Raven was introduced to ECW by Stevie Richards. In late 1994, Richards had developed an "identity crisis", performing under the ring names "Stevie Flamingo", "Stevie the Body", and "Stevie Polo" — all references to former ring names used by Levy. After sustaining another loss to Tommy Dreamer, Richards became irate and claimed he would present "the real Johnny Polo". Raven made his first appearance on the January 10, 1995 episode of "ECW Hardcore TV", with Richards revealing that he had a vendetta against Tommy Dreamer.