Oh goodness, I’m writing a column about WWE.
It’s been more than a few years since my last WWE column, whether it was Monday Night Raw, Smackdown, or pay-per-view (or PLE to all the WWE fans out there). [Editor’s Note: Mike’s last RAW column was actually RAW 25 back in 2018.] Don’t start thinking that I’ve gone tribal. For those who actually kept score, I had stopped watching WWE around 2018, 2019, right around the time All Elite Wrestling began. Like many, sometimes our hobbies get a little stale, and the novelty is lost. So if anything, thank AEW that I’m writing a column about WWE.
It bothers me when the commentary team has to say that tonight is the biggest night in WWE history mainly because that’s said for every WrestleMania or every mega event they have. Yes, this is a big night. It is a historical night. But, I highly doubt this will go down in history as the biggest night in WWE forever. That’s essentially saying that it overshadows every WrestleMania in the past and will outclass every WrestleMania in the future. It’s simply unrealistic. It’s a nice tagline to get the hype up but ultimately it’s valueless.
The inaugural episode of Monday Night Raw on Netflix, delivered what was promised — spectacle, cinema, all the glitz and glam that comes with a 12-hour, four-day WrestleMania event. This is not a negative, or knock on the program. This is exactly what we were told to expect. Was there a ton of actual wrestling matches tonight? No, because there didn’t need to be. It needed to be to the point, it needed to wow the audience both live and at home, and most importantly create a special that would be remembered.
Here’s the match results:
- “The OTC” Roman Reigns defeated “The Tribal Chief”Solo Sikoa to become the Undisputed Tribal Chief in WWE.
- Rhea Ripley defeated Liv Morgan to become Women’s World Champion once again.
- CM Punk defeated Seth “Freakin'” Rollins.
- “Main Event” Jey Uso defeated Drew McIntyre.
That’s it, four wrestling matches on a three-hour show. The remaining time featured an appearance from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, an in-ring promo from John Cena, and Hulk Hogan getting booed out of the building. Even the Undertaker showed up in American Badass attire, rode a motorcycle around thing, just to put over Rhea Ripley following her championship win. They did the whole raise the fist in the air bit, and the Deadman drove off. Nifty, but felt forced.
Was this to be expected? probably. The past few appearances have gone very poorly, and this was no different. to expect anything different is blind ignorance.
John Cena declares his entry into the 2025 Royal Rumble as he wants one more run as a world champion, and somehow he’s going to get it.
The show overall had the Wrestlemania feel to it, the bright lights, the camera hitting all the celebrities, legends, and visiting guest wrestlers from various brands in attendance. Was this mission accomplished? Absolutely. Wrestling fans, and I mean the fans who wanted more wrestling than talk, were probably a little let down by this, but it does seem that next week there will be more wrestling involved, and likely less spectacle than this show. As the first episode on Netflix, the job was to gain and garner attention, and that’s where it succeeded. Will it succeed in gaining new viewers and new fans? Time will tell.
Does this mean I will be covering Monday Night Raw again on a regular basis? Time will tell, but don’t get your hopes up. That being said, I am looking forward to Chad Gable versus Penta next week.
