There have been 1,650 episodes of Monday Night Raw over the last 32 years.
In that entire span, there has never been a more highly anticipated episode than the Netflix debut. When you combine the things we knew we were going to see during the show with the things that were rumored to be taking place during the show, this episode had everyone buzzing.
Liv Morgan vs Rhea Ripley? WrestleMania worthy.
Jey Uso vs Drew McIntyre? WrestleMania worthy.
CM Punk vs Seth Rollins? WrestleMania worthy.
Announced and rumored appearances from The Rock, Hulk Hogan, John Cena, The Undertaker, Becky Lynch, and more? WrestleMania worthy.
Perhaps it is our collective fault for getting our hopes up too much, or maybe it is my own fault, but I felt that the episode ended up being a huge disappointment.
One of the biggest disappointments in Monday Night Raw history, as a matter of fact. Again, that’s a history which covers 1,650 episodes over 32 years.
Let’s talk about it, shall we?
PRO – The “look” of the show: First and foremost, the Intuit Dome is a beautiful arena. Inside and out, the brand new home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers looks like it cost every bit of the $2 billion price tag that it has. Even down to the seats having bright LED lights in the armrests, the whole place just looked great on television.
WWE made it look even better with the way they changed their presentation. WWE events usually feature a large entranceway, stage area, and huge screens. Because of that, there are usually huge chunks of arenas that are off-limits to fans. Last week, they debuted a new setup, drastically shrinking the entrance area, allowing for more fans. That meant there was a 360-degree wave of fans from top to bottom in the arena. With the drone(s) flying around the inside and outside of the arena, everything was captured in fresh, cool angles and points of view.
CON – The Rock: I have to preface this by saying that I completely understand why WWE would bring The Rock out on their programming. A match, a promo, a segment, a cameo appearance… it doesn’t matter, pun intended. He’s one of the biggest stars in the world, covering any medium, and he carries a buzz with him when he shows up to do anything.
With that said, what was the point of this?
He came to the ring, praised Netflix executives, praised the job that Cody Rhodes has done for the company since WrestleMania 40, and then said he would be watching the upcoming Roman Reigns vs Solo Sikoa match. That’s it.
For one, people were very confused that Rock was so nice and complimentary to Cody Rhodes. The last time we saw Rock, he was in a blood feud with Cody, who Rock felt had insulted his family tree. It was just weird to see him come out and be so nice all of a sudden. It was so strange that Rock even felt the need to mention it on NXT the following night, basically telling fans to come along for the ride instead of being so focused on what he did or didn’t do on Raw.
The entire thing just came across as being really forced. Rock wasn’t there for any real purpose other than the company was allowed to say “look at how big this episode of Raw is” because of his star power.
PRO – Solo Sikoa vs Roman Reigns: Admittedly, the match started off slow, but that’s the case with all of Roman’s matches over the last few years. The matches focus more on the storytelling than any sort of sprint to pack as many spots as possible from bell-to-bell.
Like most of Roman’s “Tribal Chief” era matches, though, it got better as it went on, and it was the rare pro wrestling match that benefitted from outside interference. It won’t be a Match Of The Year contender or anything, but not everything has to be. The match served a purpose, and served it well.
The post-match featured The Rock presenting Roman with the ‘Ula Fala was interesting. On the surface, it was merely Rock and Roman standing side-by-side again, just like they did in the months leading up to WrestleMania. If you looked closer, though, you might’ve seen the start of the long-rumored WrestleMania program between Rock and Roman. Rock was nothing but smiles in Roman’s face, but if you saw the way he was looking at Roman behind his back, there’s clearly something brewing there.
CON – Celebrities: I know, I know… WWE loves to show celebrities sitting in the crowd of their shows, and especially so when they’re anywhere near Hollywood. That’s cool and all, but this wasn’t exactly the highest tier of celeb inclusion that the company has ever seen.
Ashton Kutcher? What year is this?
Michael Che? Michael Que?
Seth Green? Bill Simmons? Tiffany Haddish?
Come on now.
If you’re going to treat this like the biggest episode of televised wrestling in the history of the sport, and if you’re going to cut to crowd shots seemingly every 20 minutes, perhaps it would be beneficial to have some real heavy hitters in attendance. We know that there are countless WWE superfans throughout movies, television, music, and sports to choose from.
Topanga can stay, though. You, too, Kevin McAllister.
Speaking of Topanga, it remains hilarious that they showed Danielle Fishel in the crowd, and failed to mention her Boy Meets World co-star, Will Friedle, who was sitting right next to her. The entire thing is even funnier when you find out that her husband, Jensen Karp, was captured in fan photos sitting between Fishel and Friedle. That implies someone with WWE came up to them and mentioned showing them on camera, but then asked Karp to exit stage left for the shot. Finally, it becomes even funnier when you find out what Jensen Karp was doing as a job in 2006… a creative writer for WWE. Amazing.
CON – No storyline advancement for Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods: Kofi and Woods turning heel on Big E seems like it took place a year ago. In the month-plus of real time that has happened since the turn, we’ve seen absolutely zero storyline advancement. Every week, it’s the same old “hey, man, we used to be buddies, but what you did to Big E was messed up” from wrestlers, fans, family members, and celebrities alike.
Nobody is mad enough at Kofi and Woods to want to kick their ass. They’re just… disappointed. Throw in the fact that Big E hasn’t appeared since the turn, and he still may never be medically cleared to wrestle again, and the entire story is spinning its wheels in the mud right now.
I need something. Anything. Kofi and Woods snap and beat the dog shit out of someone who snubs them. Big E returning. Give me any sort of advancement, WWE.
PRO – John Cena: Honestly, if you wanted to list this as a CON, I probably wouldn’t argue with you.
Ultimately, I have it listed as a PRO because we knew his appearance wasn’t going to be anything super extravagant. I didn’t see a single person predict that Cena would have a match at the Netflix debut. He came in, cut a promo, and left without overstaying his welcome.
Officially putting his name in the mix for the Royal Rumble match was a smart move, as was downplaying his own chances of winning his record-breaking 17th World Title. Gone are the days of “Super Cena” and “LOL Cena Wins.” The man hasn’t won a singles match on television or pay-per-view since April 27th, 2018 when he defeated Triple H at WWE’s Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia. He hasn’t had a title of any kind since he dropped the WWE Title inside of the Elimination Chamber at the titular event in 2017. It makes sense to portray him as a serious underdog at this stage, even though he is currently the betting favorite to win the Rumble, if you care about that sort of thing.
PRO – Logan Paul: Even though I don’t believe him whatsoever, Logan says he is now officially 100% a WWE Superstar, with all of his focus going to the sport and not to a bunch of other “side hustles” that he has been a part of over the years.
As I’ve said over and over again, he is a future World Champion and probably a future WrestleMania main event player if he were to truly dedicate himself to wrestling full-time. What he has been able to accomplish while “half-assing” a wrestling career has been remarkable.
Again, I don’t believe him that he’s going to stay away from all of the extracurricular stuff. I’m just happy that he is at least saying it, so at least it’s something.
PRO – Rhea Ripley: The match itself was decent enough, but I’m just happy to see Rhea Ripley win the Women’s World Title back. That’s not a knock on Liv Morgan at all, mind you. It’s just the natural conclusion of their story, and holy hell, I really hope it is the conclusion. There’s no reason for Rhea and Liv to continue their feud. Outside of a potential intergender match between Rhea and Dominik Mysterio, it would behoove everyone to stay as far away from one another as possible.
CON – The Undertaker: Some folks enjoyed this because it was viewed as Taker giving the “rub” to Rhea Ripley and putting her over.
Over to whomst, exactly?
Rhea Ripley is already one of the biggest stars in the business today. She isn’t some up-and-comer that could use a little boost with the WWE Universe.
The Undertaker flew out to Los Angeles just to slowly ride a motorcycle around the ringside area once, probably call Rhea “kid” at some point, raise his fist, and then leave? Hey, there’s nothing wrong with taking a check when it’s offered to you, but man, this wasn’t needed at all.
At least the crowd loved him, though. More on that later.
PRO – Certain Substances: In the span of a few minutes, we saw The Rock drinking alcohol backstage and then immediately getting behind the wheel of his truck to drive away, and then rapper Travis Scott openly smoking a blunt in the crowd during Jey Uso’s entrance.
Obviously, my “PRO” listing is tongue-in-cheek. Your mileage may vary when it comes to these things and whether or not you enjoyed them. I’m getting old, though, for sure. As soon as Rock got into his truck, my mind immediately went to the drinking and driving aspect. When Travis Scott was shown smoking, my mind immediately went to the fact that there were kids nearby in the crowd. I’d be mad as hell if my six-year-old got caught up in weed smoke like that. I’m just saying.
CON – No crowd “sweetening” noise: When you watch WWE and AEW programming, one of the biggest differences that you’ll notice is that WWE uses crowd sweetening on their shows and AEW doesn’t.
To me, there’s a huge difference between crowd sweetening and piping in fake noise. We’ve definitely seen WWE do the latter through the years, but I actually enjoy it when they do the former. It’s just a blanket crowd noise, allowing for there to be a baseline of sound during matches, and then the actual crowd noise comes in as anything extra. When that isn’t used, like in AEW, there are times when you can hear a pin drop in the crowd, or when you can hear one particular fan saying something loud and clear on air.
Relax, AEW fans, that’s not a knock on the company or the product. It’s a fact. If a live crowd isn’t reacting to something, you’re going to hear that silence or, again, a tiny amount of fans coming through clear as day. That’s very distracting.
For whatever reason, WWE didn’t use the crowd sweetening techniques during this episode. This was particularly easy to notice during the Jey Uso vs Drew McIntyre match, which featured some eerily quiet stretches from the crowd.
I don’t need WWE piping in fake “Goldberg” chants and then showing that nobody in the crowd is actually chanting. That stuff looks ridiculous. It would be appreciated if the crowd had a little boost, though. Speaking of the crowd…
CON – The live crowd: Maybe… just maybe… filling the crowd with as many Netflix executives and “here’s some free tickets to Raw” celebrities as possible isn’t the greatest of ideas.
This is supposed to be the biggest episode of Monday Night Raw ever, with a WrestleMania vibe all over it, and at many times during the show, it sounded like your run-of-the-mill episode from Des Moines, Iowa or Topeka, Kansas.
Remember the early Saudi Arabia shows that WWE had? You’d look at the crowd and it seemed like most of them were part of the more royal families and government branches. They weren’t there to enjoy a pro wrestling show, and that came across when they weren’t making noise, or when there would literally be dozens of them openly walking around in the crowd DURING matches. Luckily, that has changed with the recent Saudi shows, and the crowds have been really loud and excited for everything. That’s what this episode reminded me of. Too many people in the crowd who weren’t there to truly enjoy a wrestling show, and it showed.
PRO – Crowd reaction to Hulk Hogan: My goodness, this made me laugh so much. WWE has partnered with Hulk’s new beer, and he was there to help promote it and promote the show, but that crowd wanted zero parts of it. They booed him and booed him and booed him, and then booed him some more.
You could tell by the look on Hulk’s face that he wasn’t expecting a reaction like that. WWE’s official YouTube channel removed the video of Hulk’s appearance, so it seems like they weren’t expecting a reaction like that, either.
Here’s the thing, folks… I need some of you to stop with the “he got booed by the Libs because he’s a MAGA warrior” bullshit. Is he a major supporter of Donald Trump? Yes. He made several appearances and did a bunch of interviews proclaiming his love and support for Trump on the campaign trail a few months ago. Is California a “blue” state? Yes. That is one of the strongest Democratic states in the entire United States, without a doubt. Were there SOME people in the crowd booing him because of his political affiliation? Yes. I’m sure there were.
HOWEVER…
Triple H is a major supporter of Donald Trump. He got cheered.
The Undertaker is a major supporter of Donald Trump. He got cheered.
Stephanie McMahon is a major supporter of Donald Trump. She got cheered.
This had very little to do with who Hulk Hogan voted for. It had very much to do with all of the rest of the shit that Hulk has said and done outside of the ring through the years.
PRO – CM Punk vs Seth Rollins: In another world, this would be one of the main events of WrestleMania 41.
Honestly, in this world, it could still end up being one of the main events of WrestleMania 41. We just happened to get their first-time-ever match on Raw.
This was a really good match. Really, really good. Punk and Rollins were able to get the crowd back, and they worked the right type of physical contest that you would expect from such a heated rivalry. I’m very glad that the match had a clean finish, but the clean finish definitely doesn’t close the door for a rematch. There is nothing about the Seth Rollins character that is just going to shrug his shoulders after losing that he’s supposed to hate, and just move on to something else. No, he’s probably going to obsess over this loss, and Punk is juuuuust the right type of troll to goad Rollins into saying or doing something dumb.
Overall, it goes back to what I wondered earlier… was it my fault for getting my hopes up too high?
I have too many PROS listed for me to even think about calling this a bad episode of Raw. We got Roman Reigns wrestling on television for the first time since December 30th, 2022. It was his first match on Raw since July 25th, 2022 and his first singles match on television since June 17th, 2022. That’s a really big deal. We got a WrestleMania main event, in both stature and quality, to close out the show.
It just seemed like almost everything else in between was, at best, disappointing, and at worst, very questionable decision making.
WWE won’t be able to “hide” behind flashy, multi-billion dollar arenas and heavily promoted celebrity engagement every week. They won’t be able to give away WrestleMania matches on a weekly basis. In another week or two, they will have lost the curiosity element, where fans who might not normally tune in to watch Raw are checking it out on Netflix to see what the hubbub is about. What will they do then? This was a very important episode of Raw, of course, but as I always say, the follow up and follow through is even more important. Other than just “we’re on Netflix now,” what will the company to do make Raw something that keeps fans tuning in? The first episode saw some good viewership numbers, but how do you prevent those numbers from completely falling off of a cliff?
What say you? If you watched the debut episode of Raw on Netflix, what did you think of the show overall? As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, or on Bluesky (@aaronhyden.bsky.social), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Now, let’s switch things over to my Weekly Power Rankings, followed by closing it out with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
CM Punk vs Seth Rollins: The story, match quality, and allotted time fit in perfectly with a WrestleMania bout. As I mentioned earlier in this very column, the best part about the entire thing is that the door has been left open for them to have a rematch, perhaps at the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania itself. That could be a lot of fun.
Oba Femi: With all of the potential he has, this could be one of those moments that we look back on, years from now, and see his true arrival on the scene. It seemed inevitable that he would reach the top of the NXT mountain, and now that he’s the brand new NXT Champion, he has done just that.
Will Ospreay vs Buddy Matthews: With word that Malakai Black has parted ways with AEW, the company has already begun an interesting story with the other members of House Of Black seemingly in need of a direction without their leader. Both Matthews and Brody King are more than talented enough to be singles champions in AEW, and certainly enough to be tag champions. We’ve already seen Julia Hart become a champion, so we know what she’s capable of. I’m very interested to see where things go.
Solo Sikoa vs Roman Reigns: It was the formula for Roman Reigns over the last four-plus years that has worked time and time and time again, so why stray from it now? Now that Solo has been dethroned, does he disappear for a while? Does he see the rest of the group turn their backs on him? Are we going to see Jacob Fatu gain the power that everyone feels he should have anyway? Time will tell.
Adam Copeland vs Big Bill: To paraphrase the great philosopher Morris from the My-T-Sharp Barbershop… his mama named him Adam Copeland, I’ma call him Adam Copeland. In other news, I really hope that Tony Khan gets his head surgically removed from his ass and does something with Big Bill soon. Bill has been super over with AEW crowds, but he remains stuck in the mix of Mr. Everything-I-Touch-Turns-To-Dog-Shit himself, Chris Jericho. If he can get away from Jericho’s grubby little paws, Big Bill could definitely have a breakout year.
Roxanne Perez vs Giulia: With the huge influx of women’s talent coming to NXT recently, we all knew Roxanne’s days as NXT Women’s Champion were numbered, and her reign has finally come to an end. We also know that she’s going to kill it on Raw or Smackdown, so it’s not a major loss for her. It’s Giulia’s time to shine now, and she is more than capable of handling that pressure.
Cody Rhodes & Jimmy Uso vs Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga: This was like a house show main event, but in this instance, that isn’t a complaint. If you’ve been to WWE house shows, you know that the matches can be a lot of fun, even if they aren’t five-star classics. We got to see further advancement of the issues between Cody and Kevin Owens, while also seeing the next steps in the story of The Bloodline and what will or won’t happen with Solo Sikoa.
Komander vs Pac: If the match would’ve been given a few more minutes to work with, it would be ranked higher on the list. As it was, it was a really exciting contest featuring two really exciting competitors, and… well… that’s really exciting.
Kris Statlander vs Willow Nightingale vs Toni Storm: All three women busted their asses here, and that made for a very entertaining watch. They were competing to be the first entrant in the upcoming Women’s Casino Gauntlet Match, which will provide the winner with a shot at the AEW Women’s Title. With Statlander winning this, does she ride her momentum to Grand Slam: Australia next month? We shall see.
Rhea Ripley: The match itself barely missed the cut, but congratulations to Rhea for becoming the new Women’s World Champion on Raw. It’s her second reign with the title, after her first reign ended via forfeit when she suffered a shoulder injury. As fun as the Rhea vs Liv Morgan feud has been, it’s time for them to move on and find something different to do.
Bianca Belair vs Naomi vs Nia Jax vs Bayley: Like Stat vs Willow vs Toni, this match saw every woman involved bust their ass with something important on the line. In this one, it was to become the #1 Contender to Tiffany Stratton and her newly won WWE Women’s Title. Tiffany and Bayley could have themselves a great one if they’re given the time to do so.
Daniel Garcia vs Katsuyori Shibata: I know I’m not the only one feeling this way, but I really need AEW to do something to try and help Garcia get to the next level. AEW fans love the guy, and they were so excited to find out he re-signed with the company after a ton of rumors that he could be WWE-bound. He got the TNT Title, marking the biggest push of his AEW career, but ever since, he seems to be jogging in place. The man is still having good matches, of course, but can we be given something more?
Motor City Machine Guns vs A-Town Down Under: Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley continue their red hot streak since joining WWE. They just keep on having really fun matches in a currently stacked tag team scene on Smackdown. It still amazes me to see them on WWE programming, but I love it.
Kelani Jordan vs Cora Jade vs Stephanie Vaquer vs Lola Vice: Looks like we have a theme this week… more than two women in a match, where everyone knew there was something important on the line, so they busted their asses to make it a really good match. Stephanie Vaquer was victorious here, and she becomes the new #1 Contender to Fallon Henley’s NXT Women’s North American Title. With Giulia winning the NXT Women’s Title, could the new era of women’s wrestling in NXT truly be underway with another title change? I have to assume Stephanie will be the heavy betting favorite to win the title, so we’ll see.
This Week’s Playlist: “NUEVAYoL” by Bad Bunny… “VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR” by Bad Bunny… “KLOuFRENS” by Bad Bunny… “Westside Connection” by Rod Wave… “LIVE MY DREAMS” by Z-Ro & Slim Thug… “Tweaker” by G3 GELO… “Are You Even Real” by Teddy Swims & Giveon… “Don’t Let Me Get Too Low” by Silverstein… “Wishful Thinking” by Pop Evil… “Gravity” by Lacuna Coil… “Call Of The Night” by Dynazty… “Snowlover” by Unprocessed… “Unveiled” by CABAL & Nasty… “Echoes Of War” by Great American Ghost… “Seed Of Hate” by Drown In Sulphur… “Don’t Walk Away” by Jade… “Make It Last Forever” by Keith Sweat & Jacci McGhee… “I’d Rather” by Luther Vandross… “Can We Talk” by Tevin Campbell… “I’m Ready” by Tevin Campbell… “Always In My Heart” by Tevin Campbell… “Good Enough” by Bobby Brown… “Breakin’ My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)” by Mint Condition… “They Don’t Know” by Jon B… “I’ll Give All My Love To You” by Keith Sweat
