Chicago Sun-Times: Raven flying in search of wrestling perch

There is a new hot free agent in the world of pro wrestling and it is none other than Raven, the former Extreme Championship Wrestling world champion. Raven, who has bounced from World Championship Wrestling to the World Wrestling Federation to ECW to WCW and back to ECW, has been working with Extreme Championship Wrestling for the last eight months after a split from Turnerland.

After leaving WCW he was told he could go work for ECW, but his contract precluded him from wrestling in the WWF until Aug. 1, so Raven has been appearing for ECW without a contract. Now that things have gone sour between the former champ and ECW owner Paul Heyman, it's time for him to find a new job. Raven could easily go back to WCW, likely be thrown right into decent angles by Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff, reunite with Vampiro and be back on track.

However, people close to the situation say he would like to wait things out and see if the WWF would be interested in his services late this summer. Smart money would be on a return to WCW, but don't be surprised if the old Johnny Polo goes back to the WWF this time as the extreme outcast Raven.

RAW BIG AGAIN: WCW was definitely hurt in the ratings last Monday by being bumped up an hour by the NBA playoffs and the WWF was there to pick up the pieces. "Nitro" did a dismal 1.4 rating in its first hour before coming back to life with a 3.2 second hour to come in at 2.3 for the night. "Raw," unopposed for both hours, did a 6.8 and 7.3 for a huge 7.1, which included an 8.6 rating for the HHH-Rock confrontation.

HEARD AROUND THE RING: The Big Show is slated for major knee surgery and should miss the entire summer. . . . WCW, always looking to take talent from ECW, will be bringing back Dusty Rhodes in the next few weeks. . . . Scott Hall is still rehabbing from major neck surgery and has not set a return date. . . . Lance Storm should make his WCW debut Monday on "Nitro," but he will be without valet Dawn Marie. She is still under contract to ECW and will stay with her real- life love interest Simon Diamond. . . . David Arquette has told WCW he wants a $1 million contract to return to the ring. . . . The mystery referee for the Hulk Hogan/Kidman pay-per-view match could be Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, who will return to WCW after the NBA playoffs. . . . Bret "Hitman" Hart appears on the "Last Word with Jim Rome" Monday at 6:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. on Fox Sports Net. Bret goes into detail about the death of his brother Owen, who died last year in a wrestling stunt. Here is an excerpt of what he had to say: "My brother's accident . . . I don't know how anybody even came up with that concept. Does that have a place in wrestling? For me as a fan, I don't think it enhances anything I love about wrestling. If I want to see stuff like that I can watch `Die Hard.' "

HOTLINE: Goldberg is set to return at the Great American Bash- find out why and who's next, plus the role Vince McMahon has set up for Shawn Michaels revealed on the hotline (900) 454-SLAM. Cost is $2 per minute.