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Raven's Nest

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Raven's Flock
Stable
MembersSee below
Name(s)Raven's Cult
Raven's Nest
The Flock
Dead Pool
The Gathering
The New Movement[1]
Serotonin[1]
Debut1995
Disbanded2007

Raven's Nest was a professional wrestling stable led by Raven that was present in Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1995 and 1997.

Later, Raven created other incarnations of the group in World Championship Wrestling (The Flock and The Dead Pool) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (The Gathering and Serotonin).

Extreme Championship Wrestling

Raven's Nest

Raven's Nest was a large stable with a frequently fluctuating membership in Extreme Championship Wrestling, consisting of Raven's followers, henchmen, Paramours and several hired guns. The Nest chiefly assisted Raven throughout his feuds with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman. Over the years, Raven's Nest members and allies included:

Championships

World Championship Wrestling

The Flock

The Flock was Raven's faction founded in August 1997 soon after his debut in World Championship Wrestling (WCW).[2] All wrestlers in the faction adopted Raven's grunge gimmick, complete with similar ring attire.

Unlike other factions in WCW at the time, the group (though popular) met with limited success and lost most of their matches. The group disbanded after former member Perry Saturn won the rest of the members' freedom from Raven on September 13, 1998 at Fall Brawl. The Flock is best remembered for hanging around in the crowd (usually at ringside) and then pouncing on any given wrestler, usually without provocation. Each member of the Flock was a social outcast for one reason or another and sought acceptance within the Flock:

  • Stevie Richards[2] – Raven's lackey from his ECW days, a (legit) falling out between Richards and Raven led to them separating in WCW and Richards returning to ECW.
  • Hammer[2] – A heavy metal star turned wrestler who was released from WCW and (kayfabe) had nowhere to go. He joined the Flock as an outcast, looking for work. He defeated Saturn in a "Loser leaves The Flock" match, but was thrown out of the group by Raven, who preferred Saturn.
  • Horace[2] – Horace was recruited into the group solely because he was the nephew of the WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Hollywood Hogan. Raven attempted to use him to get close to Hogan.
  • Kanyon – Like many Flock members, Kanyon feuded with Raven before eventually joining him. Kanyon was the last person to join The Flock before it was disbanded. In spite of this, he remained loyal to Raven, and would stay by his side several months afterwards. Tried to join The Flock while still in his Mortis gimmick, but was rejected. Kanyon unmasked, attacked Raven, and feuded with him for a few months before joining the Flock.
  • Kidman[2] – Kidman was said to be homeless before meeting Raven. He had something of a heroin addict gimmick, though this was never explicitly said on WCW television; he constantly scratched his body (a sign of heroin use) and exhibited other behavior linked with the drug. Kidman turned on Raven during his match at Fall Brawl, allowing Saturn to win and free The Flock. After his freedom from The Flock, he'd exhibited a turn-around, no longer scratching himself and had made a cleaner, more hygienic presence.
  • Lodi[2] – Lodi had a psychological need for approval and acceptance, and so became Raven's most loyal lackey. He carried signs to ringside with slogans written on them which promoted the Flock and mocked their opponents, the fans, and sometimes rival promotions.
  • Reese[2] – Reese was an outsider in society for his massive size. Feeling that the outside world was only interested in his physical appearance rather than his true personality he sought solace with The Flock, becoming their most intimidating back up weapon.
  • Riggs[2] – In a match with Raven, former American Male Scotty Riggs fell victim to a kayfabe eye injury after Raven executed a drop toe-hold that drove Riggs face first into the seat of a steel chair. Forced to wear an eyepatch, Riggs began seeking revenge while Raven tried to recruit Riggs to join him. Raven further injured Riggs by hitting three DDTs while he was unconscious, then instructed The Flock to take possession of Riggs. He emerged from the injury just as despondent as the rest of the members.
  • Saturn[2] – Raven's enforcer, he eventually grew tired of Raven and left The Flock, causing the feud between the two which led to the disbanding of the group.
  • Sick Boy[2] – A Power Plant hopeful who mysteriously succumbed to Raven's influence.

Championships

Necro Ward/Dead Pool/Dark Carnival

The Dead Pool (originally called the Necro Ward) was another stable centered around Raven. It was first put together in August 1999 while Raven was in WCW and saw him teaming up with Vampiro and the Insane Clown Posse (ICP) (Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope). When Raven quit WCW and went back to ECW a month after the group's inception, Vampiro and ICP stayed together under the moniker the Dark Carnival and continued without him.

The group has since resurfaced numerous times, including in ICP's Juggalo Championship Wrestling where ICP formed another version of the group, the Dead Pool 2000, with the addition of Balls Mahoney as well as various independent promotions where Raven and ICP team together. Members included:

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

The Gathering

When Raven joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, he formed a new version of the Flock, this time calling them The Gathering. The original Gathering members were Julio Dinero and Alexis Laree, with CM Punk joining the group soon after its inception. Punk and Dinero played 'adoring Raven fanboy' gimmicks, making Raven the main focus of the group. Alexis left both the group and TNA after being signed to a contract by WWE. On December 7, 2003, Punk and Dinero turned on Raven during a six-man steel cage match. Raven disappeared from TNA, while Punk and Dinero joined up with longtime Raven-enemy James Mitchell and continued to wrestle under the Gathering tag team name.

The team came to an abrupt end when Punk left TNA to remain in Ring of Honor in the midst of the "Rob Feinstein controversy." As well, Dinero was eventually released. Mitchell disappeared for over a year before returning in July 2005 as the manager of Abyss, continuing their feud for a short time. Members included:

Finishing moves

Serotonin

On the November 16, 2006 edition of Impact!, Kazarian, Maverick Matt, and Johnny Devine appeared with drastically changed appearances, calling themselves The New Movement.[1] Later, through a series of vignettes, they revealed their name to be Serotonin, referencing the brain chemical of the same name that regulates, among other things, aggression, moodiness, and depression--things the Raven character has been linked to since its inception.

Raven's involvement with Serotonin began differently than with other incarnations of The Flock. Instead of speaking for the group during promos and being around at ringside during matches Raven is only seen after matches, when he comes to the ring to hit the members with a kendo stick, regardless of the result of the match, as part of a program referred to as "torture builds success". The members drop to their knees and take their licks without complaint, for the most part. The only dissension of being hit was that of Kazarian on occasion, however this was defused by the other members instead of Raven. Serotonin wrestled mostly on dark matches before Pay-Per-Views and lost the majority of them. When wrestling in singles competition, members often took the role of jobbers to more established stars such as Kurt Angle, Sting or Jerry Lynn. Serotonin picked up their first official win at Against All Odds 2007, defeating the team of Sonjay Dutt & Jay Lethal following interference from Maverick Matt. On the March 8, 2007 episode, it was announced that Raven had changed their names: renaming Kazarian to Kaz, Maverick Matt to Martyr, and Johnny Devine to Havok. Dissension on the part of Kaz became more apparent during the Lockdown 2007 pre-show, in which Kaz refused to allow Christy Hemme to be attacked by Raven after Serotonin's loss to VKM. Serotonin retaliated to this, distracting and therefore costing Kaz in a match against Chris Sabin on the March 31, 2007 episode of "Impact!". On the June 21, 2007 episode of Impact!, Kaz turned on Serotonin by costing Raven a match against Chris Harris. On the July 12, 2007 episode Kaz defeated Martyr and Havok in a 3-way match to earn a spot in the Ultimate X Match at Victory Road 2007. Kaz was subsequently attacked by Raven and the remaining members of Serotonin. Kaz defeated Raven in a match at Hard Justice. Bentley was later released by TNA, leaving only Havok and Raven as Serotonin members. Raven made few appearances in the succeeding months, some of which involved Raven and Havok aligning with Black Reign and James Mitchell, who were attempt to destroy Mitchell's longtime enemy and kayfabe son Abyss. On the November 15 edition of Impact, Havok was revealed to be Team 3D's X Division traitor and reverting back to his Johnny Devine ring name, effectively ending Serotonin.

While the team was active, they competed in several pay-per-view pre-shows, often in losing efforts. They officially debuted as a team at Genesis 2006, in a losing effort against the Voodoo Kin Mafia. Serotonin only won twice on a pay-per-view event, albeit in dark matches, defeating Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal at Against All Odds 2007, after Martyr interfered, and Akira Raijin and Brute Issei at Victory Road 2007.

Members

Finishing and signature moves

References

  1. ^ a b c Ziegler, Jacob. "TNA - Best of the Tag Teams Volume 1 DVD Review". Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Raven's Flock profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
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