"We didn't know." - Dutch Mantell on WWE Legend's struggles in rival promotion

Dirty Dutch noted that it wasn
Dirty Dutch noted that it wasn't to do with the Superstar

Legendary wrestling manager Dutch Mantell has recently discussed Raven's failure to win the TNA World Championship.

Raven was a former World Heavyweight Champion in ECW but won't replicate this level of success in either WWE or WCW despite being part of some iconic moments.

He began working with upstart promotion NWA: TNA (Total Nonstop Action) in 2003 following his WWE departure and captured the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. But this was the only title he would win in the promotion.

During a recent podcast clip uploaded to the Story Time with Dutch Mantell YouTube Channel, the former WWE manager talked about Raven and the NWA Heavyweight Title.

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Raven never won TNA's World Title, and Mantell noted that it was likely due to nobody actually knowing how he affected pay-per-view buy rates. He noted that, as far as he knew, he didn't affect them positively or negatively.

The veteran also noted that former TNA owner Dixie Carter would keep the figures under wraps.

"To say that Raven affected the buy rates positively, I can't say that he did. Or the other way, going south. We didn't know. We asked and asked and asked and we don't have an answer yet," said Mantell. [From 3:15 to 3:31]
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Mantell noted that TNA was his first working encounter with the former ECW World Champion, given that Raven had spent a lot of his early career working in Oregon.

Dutch Mantell recently discussed a former WWE World Heavyweight Champion

Dirty Dutch also had some comments about Indian-born giant The Great Khali, shown in a recent podcast clip.

Dutch Mantell described The Punjabi Nightmare's backstage demeanor, noting that the big man would keep himself to himself. The wrestling veteran mentioned that Andre The Giant acted similarly to this.

"I don't remember him a lot, I remember he would just sit in the dressing room by himself, like Andre would a lot. He didn't move around a lot, he would just sit down, and once he sat down he was there. I mean, he would do a homestead on it," Mantell said. [From 1:48 to 2:02]
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The two shared WWE locker room while Mantell was portraying Zeb Colter, Jack Swagger's cantankerous manager with a disliking for immigration. He and Khali even shared an in-ring promo segment.

What did you think about Dutch Mantell's comments? Did you enjoy Raven's TNA run? You can share your thoughts in the comment section down below.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Story Time with Dutch Mantell and H/T Sportskeeda for transcriptions.

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Edited by Jeevak Ambalgi
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