Raw 25 had the hype and build-up of a pay-per-view, and while it had its good moments, it also left fans in attendace and watching on TV disappointed.
via wwe.com
With big names such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Chris Jericho, D-Generation X, Trish Stratus, Scott Hall, Torrie Wilson, and the APA, was it even possible for RAW 25 to do any wrong? The answer is yes. Although not a complete waste of time, the event was rather lacklustre, and WWE definitely didn't think things through before deciding to emanate Raw from two different arenas. In fact, all it did was piss people off.
Here are five things WWE got right this week and five things they got wrong.
WWE decided to double up for its 25th Anniversary, hosting part of the show at the Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom, the original home of Raw, and the majority of the show across town at the Barclays Center. It seemed like a good idea on paper, but WWE didn't warrant enough to host the show at two separate arenas, resulting in fans in attendance at the Manhattan Center having to watch most of the broadcast on a screen despite paying $400-$1000 dollars for a seat. Let's just say, fans were not pleased.
5. RIGHT - Mixed Match Challenge
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Although it was obvious The Miz and Asuka would advance against Big E and Carmella this week in the Mixed Match Challenge, the show has still been a lot of fun so far. It's a rarity to see the men and women interact with each other and we can't wait to see the other teams come together, especially Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss.
The one match to happen at the Manhattan Center was Bray Wyatt vs. Woken Matt Hardy, and for some reason, Hardy lost in just over 5 minutes. We have so many questions. Why is Hardy losing in woken form already? Why not just wait until the Rumble for it to happen? And if Wyatt had to win, couldn't it have been through devious ways?
After AJ Styles quickly disposed of Kevin Owens in 70 seconds, Styles was forced to wrestle a second match against Sami Zayn immediately following. The best part of the whole thing, was even though Zayn had taken advantage of a distracted Styles, Zayn still won the match, giving him a much needed victory ahead of Royal Rumble this Sunday.
3. WRONG - No Interaction of Past and Present Woman
With former Champions Trish Stratus, Jacqueline, Michelle McCool, Maryse, and Kelly Kelly, and the ever so memorable Torrie Wilson and Terri Runnels to name a few, why was there no interaction with the women of today? With the first ever Women's Royal Rumble this Sunday, not having them cross paths was a wasted opportunity.
WWE has done well by making Randy Orton's RKO feel a whole lot more special lately compared to before. For example, this week, during Shinsuke Nakamura's match against Barin Corbin, Orton decided to end the match his way, by appearing literally out of nowhere (because of expert camera angles tbh) to RKO Shinsuke Nakamura, putting the locker room on notice that he is the favourite to win this Sunday.
For our sake, hopefully he doesn't win.
The Undertaker made his triumphant return to Raw this week, the first time he has appeared on television since losing to Roman Reigns last year at WrestleMania 33. And what did he have to say? Sadly, not really anything and it was kind of a waste of time. His message was difficult to decipher. Has he retired? Was that his retirement speech, because if so, it wasn't a good one. And if he hasn't retired, it wasn't clear.
The best match of Raw was for the Intercontinental Championship, when The Miz defeated Roman Reigns and won back his title for the 8th time in his career. The Championship is back where it belongs, and we suppose this gives Reigns freedom to go after Brock Lesnar next for this year's WrestleMania.
Just like a lot of us feared, The Revival came out to interrupt the Legends not to make a memorable moment, but a predictable one. Instead of having The Revival look like a million bucks by having them beat up Sean Waltman or something, they instead got beat up by Sean Waltman and the rest of the old retired wrestlers. And we have to ask. Why?
Remember when the old guys used to put over the new guys? Would Randy Orton be who he was if the old Legends never put him over as the Legend Killer?
1. RIGHT - Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon
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Raw opened up with promise, but unfortunately it was all downhill from here for the most part. Shane and Stephanie McMahon welcomed their father out to congratulate him on his success, thinking that giving him a commemorative plaque would put a smile on his face. It did the opposite. A plaque is all Vince McMahon is worth? After belittling his kids as well as the fans in attendance in Brooklyn, none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin came out and hilariously stunned him and Shane in our top moment of the week.
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