Leave your feedback here for Rewind-A-Wai #2: WWE Raw After WM 29 (April 8, 2013). Tune in Friday on the POST Wrestling Café feed for the review.
WWE Network link:
http://network.wwe.com/video/v31324299 (WWE Raw 1037)
2 Likes
I remember this show so vividly. The fans tried to make Fandango by singing his theme song, it did not take at all as WWE over pushed it and ruined it within a week. Cena opened the show with a great promo that set the tone for the show as he was just having fun. Sheamus and Orton completely lost the crowd and think this was something every post-Mania Raw crowd tried to reproduce every year. But the absolute highlight was the eruption that was Dolph finally winning the World title (properly), he came out this show feeling like the new big star and look at him now. It’s also really fun looking at the roster then and comparing it to now as there’s still a lot of the same names but in such different roles, outside of Cena. In my opinion this show has the quintessential post-Mania Raw crowd and it’s a lot of fun because of it.
Such a fun show, 2013 one of those years I tried getting back into WWE.
They had so many elements I was completely invested in… they completely misbooked Mania but IMO this was a underrated year for the company. They had all the pieces in place.
As for this show, what can you say… crowd was super hot. Dolph winning the title was magic and Ryback’s heel turn on Cena, gave him the biggest baby face reaction ever…
I’d go 7 out of 10.
Shaun from New Jersey
I attending this show live after being at all the weekend’s events and this one was by far the best, simply due to the atmosphere of the crowd. On paper, the show wasn’t all that great minus the Ziggler cash-in. That moment may have been the loudest pop I’ve experienced in person. As soon as the Del Rio/Swagger match ended, the crowd was chanting "We Want Ziggler."
There were some create crowd chants, especially during the Orton/Sheamus match. The ice cream vendor even got a chant with everyone yelling, “Ice Cream Man!” However the best was when someone spotted X-Pac in a luxury box and this would’ve been not too long after his “butt injury”. During the commercial break, a loud chant of “X-Pac’s Butt Hole” went through the arena. X-Pac then walked out of the luxury box and greeted the crowd to a huge pop!
Also those videos of fans “Fandangoing” after the show are totally legit. Everyone outside the arena were doing it and the train we took had people singing Fandango’s song the entire ride.
7 “Heel Turns” out of 10
I knew post Mania shows in recent years were big things, but I didn’t realize so many wacky things happened on this show that would be around for years to come. The show kept going and I kept thinking to myself, is this the match I think it is? This show also kinda showed what type of matches to book on the Raw after Wrestlemania. For example, Orton vs Sheamus will probably never happen again on a show like this. I was also amazed with how much pomp and circumstance they put into Fandango. It’s kinda sad to see how far he fell. It was also sad that it seemed Tons of Funk and the Funkadactyls looked like they bought some nice gear for their Wrestlemania match.
Overall, the show really isn’t remembered for anything other then the crowd as none of the matches stood out very much. 6 chests of AJ Lee caved in by Big E out of 10.
Chris from Melbourne, Australia.
This RAW always stick out for me, as I was beginning to watch regularly again for the first time since 2001. It was only a few short weeks after this RAW that my friend recommend listing to a Canadian wrestling podcast, so I gave them a try and have been listening to John & Wai ever since.
Now the first thing that drew me in was the crowd, the were chanting almost all night reminiscent of a European football match. This was no normal WWE Raw.
Then the matches, while nothing on here I’d consider an instant classic, from an in ring point at least, Dolph’s cash-in is what many fans considered the most memorable and somehow almost forgotten is the Barrett vs Miz IC Title match. Also their was some strange part of me at the time wanted to see what would happen to the “Clay, Tensai, Naomi & Cameron vs. Sandow, Rhodes, Nikki, Brie”.
While the commentary has some cringe worthy lines in hindsight, one being JBL saying that JR misses his flask & another being King making a joking reference to having a stroke, for the most part they are enjoyable, were having fun, and add to to product rather then taking away from it.
Finally while almost nothing else of that year sticks out for myself, including that weeks SmackDown, the show is almost fully rememberable.
Truly a " 8 no sells by AJ Lee outta 10"
Questio: For how long was the “Raw-After-Mania” a big event for fans to attend and make feel like a big deal?
Brent from the Bridge
I had this showed saved for a long time after it aired on my DVR and went back and watched it regularly. Aside from the major highlights of in my opinion the one of the best MItB cash ins of all time (RVD at One Night Stand is still my personal favourite) and the great Ryback turn. John Cenas opening promo has always stuck. The heel turn dance move comment is such a great line. This crowd made everyone feel like a star which made this show seem like a total contrast from the lack lustre Wrestlemania the night before. Great Choice for a review
It’d Be interesting to listen to the original Review-A-Raw for this show if anyone knows where to find it/if it still exists?
1 Like
Long time listener, first time giving feedback.
There is an old saying ‘The more things change, the more they stay the same.’ Despite lots of turns, gimmick changes and departures since this show, the majority of the WWE roster are still in the same holding pattern, while the big names (Brock, HHH, Taker, Cena) are still the focus of the shows. I was a bit down at the end of this RAW…nothing has really changed in nearly 4 years.
Anyway, I’ll give this show 5 ‘awkward Jerry Lawler remarks about comperes’ out of 10
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