
Raven's first WWF speech: "That's quite amusing, King. You're a regular Henny Youngman. You know, sometimes in life we make our own choices. And sometimes, a choice is made for us. And sometimes there is no choice. You see, King, it's typical of you and your ilk. You and your sycophantic revelers, with their fancy clothes and your middle-class suburbia with their two-car garage, white picket fences, 2.3 kids, a dog, their hot pretzels and Diet Coke to make fun of people like Tazz and myself from the lower class. Make fun of people like us who live in squalor and poverty - what about me? WHAT ABOUT RAVEN? Do you know what it's like to watch your parents beg for change? Do you know what it's like to live in a box? I never got a hot dog. What about me? WHAT ABOUT RAVEN?"
 "They say imitation, is the sincerest form of flattery. Well Justin Credible, you stole my look, you stole my girl, you stole my title. Two days ago, you called me on the telephone, and you quoted one of my heroes to me. (Quote from Keep On Rocking in the Free World by Neil Young) 'There's a warning sign on the road ahead. There's a lot of people saying, we'd be better off dead. I don't feel like Satan, but I am to them. So I try to forget it, anyway I can.' And right then and there I realized, Justin, that you could never be me, because when they call you Satan it bothered you; When they called me Satan, I enjoyed it. So it is written..."  "As a child, I had dreams of loneliness, and of a hatred...that drove me mad. Of a stillness, and of sorrow, of what I never had; of what could only be. "My mother thought that children should be seen and not heard. My mother thought that I was just a prop for her amusement...for her idle friends...for her to look like someone...I was almost; I was like a monkey, and she was an organ grinder, as I sat and did tricks for all the other adults that came over. As the idle rich came by, and looked me over as I'd recite the names of the presidents back and forth...forward and backward, and backward and forward...and they'd clap their hands...I was surprised no one threw me money, because that's what I felt like. "She never loved me...she never did, and she never will. And I often wonder, maybe it was my fault...but it wasn't. And the only thing I can think to say when I think about her and what she did to me, and the pain she caused...the hatred, and the loathing I fear, is 'What about me? What about Raven?"
 "Trust and hate, and love and fate, and I don't understand. Social grace, the human race, confuse me. These words I speak bring forth a world of emotions. Emotions of dreams lost, dreams found, and dreams I'll never see. So it is written. So it shall come to pass. But the question is, will I, or will I not be Diamond Dallas Page's partner? But isn't that the same question that I've been asked time and time again since my childhood? Isn't the question really 'Are there any dreams I'd like to sell?' Quote the Raven, nevermore." "I can't remember a time when I wasn't alone, even when my parents were around. The sound of their fury was harsh, but the sound of their silence was deafening. It's devastation that left me buried beneath a mountain of solitude. My loneliness and despair trapped me in a storm of unimaginable emptiness. What about me? What about Raven? The other kids playing ball outside, and me with them was an illusion I'd allow myself, but the stark reality was even if my parents would have allowed me to leave my bedroom dwell, the other kids wouldn't have allowed me to join in anyway. They said I didn't follow their rules. Their stupid rules...Quote the Raven, Nevermore."
 "Anguish, fear, and sorrow, are emotions we all feel, but never more strongly than in our adolescence. When just having an acne-rabid skin, can mean a lifetime of loneliness. One's acceptance by others, is a barometer of one's popularity. If one is different, a misfit, maybe unattractive, unathletic, one is in for a lifetime of cruelty and suffering, that will traumatize permanently. You see scars are souvenirs you never loose. The past is never far. You can try to repress it. You can try to hold it back. You can try to deny it. But it will still continue to grow... stronger, and stronger. Like a malignant cancer, that can't be satiated. Each of us manifests our pain in different manners. Whether it's three in the morning in bed... tears in one's eye. Whether it's a need to destroy everything beautiful, or just simply shutting one's self off from society. My father never gave me what I needed, so I understand what it's like to do without. They should understand this. They should give what's needed. I can see this. I can feel their pain. Why can't they understand? Quote the Raven, nevermore."  "Gene... Rules and responsibilities. These are the ties that bind us. If we did otherwise, we would not be ourselves. I will do what I have to, and I will do what I must. The only announcement is, that there is no announcement... quote the Raven, nevermore."  "My earliest memories, were not of anything specific. They are more like memories of feelings, as opposed to events. Feelings of abandonment. Feelings of loneliness. Feelings of sadness. They say our destiny is formed in these earliest moments. That our fate is determined, at this critical juncture. The chosen begin their path towards greatness. The ill-fated are doomed from the beginning. The unfortunate devour themselves, searching for annihilation. You see we are all prisoners, of our own nature. Locked into certain patterns of behavior. I could no sooner change the path that was placed upon me, than I could stop a swallow from migrating, or a salmon from spawning. So it is written. So it shall come to pass. Quote the Raven, nevermore."  "All the joy, all the fun, all the excitement took place here. This is what every kid looked forward to: recess. Every kid could not wait to get here. Couldn't wait to get out here and get beaten up by the bullies. Couldn't wait to get out here and get teased and humiliated. Couldn't wait to get out here so they could be chosen last for all the teams. This is where all the fun of childhood took place. The only thing I remember rivaling that was one time, during my parents' attempted reconciliation, they took me skiing. And as I stood atop the mountain and looked across at another snow-covered hill, I saw my reflection. You see, scars are souvenirs you never lose; the past is never far. But what do you do? What do you do when all your memories are razor blades? When everything you can possibly remember hurts? What do you do? Quote the Raven, nevermore."  "Mrs. Landisis's sixth grade class. I sat in the third row next to Teresa Hayes. And it was there that I first discovered alienation and barren path. The taunting and the badgering by the other kids made me realize the depths of human evil and the dark underbelly of human society. I'd close my eyes and pretend I was someone different. That I wasn't a misfit. You can't erase the dream; you can only wake me up. I didn't care. I never obeyed the rules, because even back then I realized the nothing...Nothing in nature behaves so consistently and rigidly as a human being in pursuit of destruction. Quote the Raven, nevermore." "The earth is full of kings and queens. They'll blind your eyes and steal your dreams. Kurt Cobain didn't make it... and left behind a generation of tortured souls. Tommy Dreamer... heed this warning... Quote the Raven, nevermore" |