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Raven On Getting Heat From Vince McMahon Over His Friendship With Shane, His Johnny Polo Gimmick

January 16, 2021 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Raven’s friendship with Shane McMahon didn’t do him any favors with the boss, as he recalled on the Scheduled For Two Falls podcast. The ECW, WCW and WWE alum spoke with the hosts about his career and recalled his time in WWE as Johnny Polo, as well as how his friendship with Shane got him in trouble with Vince and Linda McMahon. You can check out the full audio and the highlights from Raven below:

Raven on his Johnny Polo gimmick in WWF: “That was a lot of fun. But it wasn’t what I wanted to be doing, which is why I quit. Because they were going to, at that point — it’s not that I had any problem with Johnny Polo. I think I did a great job with the character. I think I made him funny as hell. But it’s not what I wanted to be or do and it’s just not me. One day Vince comes up to me and he goes, ‘You know, I’m sensing a disconnect when I’m watching you, you’re really not Johnny Polo.’ I go, ‘I never was.’ Shane McMahon should have been Johnny Polo. That’s the perfect guy to play the character. I just played him as Scotty Flamingo or Scotty the Body. I just played him as a funny guy who happened to be the thing. But my speech pattern is not Connecticut, it’s not well-bred. My speech pattern sounds like a thug. I don’t sound or look like that.”

On his friendship with Shane McMahon making Vince McMahon unhappy: “Yeah yeah, no that’s true. Me and Shane used to be really tight. You know, we drifted apart. But yeah, I had him out, he’d go out with me every night. Not every night, because you know, he couldn’t. But yeah, that was all true. Big heat with Vince and Linda over it. And the funny thing about it is, the boys were thinking that I was kissing Shane’s ass and trying to help my my career. But I wasn’t, I was actually killing my career, because it was giving me heat.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Scheduled for Two Falls with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.