I've never heard that one. Actually . . . the RAV4 first appeared as a final production model in Japan, back in 1994 and it was first released to the US market in February of 1996. (If you notice . . . there is a link in the left frame of this site, showing the 1989 RAV-Four Concept vehicle.)
I don't know when the Honda CR-V first appeared, but I always thought it showed up AFTER the RAV?