On June 19, 2005, Raven turned face and fulfilled his self-proclaimed destiny when he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Slammiversary (by taking Jeff Jarrett's place after Jarrett attacked a fan from the crowd earlier that night and got arrested), defeating A.J. Styles, Abyss, Sean Waltman and Monty Brown in a five way King of the Mountain match. He successfully defended the title in two defenses over the following months against Abyss at No Surrender, and Rhino two months later at Unbreakable. Against Rhino he showed his full array of moves and peeled back the years looking like the Raven in ECW and early WCW. He not only defeated Rhino but hit a Raven Effect DDT on Jeff Jarrett, with the assistance of Jeff Hardy running to the ringside. He also had a tag team match with Sabu against Jeff Jarrett and Rhino.