Ranting and Raven

Hey Scott,

     I was wondering if you can give me your take on a couple wrestling thoughts I've had for a while.  I'd really appreciate it.  Any ways, first question: Do you think WCW dropped the ball on Raven as far as not pushing him enough and maximizing the most out of his potential when he was at his peak?  Or was it problems outside the ring that derailed him?  His "What about me? What about Raven?" gimmick drew great heel heat and it led to some quality programs with DDP and Benoit.  But as soon as he dropped the U.S. Title to Goldberg, his career fizzled and he never really got a chance to bounce back as a serious player even though his loss to Goldberg wasn't a total squash (it was Goldberg's longest match at that point).  Even when WWE brought him over after, he was relegated to the Hardcore crap but at that point, he didn't seem to care about the business anymore.

     Next question which you've probably been asked but I'd like to know: Why didn't Owen Hart resign from WWE after what they did to Bret at Montreal?  I mean, not to pass judgement on someone who passed away but if I were Owen then, I would want to support my brother and wouldn't stand for what Vince did to him.  Maybe he tried but Bret talked him out of it?  Even so, I'd still resign and jump to WCW with him.  I'm sure WCW would've relished the thought of getting both Harts.  With that in mind, how do you think WCW would've (mis)used Owen? At the very least, they wouldn't have sent him to his eventual death. 

     Last question, any chance Vince Russo comes back to WWE in some capacity? Not that I would be in favor of that but stranger things have happened, right?  What would you say has a better shot of happening, that or Savage going to the HOF?

1.  Well, I mean, the problem with Raven of course was that pushing him was a dangerous proposition.  The guy suffered from serious mental issues (bipolar disorder and depression to name two) as well as a serious drinking problem and enough drugs to where even other guys in ECW would be like “Whoa, that dude does a lot of shit.”  That’s a lot of risk with not a lot of potential reward.  Heyman at least knew how to harness his evil and keep up under control, but the other two did not.  So I would say that making him US champion for a bit was pretty much as high as they could reasonably be expected to go with him in case he turned up dead at the bottom of a river one random day.  By the time he got to WWE he was even more broken down and was basically a small guy trying to compete with roided superheavyweights.  Today, yeah, that Raven would do fine, but even back in 2001 he just wasn’t going to break through that level, even with the lifts in his boots. 

2.  Owen did try very hard to escape his contract, but Vince wouldn’t let him out of it.  Owen would have had to quit, pay a huge penalty for breaking the deal, and then sit for the 90 day no-compete, and he was willing to do all that.  Bret did in fact talk him out of quitting and costing himself all that money, and Vince also made promises of a World title program against Shawn Michaels and a huge push.  Of course, neither promise was worth anything.  Bret later said that he regrets talking Owen out of quitting, and I have to agree.  Even if Owen had retired to escape the contract and pursued his teaching career or firefighting, he could have always come back later. 

3.  McMahon was apparently willing to do business with Russo shortly before he signed with TNA in 2002, and even bought out his WCW contract to do so, but it was an incredibly limited and edited role and he basically got himself fired for pitching the most ridiculously stupid and expensive idea ever devised.  Basically Russo suggested a main event stable of Steve Austin, the Rock, Undertaker, Mick Foley and a whole bunch of other A-level guys, some of whom would have to be signed to big money deals to do business with them, and it was such a dumb idea that McMahon fired him more or less on the spot.  Thus, he was out of his contract and free to negotiate with TNA.  Now, some have speculated that he deliberately sabotaged his own career so he could get the WWE to break their contract voluntarily and leave him free to go elsewhere, but he’s never seemed that devious to me.  Plus the idea as described at the time sounded eerily similar to the eventual Main Event Mafia storyline we got in TNA years later.  Now obviously Russo couldn’t come out and say “I sabotaged my own career to break a contract” because Vince McMahon is the kind of guy who would still harbor a grudge and sue over it, so you’re kind of left to judge for yourself.  That being said, if McMahon was willing to hire him after the way he left in 99, I see no reason why he wouldn’t do so again.  Everything old is new again, Russo included.