Raven on Working Backstage, His Multiple Characters and More

Raven has quite the effect on wrestling. Over all the years in wrestlnig, there are few characters who can rival Raven for interest. Be it his high intelligence that earned him a spot in MENSA or his issues with substance abuse or being the first wrestler to have an action figure made by WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA, there’s no one quite like him. He’s now getting some more attention, including a pretty big interview.

Raven was recently interviewed with ESPN.com on a variety of topics, including his in-ring career, his thoughts on working backstage and if he would take another job backstage working for a major wrestling company. Here are some highlights of the fairly long interview.

On the Johnny Polo Character:

“WWE made me Johnny Polo, which I never wanted to be,” Levy said. “I never felt like I fit the character just because the way my vocal patterns are — sounds nothing like an upper Greenwich, Connecticut-type person. It sounds like a Philadelphia, south Philly kind of guy. It’s funny, Vince McMahon said to me when he let me go he goes, ‘you really aren’t Johnny Polo. It’s kind of a disconnect because you dress one way and when you leave the office, you dress a completely different way. You talk differently. You’re really not Johnny Polo.’ And I’m like, ‘I know, I never thought I was.'”

On the Raven Character:

“He was something the fans could identify with. Whether they approved of it or not is a whole other matter. I caught the wave of the grunge era. I tapped into a part of America that people either love or they hate. When I was being a villain, I always made sure that people understood my motives. I made sure that it got a visceral reaction. My outfit was a whole new look nobody had really done before. My style of promo was unique in that no one had done before. The whole misfit culture was starting to become part of mainstream. So I caught the zeitgeist.”

On Leaving WCW

“I really wish I would’ve stayed. That’s one of my regrets. I didn’t stay because the idea he told me did nothing for me. I was gonna lose stock as a character, so I didn’t but I wish I would’ve [stayed] because the way things worked out with [Vince] Russo coming in six months later and Russo being a huge fan of mine, I probably would’ve been in the world title mix. I know I would’ve got way, way more money on my contract on my next deal because it was a year from being up, so I would’ve probably doubled what I was already making. So it really was a stupid idea of me to go, but I wasn’t having fun. It’s still a huge regret.”

On if He Would Take a Backstage Job with WWE

“No, I wouldn’t take it. Here’s the problem– creative you’re just a cog. The problem is you create great ideas and then you don’t get to see them come to fruition. That’s so taxing to me emotionally because you get so involved in the characters. So that would suck. As far as being a backstage agent, I don’t have any interest in that because I’m not using my creativity in any really strong way. You’re just an agent, so that wouldn’t interest me. It’s a whole different world now. The old days I would’ve definitely been a booker somewhere, but now it’s a 24-hour, 7-day a week job. I have no interest in being on the road that much because after 30 years of being on the road I’m happy at home.”

You can read the full interview here.

Opinion: Raven continues to be one of the most interesting characters in wrestling. He certainly knows his stuff and can talk on almost any topic related to wrestling. When you’ve worked in every major American promotion from the last thirty years, you’re certainly someone worth listening to.