ECW legend and former multi-time champion Raven has opened up about a significant regret from his professional wrestling career, admitting that he held himself to an unrealistically high standard of success that ultimately proved emotionally damaging. Despite massive success in ECW and a memorable run in TNA Wrestling, Raven confessed that he never truly felt like a success because he failed to become a world champion in WWE, the biggest promotion in the world. His comments provide a raw and honest look into the mental and emotional toll that the pursuit of greatness can take on a performer, and the importance of redefining one’s own metrics for success.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, Raven discussed the emotional impact of his high self-imposed standards.
“Yeah, I was really worried about that. Like, for the longest time, I didn’t think my career was a success because I wasn’t the world champion at WWE, which is really ridiculous. You know, I just held myself to such a high standard that, you know — but as my therapist said, you’re the one holding yourself to that standard. You can also let yourself off the hook, too, you know.”
He explained how this mindset proved harmful to his emotional health, as he was unable to appreciate his own significant accomplishments outside of WWE.
“It’s kind of arrogant to think that you’re that, you know, that you think so highly of yourself that you have to be held to a higher standard. And that kind of triggered something with me and made me realize that you don’t have to hold yourself to a higher standard. Because if anybody else would have came up to me and said, ‘I don’t think my career is amazing,’ and it would have been what I’ve done [in] my career, I’d have said, ‘You’re insane.’ But because I held myself to a higher standard, as a lot of people that are successful do, you pay the price for it mentally, emotionally.”
Raven’s story is a powerful reminder that defining success solely by external accolades can be detrimental to one’s well-being, and that sometimes, true contentment comes from within.
