Bray Wyatt Is the Modern-Day Version of Raven

As Bray Wyatt, flocked by his steadfast followers, evangelizes about the suffering he will bring, it's hard not to flash back to Raven and his own unsettling tirades.

Raven (real name: Scott Levy) was a master of psychological warfare when Wyatt was still a little boy. During his tenures at WCW, ECW and WWE, he dug into his foes' minds, his tongue just as vital a weapon to his battles as the DDT.

Black face-paint formed makeshift tears below his piercing eyes. Wild hair fell over his face. Just like with Wyatt today, he stood out, shaking up the status quo with both his appearance and his gimmick.

Credit: WWE.com

Earlier in his career, he had been a surfer in neon and then a goofy, rich punk who carried around a polo mallet. It wasn't until he ditched those acts in favor of Raven that his career took off. In the mid-'90s, Raven transformed into a dark, brooding, nihilist character.

Wyatt, too, struggled to gain momentum with early gimmicks. Eventually, he ditched the Husky Harris and Duke Rotundo monikers for his current, perfect fit of a role.

While his physical gifts are more like the great athletic big men of the past, his gimmick overlaps with Raven's, as the folks at The Fan's Podcast pointed out: 

And now The Eater of Worlds leads a pack of devotees, gravitates toward barbarity and thrives armed with a mic, just as Raven did years ago.

Poets, Preachers, Psychos

Danger permeated Raven's aura. When he glared at the camera, promising to punish Tommy Dreamer or The Sandman, his sadistic intentions felt genuine.

In the vein of Jake Roberts, Raven preferred a quieter, measured approach to his promos. They were a blend of poetry and mad ramblings, rants powered by dark imagery.

In an interview in 1997, he talked about what fearsome things lived inside him. "Things that are dead. Things that can hurt you. Things that can scar you. For now and forever," he said.

That could just as easily be an excerpt from a Wyatt speech. The New Face of Fear employs a similar style, although his diatribes send to sound more like sermons. 

Still, there is a parallel disturbing vibe to what Wyatt says into the camera. En route to his WrestleMania battle with Undertaker this year, Wyatt talked up how different he was and why he should be feared.

He said, "I find enjoyment in the types of things that your mommy and daddy shielded you from your entire life."

Raven would have likely worded that sentiment differently, but he and Wyatt share the feeling that they are outcasts.

They both are uncomfortable with the world and are filled with resentment for society. They are zealots preaching their message with great conviction.

Wyatt long spat that message from a rocking chair. Raven, meanwhile, preferred to sit in the corner of the ring. Both men, though, take roost in their preferred spot, dig their claws in and share their inner darkness with the world.

Both men took heel characters and made them popular enough to be babyfaces. The crowd seems ready to start cheering for Wyatt.

Raven was conscious of that shift happening to him, too. On WrestleTalk TV, he said of his relationship with fans, "I didn't want them to relate too much.

Followers in Tow

Wyatt, like Raven, is a leader. From the moment he debuted as this silver-tongued devil, he has had disciples standing in his shadow.

Early on, it was Eli Cottonwood who played the rat to his Pied Piper. Later, WWE replaced him with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. The group claimed to be a brotherhood, but it was clear that this was a cult leader leading the way for his apostles. 

Wyatt has been abusive to his brethren, claiming the violence he inflicts to be for their own good.

Raven treated his own followers in the same way at times. He was especially cruel to Perry Saturn who eventually grew tired of the maltreatment and broke away from The Flock. 

Credit: WWE.com

The Flock, Raven's Nest and any of Raven's groups had a two-part purpose. They deepened Raven's character, as he could be both a leader and an abuser, a charismatic separatist armed with his own militia. And as a bonus, they gave some midcarders an angle to be part of.

Just as Stevie Richards benefited greatly from being in Raven's posse, today Braun Strowman owes his career to Wyatt's gimmick. Strowman is an add-on to the Wyatt act, just as guys like Lodi and Hammer were with Raven.

And beyond convincing men to march with them, both Raven and Wyatt sometimes coaxed children to join them.

As seen in a clip from a Raven-Wyatt fantasy matchup video on WWE's YouTube page, Raven said, "The mind that controls the children is the mind that controls the future." He seemed to want to mold children to be like him, to share his twisted view of the world.

Wyatt has followed that tradition.

That was on full display during his feud with John Cena. In one of the creepier moments in recent WWE history, Wyatt led a mask-wearing children's choir to encircle Cena.

With Wyatt, WWE has a multitude of directions to take his character. The complexity and uniqueness of it gives WWE Creative plenty to play with. That was equally true for Raven. ECW and WCW bookers could venture to unexplored places with this angry psychotic at the center. 

Comfortable with Savagery

The Raven character first emerged in ECW, once the home of hardcore, push-the-limits wrestling. To contrast the cartoon-esque WWE style, the upstart promotion leaned heavily on weapons and blood, gore and gritty violence.

Raven fit right into that environment. 

His forehead bears the scars of many a barbed wire match. He often left a ring filled with splintered wood. Seeing him swing a steel chair was commonplace.

Credit: WWE.com

Being that Wyatt doesn't work for ECW, he's clearly not going to bask in the same level of violence. However, WWE has had Wyatt often head down a path lined with carnage.

Wyatt's resume includes TLC, Hell in a Cell, Extreme Rules, Steel Cage and Last Man Standing bouts. He and Roman Reigns smashed each other with everything they could get their hands on at Hell in a Cell. He beat Dean Ambrose until he could no longer resist being pushed into an ambulance.

And most recently, WWE has The Wyatt Family take down a quartet of ECW stars at their own extreme game.

This is something WWE should explore more with Wyatt. Having him make cages and street fights his home field of sorts adds to his character. It made sense that if you battled Raven, you had to gear up for a fight like no other.

Wyatt can play the same role, the deliverer of pain, the virtuoso of violence.

Wyatt shares elements with Undertaker, Waylon Mercy and Jake Roberts' characters. He is an original creation in many ways, too. But it's hard to ignore how much he has in common with Raven, as he has become the squared circle's next shepherd of men.