Hey folks,
I could not stay awake last night to join John, Sped, Mike, and Jess on the Raw Rundown. Being that I get up between 2 am and 3:30 am for work, it is hard to stay up too late. I did get a chance to watch the first Raw on Netflix, and I do have some thoughts:
The cold open, that had been released earlier in the day on social media, chronicling the evolution of pro wrestling was fantastic. There was old carny and territory footage and Monday Night War footage from both WWE and WCW. However, the package completely overlooked ECW and what that group brought to wrestling. Triple H then welcomed us to "The Netflix Era". The show itself paid off a lot, it had that "big fight feel" to the night. It had a feel of a UFC Fight Night, with less backstage promos, and only four hard-hitting matches. It was touted as big as a PLE, and I thoroughly enjoyed most of the show.
The Rock's promo at the beginning of the show also had a very corporate babyface feel to it. He didn't cut a "Final Boss" promo, instead he praised Cody Rhodes and there was no hint of a WrestleMania build to it. I guess the rumors are true and Rock won't be able to compete at Mania this year. We could have finally started building towards Rock vs Roman, but alas that seems to be a moot point now.
The Bloodline saga is apparently over, as Roman Reigns defeated Solo Sikoa to regain the Ula Fala and take his rightful place as the ONLY Tribal Chief. Tama Tonga, Jacob Fatu, Sami Zayn, Jimmy Uso, Kevin Owens, and Cody Rhodes all got involved in the match. It felt like the main event of WrestleMania all over again. Having The Rock come out to adorn Reigns with the Ula Fala and acknowledge him as the Tribal Chief seems to have put a period on that story.
John Cena's promo was good, and he pointed out that this begins his retirement tour. He will be here full-time this year as he has cleared his schedule. He made it a point to say that he will win the Royal Rumble, and he will compete in Elimination Chamber. I fully believe that he will get that 17th World Championship to break Ric Flair's record.
Rhea Ripley vs Liv Morgan was a great match! This title run has really upped Liv's game and brought her up to the Main Event status. Rhea pulling out the victory and regaining the Women's World Championship was just what the crowd wanted. Dom tried to get back with Rhea after the match, like the smarmy heel he is. And for his troubles, he got kicked in the balls and then Rhea gave him the Riptide. Great match, the crowd was all into it. But there was more to come, the American Badass returned. As Ripley made her way up the ramp, we heard that familiar toll of the bell, once Kid Rock's "American Badass" started blaring out of the speakers, Undertaker rode his motorcycle to the ring and back up the ramp. Taker and Ripley then did the Brothers of Destruction pose at the top of the ramp.
I was a bit disappointed in the Jey Uso-Drew McIntyre match. It felt sluggish to me. Jey is a tremendous showman and is over huge with the crowd, but it seems like he can't deliver during big matches. We saw it at WrestleMania against Jimmy Uso, when their match was the worst match of the weekend. There were points where it looked like Jey and Drew were just going through the motions and not hitting the moves with precision. Usually, I am good with less-than-perfect execution, because in "real" fights, things wouldn't look flawless. This match, however, felt scripted and fell flat in my opinion. Prior to the match, rapper Travis Scott, who performs the new Raw theme song, was coming out through the crowd with Jey, while smoking a blunt. Completely disgusting and disrespectful, especially that it's illegal to smoke in public buildings. Maybe Jey was high because of the second-hand weed, and that's why he was so slow. Jey winning with a shocking leverage pin was unexpected.
Hulk Hogan, with Jimmy Hart waving the American flag, came out to promote Real American Beer, which now in a partnership with WWE. The disrespectful fans in LA booed Hogan out of the building. I will make no bones about it; I have been and still am a huge Hulkamaniac. Hogan is the GOAT and without him, there would be no WWE. I know that he made some choice comments over a decade ago, during a low time in his life, in what he thought was a private moment. However, he did come out and apologize and stated what he said was wrong. It's time to move past it. However, being in LA, probably the most liberal area in the continental United States, it should come as no surprise that they would boo Hogan. Hogan not only publicly endorsed President-elect Donald Trump but also spoke at the Republican National Convention and multiple Trump rallies. Regardless of what you think about his politics or personal issues, Hulk Hogan is the reason that WWE is as big as it is. There would be no WrestleMania without Hulk Hogan, there would be no "Stone Cold" Steve Austin without Hulk Hogan becoming Hollywood Hogan, joining the nWo and telling the fans to "stick it brother". There would be no Rock, John Cena, Roman Reigns, etc. without Hulk Hogan. Give the man his flowers. Or just maybe, he should have just told the LA fans to "stick it brother"!
The main event was CM Punk vs Seth Rollins. This was a 5-star match in my opinion. Punk can still go; the biggest question is whether he can stay healthy and injury-free. Rollins is a tremendous athlete, regardless of the shitty gimmick. This was their first match, and it felt like a grudge match. I want to see if they'll end up dragging this on until Mania or if it was one-and-done. Punk won after two Go To Sleeps which looked like he struggled to perform. This was truly the best match of the night.
Overall, there were no buffering problems, the commentary was great, with Michael Cole and Pat McAfee at the desk. There were no commercials for those who pay for Ad-free Netflix, similar to what Peacock does for WWE PLEs, they either showed a package between matches or continued with the show if the commercial break was done mid-match. Seeing Travis Scott smoking a blunt was disgusting. The Rock taking some swigs of his Teremana tequila then getting in his vehicle to drive was a bit cringe. There was no censorship, especially when the crowd started chanting "Fuck You Solo", it came clearly through the feed. I'm definitely amped for the Netflix Era.
