The Superkick

WWE's flagship program, Monday Night Raw, debuted on Netflix last night and was promoted as a WrestleMania-like show. Did it deliver? While opinions will differ, I think it did. There were a few things I didn't like, with Hulk Hogan's appearance being the most significant. But even then, it lasted for five minutes and he merely did a cheap plug for his Real American Beer. I think the positives outweighed the negatives here. The show opened with Triple H "telling the story" of WWE up to this point. Following The Game's appearance was one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, The Rock. Rock's appearance was the first point of negativity for some fans. While most were expecting the heelish "Final Boss" persona, he came out as a babyface. The fans in attendance in Inglewood loved seeing The Rock and he was met with a very favorable response. The People's Champion gave props to his rival, Cody Rhodes, and his fellow Anoa'i family member, Roma...

This is TRIBAL COMBAT! #RawOnNetflix pic.twitter.com/Qf5sdhdZVW — WWE (@WWE) January 7, 2025 The first match of WWE's Netflix era was a tale of carnage between family members. There were numerous broken tables and weapons used during Tribal Combat between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa. It was a great match to start the Netflix on Raw.  Near the end of the match, the New Bloodline came out in support of Solo Sikoa highlighted by Jacob Fatu crashing down from the top rope onto Roman Reigns. Then Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso came out in support of Roman Reigns. It looked like Roman Reigns would seal it up but Solo kicked out at two like Roman did moments earlier. Roman was setting up for the win and Kevin Owens came down to the ring to stun The OTC.  pic.twitter.com/E3DcJ5r9gS — WWE (@WWE) January 7, 2025 This is starting to feel like 2000 WCW with the amount of run-ins here. Cody Rhodes then comes out and takes Kevin Owens out of the equation. Roman Reigns spears Solo...

 On tonight's Raw, The Rock as announced returned to Raw for its Netflix debut. I thought we'd see an arrogant heel promo from him to continue his heel persona as "The Final Boss." The last time we saw The Rock, he was a clear cut heel. He was feuding with the biggest babyface in wrestling in Cody Rhodes and was teaming with the biggest heel in wrestling at the time (sorry MJF) Roman Reigns.  FINALLY... 🎤 #RawOnNetflix pic.twitter.com/OuwTKNl1a5 — WWE (@WWE) January 7, 2025 On tonight's Raw though, The Rock was boosting up Cody Rhodes and gave him some major props for carrying the company over the past year. He also propped up the now babyface Roman Reigns. The crowd was loving The Rock and he wasn't giving them any reason to hate him. He made a joke about being censored to the Co-CEO's of Netflix and the live crowd at the Intuit dome was eating it up.  THE ROCK and CODY RHODES meet again! 👀 #RawOnNetflix pic.twitter.com/fzv325iQU0 — WWE (@WWE...