Raven deserves more respect and credit for his influence in the wrestling industry. Stints in WWE, WCW, ECW, and TNA with various gimmicks would see him trying to perfect his craft. Raven’s creativity was unlike anyone else when he had the freedom to come up with his own character.
The layers to his promos and overall persona made fans buy into it in a way that stood out against the hokey storytelling of the era. Raven certainly did enough to have a legendary career, but various issues with WWE played a role in his name rarely being mentioned. The changes throughout his time in the industry featured hits and misses. Each version of Raven will be spotlighted and ranked based on success and entertainment value.
10 Scotty Flamingo
The most forgotten chapter of Raven’s career was when he played the character of Scotty Flamingo in WCW. Raven received the first big break with this version in the WCW light heavyweight division.
The gimmick saw him playing a surfer heel that unfortunately did not help him move up the card. Raven clashing with booker Bill Watts over his character and other fundamentals of wrestling led to his release.
9 EV 2.0
TNA experimented with bringing back the ECW wrestlers to form a faction. The experiment of having another ECW reunion PPV after WWE’s ECW ended in disaster saw the likes of Tommy Dreamer, Rhyno, and Raven sticking around for a new faction.
Raven specifically had his final chance in a major promotion when returning for the idea. Unfortunately, EV 2.0 was another failed idea from TNA that missed the mark. Raven was too far past his prime to make any impact with this final shot.
8 Johnny Polo
WWE first introduced Raven to their audience under the name of Johnny Polo during the New Generation Era. The arrogant heel character did show enough charisma to stand out, but most of his best work came as a manager and occasional commentator.
Raven was tasked with managing wrestlers he didn’t have chemistry with like Adam Bomb and The Quebecers. WWE did have him wrestle on a few occasions as Polo, but it just never led to any noteworthy pushes or success before his release.
7 Serotonin
The aging process of Raven started to sink in when TNA was growing to a higher level following the additions of Sting and Kurt Angle. Raven would have a new chapter of his career start when leading the faction known as Serotonin.
Younger wrestlers Frankie Kazarian, Matt Bentley, and Johnny Devine were all looking for new roles when placed with Raven in the faction. Raven’s sadistic teaching methods were meant to toughen them up, but the group never hit its potential.
6 Deadpool
The end of Raven’s WCW run showed great potential when teaming up with Vampiro and the Insane Clown Posse. Raven started wearing a little face paint to bond with the other three wrestlers who painted their full faces.
The idea of the faction was strong on paper since Raven and Vampiro were both underrated, but WCW didn’t push them hard enough during the short run. Raven opted the leave the company during this time when Eric Bischoff offered a release to anyone who wanted it.
5 ECW Return Teaming With Tommy Dreamer
Raven’s second ECW stint came after he was granted his WCW release in 1999. The return of Raven provided one of the biggest pops in company history when he joined Tommy Dreamer to defeat the Dudley Boyz in their last ECW match.
Former hated enemies Dreamer and Raven won the ECW Tag Team Championship to prevent Bubba and D-Von from taking the belts to WWE. The storyline was interesting, and fans loved seeing Raven back, but his desire to leave for WWE ended the run before it could become special.
4 WWE 2000s Run
The return of Raven to WWE in 2000 saw him introducing this character in the biggest promotion for the first time. Vince McMahon was reportedly never high on Raven after he blamed Raven for influencing Shane McMahon into partying with him in the early ‘90s.
Raven never received a fair push in WWE during his return despite having a much better character this time. The hardcore division was the primary home of Raven in WWE having fun matches with weapons but no real pushes.
3 TNA Main Eventer
Raven’s decision to leave and sue WWE in the early 2000s ended his final run with the company. TNA was now starting to grow and added Raven as the first major free agent signing during the era of the weekly PPVs.
The importance of Raven during the first few years there helped the company stay afloat before bigger television deals came their way. Raven winning the NWA Heavyweight Championship to pay off a long storyline of fulfilling his destiny was a great highlight in his career.
2 The Flock in WCW
WCW started to target ECW as a place where they could raid talent for the roster depth. Raven joined WCW with weeks of hype bringing the same character from ECW that made him a hot commodity in the industry.
The Flock was the new faction led by Raven as a group of misfits sitting ringside for matches other than theirs. Raven had an underrated WCW stint with standout matches against the likes of Diamond Dallas Page, Chris Benoit, and Chris Jericho to showcase his depth.
1 Top ECW Heel
Paul Heyman was the first person in wrestling with power to give Raven a fair chance at showing his creative side. The Raven character debuted in ECW and perfectly represented the company as an alternative to WWE and WCW.
Raven had legendary feuds with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman that played a huge role in ECW finding success. The first PPV Barely Legal was even main evented by Raven dropping the belt to Terry Funk. Raven deserves to be mentioned when discussing the greatest ECW star of all time.