Wrestlers Who Are Probably Smarter Than You: Raven

While their profession is stereotyped as the land of hulking uneducated men, there are many current and former professional wrestlers who aren't just tougher than you, they're also probably smarter than you. In this many part series, I'll be highlighting them for you.

Scott Levy AKA Raven

Via wordpress.com

How we know Scott is tougher than you:

In 1995 Scott made a name for himself in the independent wrestling company Extreme Championship Wrestling under the gimmick of the depressed, nihilistic and grunge rock dressed Raven. A name lifted from the Edgar Allen Poe poem which he would often quote.

Via wwe.com

Because he totally knew his audience.

ECW was known mostly for its barbed wire ropes, flaming tables and employing convicted murderers. It was so hardcore that fans brought their own weapons, loudly demanded that females "show their tits" and chanted "you fucked up" whenever anyone, well… fucked up. Basically it was a wrestling version of you at your office Christmas party. From 1995-1997, Raven was not just their champion, but the face of the company. The bloody, bloody face. Then like all wrestling loving geniuses, he took his smarts and moved to Atlanta...

Photo by Gibbs Frazeur / Via blogs.ajc.com

"I owned a rasslin' company!" - Atlanta resident and former WCW owner Ted Turner while trying to impress some kids.

...where he joined WCW and eventually WWE before fizzling out and heading back to the indies.

Why he's probably smarter than you:

He's a member of MENSA.

For those of you non-Ravens out there, that means the same man who made a career of drop-toe-holding people into metal folding chairs, is also a member of an organization whose basis for membership is having an IQ of 132 or higher (Raven is rumored to be a modest 143) and to be in the 98th percentile of humans. To put that into perspective, if the membership of MENSA was the population of a country, Raven would be the Vladimir Putin to their Russia. Raven most recently made headlines by being hardcore enough to file a lawsuit against WWE for their classification of Wrestlers as independent contractor's rather than employees, meaning they don't get health insurance. Unfortunately, having become accustomed to hardcore matches not having time limits, the case was eventually dismissed due to the statute of limitations running out.

Via tumblr.com

Pictured: Raven being smarter than you while crucifying the Sandman.

About the Author

Chris Luther is a NYC based comedian and non-profit fundraiser. Read some of his previous articles like 7 Oblivious People Slowly Driving Us All Insane or 7 Great Things That Happened Last Week (5/14/13) or follow him on Twitter @chriscantlose.