Former ECW, WCW and TNA star Raven was recently interviewed by Chris Jericho for his Talk Is Jericho podcast. During this interview, Raven talked about how partying with Shane McMahon caused him to get heat with Vince McMahon and Vince McMahon not being aware on his change in gimmick as Raven when he returned to WWE in 2000. Here are the highlights.
On how partying with Shane McMahon caused him to get heat with Vince McMahon:
“They used to call me Johnny Port Chester Polo because Stamford [Connecticut], they rolled the sidewalks up at one o’clock, but Port Chester [New York] was open till, like, five in the morning. It’s, like, five miles away. My downfall was I’d bring Shane out with me, Shane McMahon. And the boys are like, ‘ah, you’re sucking up to him’ and I’m like, ‘no, I’m not! I’m burying myself’ because he’d call his dad, and on commentary, I’d call his dad ‘Vic’ instead of ‘Vince’, so he’d go, ‘hey, Vic,’ which is just horrible! He’d say, ‘hey, Vic, it’s,’ and it would be, like, four in the morning, ‘I’m just going to sleep at Johnny Polo’s tonight’ and so I just buried myself.”
On Vince McMahon not being aware on his change in gimmick as Raven when he returned to WWE in 2000:
“[Jim Ross], JR brought me in and then this is what Michael Hayes told me, that Vince, when Vince heard about it, he goes, ‘who the f–k hired Johnny Polo?’ because I don’t think Vince even knew that I built a career as Raven prior to going [back] there. I think he thought I was Johnny Polo and then four years went by and I sat home because if I wasn’t working for him, I wasn’t working anywhere. Or five years went by and now here I am again. Now I’m with some new character and ‘who’s he to think he can do this?’”
Raven on if he would ever return to WWE:
“Honestly, if I could go back, if I could go there now, I don’t think I would because I’d rather be semi-retired. If I had an opportunity to come in, which I don’t, but if I had an opportunity to come in and do what I wanted to do the way I wanted to do it, I’d take that in a heartbeat. But the odds of me ever getting that and the odds of them ever hiring me are [astronomically small], but the odds of me getting to do what I want to do are beyond [astronomically small].”
You can listen to the entire interview here:
