WFA
30 years when Raw debuted on 1/11/93, I was 12 years old. There were no such things as Spoilers & I wasn't into doing W/L Records, Facts, & Stats. So, in honor of that, that is how I will be watching Raw. I will be watching it as a 12 year old, so do not expect any Facts & Stats for any match tonight. If you care so much, you can wait for it later this week.
To celebrate Raw, here's the W/L Records for the 1st 4 Years (1993-1997). I did this when I was unemployed & had free time to watch every Raw. But then, I got a job & never had time again to go back & watch the other 26 years of Raw.
darrenswinloss.wordpress.com/rawHere are my Raw Thoughts:
As much as I don't like him personally, I can't discount Hulk Hogan & what he has done for professional wrestling. So, it's cool to see him & Jimmy Hart, even with his microphone issues.
This Raw Video gave me goosebumps on Smackdown & it's giving me goosebumps now. So many incredible moments that will be in my memory forever. I have watched every episode of Raw either live or on DVR, & I saw 2 in person (December 4, 2000 & July 31, 2006).
Awesome Tribal Court. Paul Heyman was incredible. I love all of his evidence. And people say that WWE doesn't do long-time stories. Sami Zayn was excellent, as was Roman Reigns & Jey Usos. Love Jey supporting Sami. It sucks that Rikishi is sick. Get well soon. And that Afa & Sika weren't ready to be on Raw. But this was an awesome segment. I don't think their original plan for the The Acknowledgement Ceremony would have been this good.
The Judgment Day VS The Usos was a tremendous match. Priest is amazing for flying like a Cruiserweight. I was nervous for a while thinking Jimmy was really hurt. I love Sami Zayn taking his place. I guess Sami gets the win in my Records.
Fun segment with JBL, Baron Corbin, The Godfather, & Ron Simmons. What a fun 1st hour with no commercials. I don't mind a Poker Game this week with the legends. I love hearing Thorn In Your Eye again.
I don't care that there are Smackdown wrestlers doing promos on Raw. It's RAW XXX & Royal Rumble Week. The Undertaker coming out as the American Bad Ass was unbelievable. I didn't mind LA Knight get attacking my Taker. Seeing Taker & Bray Wyatt together was surreal.
Cool seeing DDP & Alundra Blayze playing Poker with The Alpha Academy & Baron Corbin. DDP should have all Diamonds. Shows like tonight though make me miss the 24/7 Title like they did last time they brought in all of the Legends.
Damn. That sucked. I was looking forward to Becky Lynch VS Bayley in a Steel Cage Match. What a waste of time. Good thing I didn't spend all weekend doing research. The attack by Damage CTRL was OK.
Another cool video montage of Raw Moments, but I never liked that theme.
Hilarious segment with DX & Kurt Angle. Love Imperium coming out. Seth Rollins & The Street Profits VS Imperium will be a banger. I popped for Teddy Long coming out to make the match and then Angle becoming the referee.
OK. Jerry Lawler on commentary. At least it's not a Women's Match & he won't be saying Puppies. Nevermind, I'm watching this match on mute. Jerry Lawler is being a moron heel announcer with him & Corey Graves ganging up on Kevin Patrick & his Irish accent. He can't help the way he talks. People need to leave him alone. He's great.
Even with commentary on mute, The Street Profits & Seth Rollins VS Imperium was a fun match. Kurt Angle was fun as Referee.
I figured the Poker Game would end with something like that with Ted DiBiase & IRS and then a Damn from Ron Simmons. I wish there was an interaction with IRS & Bray Wyatt. But DiBiase shouldn't be on TV. He should be in jail for embezzlement.
Another good Raw Moments Montage with an OK theme.
Solid promo by Bobby Lashley. Good interaction with MVP.
Get this sexual predator Ric Flair off my damn TV. Unlike Hogan, I don't give a crap for what he did for wrestling. He's a piece of crap that should be in jail. F him
After the Sexual Predator left, the segment was good. Decent promo by Charlotte Flair & Bianca Belair, & OK response by Sonya Deville, but we have seen Belair VS Deville several times in the past.
Another classic WrestleMania 21 video. I really hope they bring those back for Mania 39.
Bianca Belair VS Sonya Deville was OK but short. It sucks that the Women's Division is being treated like this. No Women's Match on Smackdown & then a short match on Raw, but Bianca's promo afterwards & Alexa Bliss' promo was really good.
Another cool Cody Rhodes' promo. He's going to get the biggest pop on Saturday at the Royal Rumble even with him being announced ahead of time. At least, I can get his Rumble Stats organized.
More cool Raw Moments with my 2nd favorite Raw Theme, Across the Nation.
Very cool WWE 2K23 commercial. I haven't played a WWE game in a few years as I don't have time for games, but I might get WWE 2K33 when it comes out.
Hilarious Miz promo & then Kevin Owens with the Stunner. Nice tribute to Jay Briscoe with KO's armband like he had on Smackdown. Excellent promo by KO.
The only thing I haven't enjoyed about Raw tonight is the lack of matches. There will be only 4 matches. This might end up being the Raw with the least amount of matches in 2023.
Despite the main roster not doing a lot of Women's Matches over the past week, NXT has made up for it with 4 Women's Matches announced & 2 Women's Segments for tomorrow, but nothing for the men.
Awesome. Batista made an appearance on Raw.
Bobby Lashley VS Austin Theory was a really fun US Title Match. I had a feeling that Brock Lesnar would come out & interfere as soon as the No DQ Stipulation was announced. They need to bring back the Overrun for Raw, as they ran out of time. Looking forward to Lashley VS Lesnar again.
Updated Royal Rumble Participants
Men's Rumble (15)
RAW (6): Corbin, Lashley, Omos, Rhodes, Rollins, Theory
SD (9): Escobar, GUNTHER, Kingston, Kross, McIntyre, Mysterio, Ricochet, Sheamus, Strowman
Women's Rumble (7)
RAW (2): LeRae, Ripley
SD (5): Baszler, Emma, Morgan, Rodriguez, Vega
Here are my RAW Match Rankings:
1) The Bloodline VS The Judgment Day
2) Seth Rollins & The Street Profits VS Imperium
3) Bobby Lashley VS Austin Theory
4) Bianca Belair VS Sonya Deville
Besides seeing the Sexual Predator & Embezzler on my screen, Lawler's horrible comments to Kevin Patrick, & getting screwed out of a match that I was looking forward to all week, Raw was awesome. They used the Legends well. I would have liked to see more though. I can't wait for Saturday.