"Raven," one of the darkest, most mysterious, most unpredictable men in wrestling, real name Scott Levy, was born of Jewish heritage in Short Hills, New Jersey on September 8, 1962. He was trained at Larry Sharpe's "Monster Factory" wrestling school in New Jersey. His first pro match is said to have been against Jimmy Jack Funk (Jesse Barr) in Nashville, Tennessee on February 20, 1988, and he moved to the NWA Florida area in the summertime. I still have the tape on which young "sky-blue tights" Scott faced Dory Funk Jr. in a singles match on TV. He wrestled in Memphis and Florida, and then Scott, as "Scotty the Body," arrived in Don Owen's NWA Pacific Northwest area (Oregon and Washington) in 1989. Everything he did was just flamboyant there.
Scott Levy with Masanori, August 19, 1990
9/2/89 Portland, OR: Scotty the Body b. Carl Styles (12-man tournament final)
10/7/89 Portland, OR: Rex King (Timothy Well) b. Scotty the Body
10/14/89 Portland, OR: Scotty the Body b. Rex King
2/3/90 Portland, OR: Curtis Thompson (Chip the Firebreaker) b. Scotty the Body
3/30/90 Eugene, OR: Title was declared vacant when Scotty the Body was caught cheating to win his match against Curtis Thompson
7/8/89 Portland, OR: Scotty the Body & Top Gun (Cuban Assassin) b. Southern Rockers (Scott Paterson & Steve Doll [Steven Dunn])
7/22/89 Portland, OR: Title was held up after Scotty the Body and Top Gun split
8/5/89 Portland, OR: Scotty the Body & The Grappler (Len Denton) won the title when Scotty b. Top Gun
8/26/89 Portland, OR: Southern Rockers (Steve Doll & Rex King) b. Scotty the Body & The Grappler
9/9/89 Portland, OR: Title was held up after match of Southern Rockers vs. Scotty the Body & The Grappler
9/16/89 Portland, OR: Southern Rockers b. Scotty the Body & The Grappler
12/3/90 Coos Bay, OR: Scotty the Body & Steve Doll b. Wrecking Crew (The Grappler & The Equalizer [Evad Sullivan])
12/5/90 Gresham, OR: Wrecking Crew b. Scotty the Body & Steve Doll
3/17/90 Portland, OR: Scotty the Body b. Ricky Santana
Title was abandoned
"I've only been wrestling for a year-and-a-half. Most wrestlers take more than five years before they win their first championship, but I've already gained two in no time at all. Imagine how many belts I'll have won before my career is through!" said Scotty the Body in 1989.
"I really didn't like being that 'high-flying' character. That was something that was forced upon me by promoters because that's what THEY wanted. There is an aspect of me when I am not being moody that is jovial, but those moments are few and far between. It wasn't something that I wanted to do. I wanted to explore my darker half, and I just had to find that opening, but I had to pay the bills prior to that. I just want to be myself. I won't be a corporate whore," said Raven in 1997.
Scott Levy, as Scotty the Body, had his very first Japan tour for Giant Baba's All Japan Pro. from August 18 to September 18, 1990 (16 shows). He was traveling with Stan Hansen, Terry Gordy & Steve Williams, Johnny Ace, the Can-Am Express (Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas), The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers), Joe Malenko, Eric Embry, Rip Morgan, The Trooper (Del "The Patriot" Wilkes), and Richard Charland. Baba brought 14 gaijin (foreign) wrestlers and a special guest, Bruno Sammartino, for the Nippon Budokan Hall show in Tokyo on September 1, 1990. He couldn't do any good with Misawa, Kawada, or Kobashi in the ring at all, but he told me he really liked Japan and hoped to go back again in the near future. He learned a lot from them that would be helpful to him in the future.
(L-R) Bobby Fulton, Joe Malenko, Eric Embry, Scott Levy, and Del "Trooper"/"Patriot" Wilkes, September 2, 1990
8/18/90 Korakuen Hall: Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura b. Scotty the Body & Rip Morgan (11:55 Baba b. Scotty)
8/19/90 Korakuen Hall: Giant Baba, Rusher Kimura & Mighty Inoue b. Scotty the Body, Rip Morgan & The Trooper (13:15 Kimura b. Scotty)
8/20/90 Hasuda, Saitama: Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi b. Scotty the Body & The Trooper (11:50 Misawa b. Trooper)
8/21/90 Sukagawa, Fukushima: Scotty the Body b. Isamu Teranishi (11:46)
8/22/90 Soma, Fukushima: Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Mighty Inoue b. Scotty the Body, Rip Morgan & The Trooper (14:14 Tsuruta b. Scotty)
8/23/90 Iwaki, Fukushima: Mitsuharu Misawa b. Scotty the Body (12:00)
8/25/90 Kawaguchi, Saitama: Scotty the Body, Terry Gordy & Steve Williams b. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Mighty Inoue (15:16 Gordy b. Inoue)
8/26/90 Kashima, Ibaraki: Mighty Inoue b. Scotty the Body (10:28)
8/27/90 Ina, Nagano: Mitsuharu Misawa b. Scotty the Body (9:30)
8/29/90 Kitakata, Gifu: Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Mighty Inoue b. Scotty the Body, Stan Hansen & Eric Embry (11:30 Taue b. Embry)
8/31/90 Osaka Gym: Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers b. Scotty the Body & Danny Kroffat (11:57 Rogers b. Scotty)
9/1/90 Nippon Budokan, Tokyo: Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi b. Scotty the Body & Eric Embry (7:27 Kobashi b. Scotty)
9/3/90 Tochigi City: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada b. Stan Hansen & Scotty the Body (12:21 Misawa b. Scotty)
9/4/90 Kurobane, Tochigi: Joe Malenko b. Scotty the Body (9:06)
9/6/90 Gosen, Niigata: Akira Taue b. Scotty the Body (8:12)
9/7/90 Fukui City: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada b. Scotty the Body & The Trooper (9:40 Misawa b. Scotty)
Scotty the Body wrestled for a small independent promotion in Georgia and became good friends with Disco Inferno and Diamond Dallas Page. Scott, as "Scott Anthony," joined Max Andrews' Global Wrestling Federation in 1991. He became a member of the "Cartel" with Mahkan Singh (Mike Shaw / Norman) and Hustler Rip Rogers.
7/27/91 Dallas, TX: Steve & Shaun Simpson b. Scott Anthony & Rip Rogers (GWF Tag Team Title tournament final)
Victor Quinones booked him with Mil Mascaras, The Iceman (Ricky Santana), Miguel Perez Jr., Gypsy Joe, Dragon Master, and the Texas Hangmen (Psycho & Killer [Mike Moran & Bull Pain]) to W*ING Pro.'s one-night show at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on December 10, 1991.
Scott Levy, as "Scotty Flamingo," wrestled for WCW until early 1993.
6/20/92 Mobile, AL: Scotty Flamingo b. Brian Pillman
7/5/92 Atlanta, GA: Brad Armstrong b. Scotty Flamingo
11/18/92 Macon, GA / Clash of the Champions XXI: Scotty Flamingo b. Johnny B. Badd via KO in a "boxing" match
Scotty Flamingo joined the USWA in 1993.
3/22/93 Memphis, TN: Scotty Flamingo & Brian Christopher b. The Moondogs (Spot and Splat)
3/29/93 Memphis, TN: The Moondogs b. Scotty Flamingo & Brian Christopher
Scott Levy, as "Johnny Polo," joined the WWF as manager of The Quebecers (Jacques Rougeau Jr. & Pierre Oullet) and Adam Bomb (now Wrath in WCW).
9/13/93 New York, NY: Quebecers b. Rick & Scott Steiner in a special "Quebec rules" match
1/10/94 Richmond, VA: Marty Jannetty & 1-2-3 Kid b. Quebecers
1/17/94 New York, NY: Quebecers b. Marty Jannetty & 1-2-3 Kid
3/29/94 London, England: Men On A Mission b. Quebecers
3/31/94 Sheffield, England: Quebecers b. Men On A Mission
4/26/94 Burlington, VT: Headshrinkers b. Quebecers
"I NEVER wanted to be that (Johnny Polo). That was something they gave me. At the time, I was stuck with nothin' and I had nothin' so I took what I could get. Then, I realized I don't want to be this, and I am not happy. I wasn't being true to me. I wasn't being real. I thought I was putting on a sham or an act. I didn't want to be perpetrating a hoax. Being Johnny Polo was a childhood mistake. I was a lost soul looking for answers. So, I up and quit. I called Vince one day, and that was it. They actually gave me an office job at that point. They made me an associate producer of all their television shows."
Scott Levy, as "Raven," a character which he would establish as an anti-social grunge freak, joined ECW on January 7, 1995.
Masanori with Raven, August 10, 1996
1/27/96 ECW Arena, Philadelphia, PA: Raven b. Sandman
10/5/96 ECW Arena: When Raven no-showed, Sandman b. Stevie Richards in a tag match (Sandman & Tommy Dreamer vs. Richards & Brian Lee) to win the title
12/7/96 ECW Arena: Raven b. Sandman (barbed wire match)
4/13/97 ECW Arena: Terry Funk beat Raven
6/30/95 Jim Thorpe, PA: Raven & Stevie Richards b. Public Enemy
9/16/95 ECW Arena: Pitbulls b. Raven & Stevie Richards
10/7/95 ECW Arena: Raven & Stevie Richards b. Pitbulls
10/7/95 ECW Arena: Public Enemy b. Raven & Stevie Richards and the Gangstas (Three-Way Dance)
7/1/95 ECW Arena / Hardcore Heaven '95: Raven & Stevie Richards b. Tommy Dreamer & Luna Vachon
11/18/95 ECW Arena / November to Remember '95: Terry Funk & Tommy Dreamer b. Raven & Cactus Jack
4/20/96 ECW Arena / Hostile City Showdown '96: Raven b. Shane Douglas
6/22/96 ECW Arena / Hardcore Heaven '96: Raven b. Terry Gordy
11/16/96 ECW Arena / November to Remember '96: Sandman b. Raven
3/15/97 ECW Arena / Hostile City Showdown '97: Raven b. Stevie Richards and Tommy Dreamer (Three-Way Dance)
6/6/97 ECW Arena / Wrestlepalooza '97: Tommy Dreamer b. Raven
(L-R) Buh Buh Ray Dudley, Stevie Richards, Masanori, John Kronus, and Perry Saturn, August 10, 1996
The ECW crew (Raven, Tommy Dreamer, Eliminators, Stevie Richards, Buh Buh Ray Dudley, Beulah, Patricia, and Paul E. Dangerously) wrestled for the IWA Pro. in Japan from August 10-11, 1996, and Raven had an ECW World Heavyweight title match against Tommy Dreamer at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on August 11 (11:18 Raven b. Dreamer).
"The most insane shot is the one that still plays at the beginning of the ECW show. I was handcuffed crucifix-style to a steel cage and hit with a steel chair so hard that the chair doubled around my head. That, or a match in Baltimore where they put up barbed wire all around the ropes. At one point, a piece of the wire came off and I was on all fours being whipped across the back with the wire by Sandman."
"Creating Raven was solely my idea. It comes from a very tormented past and tortured childhood. Paul E. gave me a forum to express my views, and now WCW is giving me an even wider forum."
4/19/98 Denver, CO: Raven b. Diamond Dallas Page
4/20/98 Colorado Springs, CO: Bill Goldberg b. Raven
6/30/97 Las Vegas, NV / WCW Monday Nitro: Raven made his first appearance on Nitro
8/21/97 Nashville, TN / Clash of the Champions: Raven b. Stevie Richards ("No DQ" match)
11/23/97 Detroit, MI / World War 3 '97: Raven b. Scotty Riggs ("No DQ" match)
1/24/98 Dayton, OH / Souled Out '98: Chris Benoit TKO Raven ("No DQ" match)
5/17/98 Worcester, MA / Slamboree '98: Diamond Dallas Page KO Raven ("Bowery Death" match)
7/12/98 San Diego, CA / Bash at the Beach '98: Raven b. Saturn ("No DQ" match)
8/8/98 Sturgis, SD / Road Wild '98: Saturn b. Raven and Kanyon ("Falls Count Anywhere" match)
9/13/98 Winston-Salem, NC / Fall Brawl '98: Saturn b. Raven
10/25/98 Las Vegas, NV / Halloween Havoc '98: Chris Jericho b. Raven
"Listen to my words much more deeply. Don't just take them in surface value. Use your brain. Think, learn, and listen. There's much more to what I am saying than what's there on the surface."
I was very lucky to meet young Scotty the Body, who had big aspirations in his mind. Raven's quotes are always so deep and cold, but I'll never forget that he has his human side, and he is actually a good guy.
You may contact Masanori at masa_h@mail.goo.ne.jp
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