with Stevie even dressing like Scotty Flamingo). WCW implied that not only did Scott Levy play Johnny Polo and Raven, but that Raven was actually just Johnny Polo [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTnd0BdgtU being rebellious.]] Believe it or not, the Raven character grew up with rich parents and unjustly became "emo" about his relatively good life. If you go back and check out his feuds and promos from his entire ECW[=/=]WCW run, he was a loser whose money couldn't help him get everything in the world that he wanted, and he became very bitter about it. It was a more nuanced character than some people realized. (They probably went ''[[{{Fladerization}} too]]'' overt with it during his WCW mansion days.)

* AsideGlance: His Ferris Bueller-style of talking to the camera. Despite portraying himself as a tortured soul, Raven was always the cocky rich kid who took the over-dramatic alternative style route. "Heh, what a ''mark!''"

(Maybe we can also factor their nemeses: Bret's rival, Shawn Michaels, is like the opposite of Tommy Dreamer.)

* ICouldaBeenAContender : Scotty Flamingo/Raven is like a Wrestling/BretHart from another universe who chose a different path: a mentally-ill narcissist, depressed by his mediocre career in the early [=90s=], pulling a teenage rebellion 10 years too late.

* ArcWelding: The transition from Johnny Polo to Raven was actually a part of the character in that it was acknowledged on ECW TV. WCW implied that not only did Scott Levy play Johnny Polo and Raven, but that Raven was actually just Johnny Polo [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTnd0BdgtU being rebellious.]] Believe it or not, the Raven character was always a spoiled brat. He wasn't meant to be a 'tortured soul', he was always meant to be a kid who grew up with rich parents and unjustly became "emo" about his relatively good life. If you go back and check out his feuds and promos from his entire ECW[=/=]WCW run, he was a loser whose money couldn't help him get everything in the world that he wanted, and he became very bitter about it. It was a more nuanced character than some people realized. (They probably went ''too'' overt with it during his WCW mansion days.)

* HellBentForLeather: Scotty Flamingo/Raven is like a Wrestling/BretHart from another universe who chose a different path. (Maybe we can also factor their nemeses: Bret's rival, Shawn Michaels, is like the opposite of Tommy Dreamer.)

* BadBoss

* ClothesMakeTheLegend: His uniform consists of cut-off jeans, an imitation leather jacket, and a flannel around the waist; the typical {{grunge}} look.