Raven (a/k/a Scott Levy) posted a journal entry on his website on Wednesday regarding what’s next in his career. “I'm actually very excited that I'm moving onto the next phase of my life, not that I'm leaving wrestling behind by any stretch of the imagination,” he wrote. “But as it stands, I don't plan on going back to either WWE ever (and I do mean ever. I'm talking millions of dollars never) or TNA any time soon.

“It’s actually a combination of exciting and terrifying to start over after 20 years. I guess what pisses me off more than anything is that there’s no pension plan, there’s no retirement, there’s no health insurance, no (IRA) Roth, no 401k, no post-job providings. It's so unlike a normal job when you put your 20 years in, you have a regular check coming in and anything else you do is either for fun, or to accentuate your style of living.” To read the full journal entry, visit TheRavenEffect.com.

Powell’s POV: Raven is far from the first wrestler make these points. And it’s a crime that WWE still doesn’t classify its wrestlers as employees after all these years. He also noted in the commentary that “the boys deserve a little something post career.” I agree with that sentiment, particularly when it comes to WWE, which should have some type of pension plan in place. However, he also notes that the this should extend to old timers and journeymen performers.

He never implied that WWE should cover those expenses, but I’m not sure who he thinks should be responsible for the journeymen wrestlers. I think WWE should do more to take care of the veterans who laid the foundation for their current success, but you can’t really expect Vince McMahon to pay wrestlers who never even worked for his company. That’s the equivalent of suggesting that Burger King should set aside money for people who worked for a competitor that went out of business or never matched their success because they’re all in the food service industry.

I realize wrestlers view the business as a fraternity, but the problem is very few wrestlers think about these issues when they’re in the prime of their careers and are making top dollar. Vince McMahon isn’t going to create a fund for people he never employed. In a perfect world, though, the wrestlers would have a union that would be concerned with some of these issues and set aside a fund. Even then, however, I suspect that many of the journeymen would be left out and many of the oldtimers would be just as frustrated as so many old-time NFL players are with their pension plans.

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