Raven Was Surprised And Disappointed That His WCW US Title Run Lasted One Day
During his red-hot run as a babyface in WCW, Diamond Dallas Page had a memorable rivalry with Raven and The Flock. The feud culminated with a Raven's Rules Match at Spring Stampede 1998, where Raven defeated DDP to capture the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. The conclusion felt like the start of a new era and WCW's way of handing the keys to Raven to carry the promotion's mid-card championship.
However, Raven lost the title to the undefeated Bill Goldberg the very next "Monday Nitro" after Spring Stampede, a move that Raven still questions 25 years later. In a recent interview with PWMania, Raven disclosed if he was aware of WCW's creative plans for him the night after his big victory over DDP.
"No, I had no idea," Raven revealed. "It was very disappointing and disheartening too but it's a business. I felt like, sometimes they put the belt on somebody and they can elevate it. Sometimes they put the belt on the guy it devalues it. And sometimes it's just neither, it just doesn't do anything for it doesn't hurt it. Whereas I felt like I could have elevated it."
While Raven is still convinced that he could have "elevated" the U.S. Title to new heights, he acknowledges the logic behind the streaking Goldberg squashing him.
"Not that Goldberg didn't [elevate the title] you know what I mean? Because he was in the jetpack, you know what I mean?" Raven admitted.
'I felt like he didn't need it'
Unlike a lot of wrestling pundits and fans who have been critical of Goldberg's in-ring skills, Raven believes Goldberg was deserving of his 173-0 winning streak due to his unparalleled ability to draw money.
"He deserved [to win the U.S. Title] because he was over, you know, whether he could work or not, it doesn't even make a difference," Raven stressed. "He could draw money. And he did. I felt like he didn't need it. And I could have used it at that point."
Eventually, Raven came to the realization that he didn't need to hold a title due to his unique character presentation and ability to work gimmick matches. As a matter of fact, Raven never challenged again for the WCW U.S. Title and moved on to programs with Chris Jericho and Vampiro before returning to ECW in 1999.
"Ultimately, when I thought about it, I'm like, I don't really need it, because my character is so unique that I'm gonna get over anyway," Raven said, reflecting on his loss. "Despite bad booking decisions or good booking decisions or any booking decisions, I'm gonna get over regardless. And that's what I've always counted on myself. I've always said to anybody that when I want to get a job somewhere when I started. I said, give me three weeks. That's it. All I need is three weeks to get over if you don't think I'm valuable then get rid of me."
Raven reiterated that he was not informed about his loss to Goldberg until "that night" in Colorado Springs.