This will pretty sure be the biggest 1st to 3rd hour rating drop RAW ever had.
Show started strong but i felt sorry for the fans who paid their hard earned money to be there live!
I‘m less hyped for the rumble now, but of course i‘ll still watch it and complain on the internet after it.
4 out of 10 sexy Torrie Wilsons
Ryan from Calgary
This was the first RAW i’ve seen live in probably 10-15 years, and I thought it was ok, at best. I really like the placement and use of Elias, and I thought the Meta level of the Kliq and the Club meeting the Revival was pretty good. I’d like to have seen the Revival get a little more heat, but at least it was the Club that wrestled the match, instead of the New Age Outlaws, or any of the legends. Of course HHH was going to pedigree someone, but at least they used the segment to get over the Club and Revival a bit.
Whatever fun this was, a little piece of me died when the commercials came on, and there was no part of this that made me want cable tv back, or to watch this week to week. I’ll stick to my Post Office rewinds instead.
Oh yeah, did you guys catch the photograph of Stephanie tied to the Undertaker symbol in the mock crucifixion from the corporate ministry reveal? I didn’t think I’d see that on tv again.
Thanks,
Ryan
Andrew from Nova Scotia
The show was interesting, but a little rough. The Manhattan Center seemed like the most interesting story to learn about. It doesn’t seem too hard to book hot dark matches for a show instead of showing it on a TV. I’m sure if they showed some matches from NXT wrestlers or a UK title match when Raw wasn’t playing there. I also think we should call segments like the final one the John Pollock segment. Whenever I see a segment like that, I see the stars in the ring and everyone else on the roster on geek duty. 6 out of 20 show. It was fun to see some people back, but in general, it didn’t live up to expectations.
Dan from Peterborough.
A lot of missed opportunities. Where was Jeff Jarrett during the Drifter/Jericho segment? Where was IRS during the poker segment when DiBiase won all the chips? Why wasnt the American Badass at Barclays after whatever that segment was with the Deadman at the Manhattan Center?
5 annoying opening sirens out of 10
Galvin in Aurora.
I wish I didn’t spend 45 minutes on hold with Rogers today ordering Sportsnet 360! This show was not worth it, did not live up to the hype at all. The best segment was the Jericho segment, biggest pop of the night. 2nd favourite segment was the Elias in ring promo/singing segment.
Wai was 100% correct in saying it’d be a normal RAW with backstage legend segments sprinkled in here and there.
On a side note, Shawn NEEDS to cut his hair! Someone needs to tell him that 4 long hairs does not constitute a lush ponytail!
Charlie from Utica.
I had a bad feeling for the rest of the show when the first segment was as much fun as it was. What does that say for WWE’s writing? I couldn’t believe the 8 woman tag team match was actually a two commercial match. The show wasn’t absolutely horrible, I enjoyed the Elias segments both with Jericho and Cena, Asuka looking strong by wiping out her team and Balor Club not getting buried by the legends. For a show that was billed as being bigger than a post-Wrestlemania Raw this couldn’t have been more underwhelming.
The two venue idea seemed fun on paper but it was terrible in execution. For what it’s worth, my girlfriend went to the Brooklyn show and had a great time.
Robert from Montreal
The glut of legends really throws the show off, it’s super easy to hype the nostalgia but it’s really fucking difficult to shoe horn it into a show.
That Miz and Bryan stare down was 
, cannot wait for the Rumble when Bryan’s music plays and the Miz comes out.
Thank God for this show, I almost forgot what disappointment felt like. The opening segment was predictable, but was exactly the right way to kick the night off. The Taker segment was as vague and meaningless as it gets. The DX segment went as badly as I hoped it wouldn’t, with the BC “surprise” and Revival embarrassment being pretty predictable too.
When they brought out the women stars it dawned on me how right Wai was. Half of those women are probably gonna be in the Rumble and seeing them will diminish the surprise If I wanna see these women stand, I can find them on Instagram.
Raw dropped the ball on the lack of meaningful interaction between past and present, and ineffectively utilized the MC. 3 Bullshit Chants out of 25
Joseph from Mississauga
Being a Wrestling fan, more so a WWE fan, I am not the type to get hyped up for events as the current product just doesn’t do that for me anymore. But going into this Raw I was pretty excited about what could of been, but it’s safe to say outside of the opening segment of the show with Austin there was nothing else I enjoyed about this show. What they did with The Undertaker was extremely disappointing and not to mention beyond confusing. I’m curious to hear your guys take on what direction he could possibly go after that promo.
3 out of 10
Dan from Long Island
Hi John and Wai. I was at the Barclays Center for the show tonight and the only thing I’m feeling is completely baffled by tonight’s show. While the Austin/McMahon stuff to open was fantastic, nothing else came close in terms of excitement for the rest of the show. It all just felt like just another lackluster Raw but with a few APA segments thrown in. The segments at the Manhattan Center particularly lacked anything and were hard to pay attention to due to the low volume of the speakers in the venue. They just hyped a massive show for a bunch of cheap pops and to say RAW 25 over and over again.
8.5 years out of 25
I didn’t think the show was bad, just bad timing heading into the Royal Rumble. It was great to see the legends they had, there were just too many cramed into a go-home show. Another occasion where less would be more for the WWE.
The Miz felt like a star and it was great to see him beat Reigns like a classic heel. Hearing the King and JR on commentary was refreshing compared to the train wreck trio.
Brawn and Roman reigns had a solid night with 2 base hits .
Heath Slater went 3 for 4 with the backstage skits and the 3D spot. Great night by the Miz going 3 for 4 with two home runs. The first came with the interaction with Daniel Bryan and then the second was winning the IC title. The Joe Carter MVP of the night goes to Jason Jordan for the tremendous heat he generates . All that offense was not enough though as Kevin Dunn and the whole production team failed to make it out of the first inning as Raw 25 loses 2-10
Bret from San Antonio
As with a lot of the comments here, I watched RAW live for the first time in months and felt like a lot of my time was wasted. Not as much as the live audiences though. I wish they didn’t announce so many specific appearances only to relegate half of them to a curtain call. Have fewer people show up, more legitimate surprises, and at least segments with them. Alpha Club Jericho was the best segment of the night.
The final segment at the manhattan center had a chance to salvage what was left of the show, but fell flat. Everything from NWO Scott Hall coming out with a ‘Razor Ramon’ label, to two sweet awkwardness with Balor club, to JR and King having no idea what the Magic Killer is.
4 missed beer cans out of ten
It was an alright show tonight, or as good as it could be with that stacked of a lineup and caked in nostalgia. Current random thoughts: Jericho looked like he was frozen in time at Korakuen Hall only to be thawed out at Barclays weeks later. Also, DX beat down The Revival for The Elite. In all seriousness, that segment could have went way worse, but it also could of just not happened.
Jochy in Chicago.
I feel horrible for all those folks that were at the Manhattan Center. A weird Taker promo, a lackluster Wyatt/Hardy match and the DX/Bullet Club segment.
As for the positives, I think no one in wrestling today can pop a crowd like Stone Cold can, I dont remember a crowd being that loud for anyone in a very long time. Loved the Miz/Reigns match but tell me why do they keep teasing the Bryan program if it wont happen! Great to see Y2J but wished they would have used him more significantly.
Popped for the nostalgia, but felt like they booked too many people and realized that day of the show.
Chris From Florida
What a disaster of a show. As a tv watcher at home some parts were cool to see from a nostalgia standpoint and that made it mildly enjoyable. However the match quality was shit, the people at the Manhattan Center got scammed, hell the people at the BC got scammed cause they didn’t get to see Taker or DX. But the poor souls who shelled out way more than 500 bucks at the Manhattan Center…damn.
And what a terrible terrible go home show for the Rumble. I guess they figured the Rumble can more or less sell itself.
What did you guys make of that Taker promo, it felt so strange, it almost seemed like Mark wanted to the pull the trigger on official retirement but just wasn’t feeling it and sorta left it vaguely open at the end. Odd
And you have a big opening segment with Stone Cold but don’t give him a single word on the mic?
Noah From Vaughan
This show in my opinion was destined to be a letdown, aside from the Miz-Reigns match, nothing in ring to really care about, I felt like they were overdoing it with the returning legends (I don’t think Raw 1000 had these many legends appear). I thought the opening segment was really well done, and Undertaker returning was cool to see , however his appearance didn’t amount to much of anything. I couldn’t help but feel bad for the fans that bought tickets to either show as they didn’t get their money’s worth.
Question for you guys. What did you make of Undertaker’s Promo, and what will it mean for him at Wrestlemania.
5 Boogyman Worms in Coachman Hands out of 10
I need to double my monthly donation since you two have to sit through this on a weekly basis. Bless you boys.
What did the people in the Manhattan Center paid 500-800 USD for? Why did I try to watch the whole thing? Why did Vince pretend-drank beer? Why did they put the other 3 women with Asuka when, judging by the start and end of the match, she could clearly just beat all of them easily? How did they make Hardy and Wyatt boring? Why did they have the worst DX reunion ever? How did they make both crowds fall asleep?
What caught my attention the most: Kelly Kelly looked the same, Jacqueline is bald, Torrie Wilson looks better now, Michelle McCool does not, Terri Runnels also looks better now, Trish is awesome, no Lita.
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Elias and Jericho for tag champs followed by Elias as US champ
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Disappointed
Rhys from Bendigo (Australia).
I thought the show was okay. Kept my attention more than most episodes as I found myself not fast forwarding as often. Nostalgia was pretty crammed in and at times corny, but nothing too egregious.
The thing that caught me off guard was Matt Hardy losing and The revival essentially being squashed! The crowd seemed surprisingly dead for Matt, maybe they knew something I didn’t because having Matt lose to Bray in a TV match has effectively killed this character and destined it for a lower card comedy spot .
I was worried Dash and Dawson would get the ascension treatment but was assuming it was going to happen after a win at least. Way to make your best team look like a joke straight after returning and cutting a great promo. Balor club went over huge at least.
I’ll give this one 4 confused Manhattan Center crowds wanting a refund out of 10.