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, Roman Reigns. Two of the biggest faces in the company. The softer-edged Rock drew the ire of a certain segment of the fans online, but I didn't have any issue with it. I figured it's because we aren't going to see him wrestle at WrestleMania this year. The sense I got is that Rock said he was unavailable, but I could be wrong.
From there, we led into Tribal Combat between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa. The cousins went at it for the Alo Falu and the title of being The Tribal Chief. Solo Sikoa couldn't quite lace Roman's boots in this match, and the Tribal Chief picked up the win. The match introduced several key players, including Sami Zayn, Jimmy Uso, Kevin Owens, and Jacob Fatu. Cody was involved in the mix, taking out Kevin Owens. There was carnage, destruction, and the match had stakes. It was a good opening match for the Netflix era.
From there, the new fans tuning into Raw saw a familiar favorite: The Legendary John Cena. Cena cut a promo on how he's down on himself because he hasn't won a match in over 2,000 days. He said he won't be winning the World Title and that it's impossible. Then he started listing off the different ways to get a World Title opportunity: Money in the Bank, Elimination Chamber, or the upcoming Royal Rumble. That would be impossible though, right? John Cena winning the Royal Rumble for a record-tying third time. No way that could happen, right? Well maybe, just maybe that will happen. Cena announced himself for the famed match, and WWE confirmed it. It was a classic John Cena promo, and the fans loved it.
That led to the first Title change of the Netflix era. Rhea Ripley defeated Liv Morgan to win the Women's World Championship and hopefully, finally put this feud to rest. It looked at one point like Ripley would lose, but she was able to fight through the distractions and the ObLIVions to win her World Championship back. What happened after the match is what got everyone talking. The "American Badass" Undertaker's theme song by Kid Rock blared through the arena, and out came the Undertaker on his motorcycle. Ripley and Taker posed after he did a lap around the arena on the bike. It was a great moment to give some shine to Rhea Ripley in front of the largest crowd for Raw in years, possibly ever.
We got a tease for a Luchador opponent for Chad Gable, which is definitely going to be Penta El Zero Miedo, one of the most talented and popular Luchadores in the world. We've seen video packages promoting the debut, and many thought it would happen tonight. While it didn't happen tonight, the speculation is that it will be Penta.
The next match was Jey Uso taking on Drew McIntyre. It featured a huge entrance for Jey Uso, who was accompanied to the ring by music superstar Travis Scott. Travis was smoking some of the "funny stuff" during the entrance, in which they came in from the crowd. I thought this was a solid TV match, and once again, introduced two of the key players that will be on Netflix every week. Jey Uso, with the capacity crowd behind him, defeated Drew McIntyre. It was a solid TV match, but the weakest of the show. It didn't really do that much for me, but the entrance was cool.
Here comes the bad: Hulk Hogan. I understand that Hulk is a big part of WWE history and that we arguably wouldn't be watching wrestling if it wasn't for him. But he's extremely controversial, and there's a large segment of the audience who despises him for his past comments. I don't think the juice was worth the squeeze with The Hulkster. The audience voiced their displeasure, as did fans online. The show didn't need Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan isn't integral to the history of Monday Night Raw. A wrestler like Stone Cold Steve Austin would have been a much better fit for the spot, and the fans would have appreciated it more. Or even Shawn Michaels. I would say this was the low point of an otherwise good show.
In the main event of the night, CM Punk defeated Seth Rollins. This was a match that had been building for almost 11 years, and it delivered. There were near-falls, stolen finishers, and an aggression from both men that we don't often see from wrestlers in this day and age. You could feel the hatred in those punches and kicks. Neither man relenting at any point in the match. Whether this was the start or end to their feud, I thought it delivered. I think this was the perfect main event for the first episode of Raw on Netflix. And it ended with the Best in the World notching another win.
Overall, I thought it was a good show from top to bottom and introduced the key players of Raw to a potentially new audience. Add in the appearances of Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena, and The Rock, and I'd say it was worthy of the hype. Saying that, if you're not a fan of the WWE style, you probably didn't love the show. Which is fine, we're all entitled to our own opinions, and I'd love to see yours here or on social media.
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