Great-ing Gimmicks of the Past: The Deconstruction of Raven

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Great-ing Gimmicks of the Past: The Deconstruction of Raven — WCW, 1998-1999

History
The December 14, 1998 Nitro opened with Raven taking on Scott Putski. As Raven did his usual pre-match interview, Kanyon came out and sent Putski to the back. Kanyon talked about how everybody was sick of how much screen time Raven got to moan about his problems. Kanyon then began revealing Raven’s secrets — he had a pre-med degree from an Ivy League school, a multi-million-dollar trust fund, and got a Mercedes for his sixteenth birthday. Raven tried to head to the back, only for Kanyon to stop him. Raven just told Kanyon to leave him alone and left.

Later in the night, a well-dressed woman was seen asking for her son Scott. Security asked who she meant, and she said that he went by Raven. Kanyon (who she called Chris) came out and offered to taker her to him for fifty dollars because he needed the money. She refused to pay and told him to take her to her son.

The next week on Nitro, Raven and Kanyon came out to talk with Gene Okerlund. As Raven talked about how hard his life had been, Kanyon mocked him. Raven finally leveled Kanyon, which brought out Mama Raven who told him not to hit his friends. She finally convinced Raven to come home with her to see her doctors.

The next few weeks we saw video clips of Raven going home and his family. On the January 7 Thunder, we were introduced to Raven’s sister Chastity as Kanyon followed Raven home to try and convince him to come back. Also, we met the neighbor next door — James (ECW’s Sandman). Kanyon would get into an argument with James that wound up with them both falling in the pool.

On the following Nitro we thrilled as Raven played backgammon with James. James told Raven that he should dump Kanyon, just like he’d dumped Perry Saturn. Raven then went looking for his high school yearbook, only for his mother to tell him that it was in the garage (Grandma had moved into his room). Raven went into the garage and found old photos of Roddy Piper instead.

We got nothing new until the February 8th’s Nitro. Kanyon came over to visit and Raven’s mother asked him to make sure that Raven didn’t leave the house. When Kanyon told Raven that a lot of people were concerned about him, he grinned and called Kanyon a mark. Raven explained that he just acted depressed because it drove his mom crazy. Raven then led Kanyon to his garage where they climbed into a Ferrari Spider convertible (about a $250,000 car) and they hit the road.

Their first stop was the bank, where Raven withdrew ten thousand dollars in one dollar bills. Raven walked out of the bank carrying big bags of money while singing “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.” He then told Kanyon they needed to get him the right look.

Next up was the mall, where Kanyon got to try on some Versace. Raven had a bit of fun by opening the curtain to Kanyon’s changing room for the cameraman.

They then rushed back to Raven’s house, where they just barely beat his mother home. She told Raven that WCW wanted him to come back to work and asked if he was all right. Raven waited until the door closed, then turned to the camera again, grinned, and told the camera that she wasn’t too bright.

And that was that.

Analysis
Raven was a groundbreaking character. In 1995, grunge music had hit the mainstream, and Raven personified the grungy loner stereotype. Raven was also a departure from his previous characters — Scotty the Body, Scotty Flamingo, and WWF manager Johnny Polo (a spoiled rich kid). Raven didn’t care about anyone and soon gathered a following — his Flock.

In 1997, Raven had left ECW and made his way to WCW. Here, the Flock was reformed, but Raven’s edginess was toned down. There were no more hardcore bloodbaths like fans had seen in his ECW wars with Tommy Dreamer and the Sandman.

Raven’s title hunt was also over. In ECW he’d been a two-time ECW World heavyweight champion. In WCW, the closest he got to a belt was one run with the United States title that lasted exactly one day.

Then we get these vignettes that devastated Raven’s character. By stripping away the jaded, sullen veneer and revealing nothing but a spoiled rich kid beneath, Raven was hopelessly neutered. After he left WCW Raven returned to ECW, where he could begin to rebuild himself.

Where are they now?
Raven left WCW after a production meeting in 1999. In the meeting (with the entire locker room present), Eric Bischoff began calling out various wrestlers by name (including Konnan, Raven, and Rey Misterio Jr.). Bischoff then said that if anybody wasn’t happy, they could see him for a release. Raven immediately stood up, left, and called his lawyer to start the ball rolling.

After leaving, Raven returned to ECW, where he shocked everyone by joining forces with Tommy Dreamer to capture the ECW Tag Team titles from the departing Dudley Boyz on the premiere episode of ECW’s TNN show. Late in 2000, Raven quietly left ECW and returned to the WWF. In 2003 Raven was released from the WWE and went to TNA where he remains today.

Chris Kanyon was picked up by the WWF in the WCW and soon debuted as part of the Alliance contingent (where he was named Alliance MVP) during the Invasion. In 2004, Kanyon was released from his contract after an unproductive two years where he had been dealing with various injuries. Kanyon retired in August of 2004, then un-retired in July of 2005. Kanyon has since received media attention for his revelation that he was gay, although his claims that this is the reason he was fired from the WWE have yet to be substantiated. Kanyon remains active on the independent scene today.

Next week
Cactus Jack needs backup, but calls on someone rather unusual.