I'll try and go through this point by point to give my opinions.
I really do not see what is so special about him. He was a failure in WCW and a failure in WWE.
Okay - at least we seem to be operating under the assumption that he was a success in ECW.
WCW - I wouldn't call him a "failure". Would you label Chris Jericho as a failure there? After all, Jericho was in much the same situation as Raven in WCW - both were very over with the fans, both seemed at times to be flirting with breaking into the upper card, both were prevented from doing so. I wouldn't call his tenure in WCW as a failure, but it was a disappointment. Half of that is his fault - he was HEAVY into drugs then; the other half was the usual WCW shit about not pushing "new" stars who could have kept them on top for years to come.
I wouldn't call his WWE tenure a failure either, as no one in the company really cared much for him, so he was never booked into any important programs. What he did do there, though, he did well. He actually made Heat a watchable program (like former Raven acolyte Stevie Richards has done in the past few weeks).
He is not an athlete. His wrestling is not very good.
The same can be said for Mick Foley, but the man is a legend. Why?
Because Foley & Raven have similar styles - what they lack in technical skills, they make up in psychology and brawling / hardcore skills. And, much like Foley, Raven has one very important ability - to sell his fucking ass off. He can take a BEATING and make it believable. Any worker who can do that effectively has some degree of staying power (look at Spike Dudley) in the business (so long as their body holds up). Simply put, guys like Foley & Raven can get the shit kicked out of them and make you FEEL it, which makes their comebacks all the more intriguing.
His promos are all the same.
The themes perhaps. But Raven is an intelligent man, and very articulate, which more than can be said about MOST of the next generation of worker these days.
He looks like a freak.
Thanks in part to Vince, a good - or interesting - look is key in the business today. There are many guys out there (in the WWE alone) who are just vanilla. At the least, Raven has a distinctive and interesting look, and that works for him.
Why do so many people like him.
In addition to all my previous statements, the character simply has an "it" factor about him. Maybe it's just the rebel archetype that we all in some way relate to, but bottom line, the character is cool. He will ALWAYS have at LEAST a cult following, if not a sizable fanbase.
<img border="0" src="http://www.theinstigator.com/gpwa/images/misc/promos-ppv/2003-09-12-DEFCON1_small.gif" width="300" height="100">
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Is the Captain a member of the proud <b>2%</b>?