RAW 1000th Episode Reaction

On January 11, 1993, Monday Night RAW debuted in the Manhattan Center. 19 years and 999 episodes later, RAW is still on the air and still kicking. Albeit not like back in the day, but still going strong. Monday night was the 1000th Episode of Monday Night RAW.

RAW kicked off with an AMAZING video highlighting all the great moments and highlights from Monday Night RAW past and present. I was very impressed. They're already off to a great start. The video package almost brought a tear to my eye just thinking back on how far RAW has come showing all the ups and downs in the WWE.

After the video, RAW kicks off with a new logo, new intro, and a somewhat brand new set. Well, the set looks better than the last one that's for sure. The titantron is bigger, but everything else is pretty much the same except for the RAW 1000 logo at the top and side the new giant circular titantrons on the side.

Mr. McMahon came out, thanked the fans and welcomed everybody to Monday Night RAW. He wasted no time and brought out DX!

Triple H and HBK came out with the merchandise and camo pants. HHH started and said, "Wasn't there more of us?" They both point to the RAW set and out come the other members of DX! And then out came The New Age Outlaws and X-Pac! I always knew the Outlaws would be here, but I didn't expect X-Pac!  These fans didn't seem too loud for DX, but I sure as hell marked out seeing all five of these guys together. Hearing Road Dogg and Triple H do their shtick brought me back to the 90s and I was damn sure happy to see it. It's one of those nights where you sit back and enjoy being a fan.

And then Damien Sandow came out to some heel heat and started putting down DX in admirable fashion. They must really love Sandow if they're willing to put him in the opening segment with DX. And DX taking him out was classic. Great segment, great start.

Sheamus, Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler, & Alberto Del Rio

Jim Ross came out to a great pop to join Michael Cole and The King on commentary. Jim Ross was always my favorite announcer and it's going to be so refreshing hearing him talk. I also want to hear the chemistry between JR and King again.

RAW started off with a solid six man tag team match. It was weird that Ziggler and Jericho teamed together despite their little misunderstanding last week. But it was a great match throughout that set the tone with great spots and fast paced action. On a side note, it was damn good hearing JR on commentary again. He's just so great to listen to when the action is going on. Sheamus gets the win after dropping Jericho with the Brogue Kick. A solid match and so far RAW 1000 is still off to a good start.

Brodus Clay vs Jack Swagger


Brodus squashes Swagger and then afterwards, Mick Foley, dressed up as Dude Love, comes out and dances with Clay, Naomi, and Cameron.

Couldn't care less at this point about Brodus Clay.

Daniel Bryan/AJ Wedding


This was one of my favorite segments of the night. The only thing that was missing to add a little bit of realism to it was an actual Officiant (person who marries you.) I think Slick was a little bit over the top, but whatever. Bryan says his vows and slips the ring on AJ's finger, they both say yes and we're good to go, right? Wrong. AJ stops and said she was saying yes to somebody else and accepted a proposal from that somebody else.

Mr. McMahon's music hits and he makes his way out and announced that AJ is the new GM of RAW! Whoa! Not only did that take me by surprise, but it took the fans and Daniel Bryan by surprise as they popped and Bryan was left in the ring shocked and confused as AJ skipped around before ultimately leaving the ring. So, not only was Daniel Bryan stood up at the Altar, but AJ is the new GM of RAW.

This move is actually......interesting. It's been a while since we had a female as a General Manager. Go back to Stephanie McMahon in 2003. I don't count Tiffany as WWECW General Manager in 2009. But AJ's psycho gimmick has taken her to new heights in her career and this new GM position is actually a pretty cool move. I can't wait to see how they book AJ as GM. There are so many ways to go with her character. Should be interesting.

The Rock's Return


After Bryan got stood up, he started throwing a temper tantrum and this brings out the WWE Champion CM Punk. Punk pretty much rubs it in his face that he got stood up and said he can continue throwing a fit and Punk is going to continue being the WWE Champion and The Best in the World. Bryan continues and calls himself the greatest superstar of all time! This brings out THE ROCK!

The Rock comes out and tells Bryan that only the people can decide who the greatest of all time is. He turns his attention to CM Punk and says that The Rock has a WWE Championship Match set in stone for the Royal Rumble. Punk tells Rock that not only is going to beat John Cena, but he is going to beat The Rock at the Royal Rumble.

Bryan interrupts the great back and forth with Rock and Punk and gets a Rock Bottom for his trouble.

Good segment. This was the first time we had Rock and Punk face to face. I don't understand why they have to wait until The Royal Rumble for these two to fight for the WWE Championship. Maybe it has to do with Rock's schedule, but do they really feel that The Rumble won't sell enough and they need Rock and Punk for The Rumble? What's wrong with Summerslam? Better yet, what's wrong with a Triple Threat between Rock, Punk, and Cena. Rock can still lose without having to get pinned and keep a bit of momentum.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Christian (c) vs The Miz


This was a pretty solid match. Back and forth action all around. There was nothing really spectacular about the match. It was just a solid wrestling match which crowned a NEW Champion? Let's be honest, when was the last time a title changed hands on RAW? This was a shocker. Miz wins the belt and declares that he is the IC Champion and he is AWESOME. I like this move for The Miz. He's been in mid-card limbo for quite sometime and this is the way to get back to main event status. If WWE books it right, Christian and Miz could have a pretty entertaining feud.

Brock Lesnar accepts Triple H's challenge for Summerslam


Triple H comes out in his DX shirt and now is all business. He calls out Lesnar, but gets Paul Heyman. Heyman says No to Triple H for his match with Lesnar at Summerslam. Triple H calls Heyman some names and Heyman talks about Triple H's family. Stephanie makes her way out and starts beating on Paul Heyman for bringing Family into this situation. Heyman then gets upset and then screams yes that Lesnar accepts the challenge for Summerslam. In the midst of all this, Brock Lesnar's music hits and he comes down to the ring. Triple H and Lesnar brawl for a little while, until The Game gets the upper hand and tosses Lesnar out of the ring. The Game stands tall in the ring as the fans pop and Lesnar is held back by Heyman.

Good segment. But to be honest, I forgot what Triple H and Brock Lesnar are even fighting about. This storyline has been in limbo and not even mentioned as much since Lesnar "broke" Triple H's arm. A refresher is in order because there is no flare to this feud other than it's Triple H vs Brock Lesnar.

Heath Slater vs WWE Legends


Heath Slater's run in with the WWE Legends came to an end with the return of.....Lita. As Hot as Lita was looking, I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting Stone Cold, but nonetheless, Lita looked good, but before the match started, she said she hired some "protection" and out came the APA (Faarooq and Bradshaw.) Slater hightails it up the ramp and is met by all the Legends that beat up on him the last few weeks.

Long story, short the Legends beat up on Slater, Ron Simmons did his "DAMN!" and everybody loved it. Well....I know I loved seeing all these past superstars in the ring. The Nostalgia was just great. I felt like it could've been done a little better, but this was a decent segment.

The Brothers of Destruction Reunite


Kane comes out and gets ready for a match, but the JOB Squad comes out. The JOB Squad led by........Jinder Mahal of all people. Him, Tyler Reks, Curt Hawkins, Hunico, Camacho and Drew McIntyre. They surround the ring and The Undertaker's Gong hits the arena!!! The crowd popped! Undertaker comes out sporting the same gear and haircut from WrestleMania. The Bros. of Destruction cleared house of the Jobbers including dual chokeslams and dual tombstone piledrivers! It was an AMAZING moment here. Granted it seemed meh, but seeing Taker and Kane together one more time was a great moment for me. I'm hoping these two battle it out one more time in the ring for WrestleMania. Great segment.

WWE Championship Match
CM Punk (c) vs John Cena

CM Punk and John Cena was the main event for the WWE Championship, but that isn't even close to the bigger story. I'll get to that in a second. Punk and Cena had a hard fought battle for the WWE Championship. It wasn't as good as their past battles like Money in the Bank and Summerslam from last year, but it was still a solid match. It just lacked a bit of a big match feel. The match was slow paced and it seemed to drag on at times, but still it was a good match.

Big Show comes out while the referee is out and knocks out John Cena. Big Show implores Punk to cover Cena. Punk thinks about it and covers him, but Cena gets up of course. Big Show is pissed, jumps in the ring and attacks Cena causing the DQ. Show is beating on Cena until The Rock comes out and makes the save. He lays Show out and sends him out of the ring. He turns around and Punk drops him with the GTS!

The fans had a bit of a mixed reaction and Punk looks down at The Rock. He takes his WWE Title and walks away as the fans start booing a little more now.

This caught me by surprise. There was word brewing about WWE wanting to do a HUGE Summer Angle and this is only the beginning. A new heel CM Punk is what need right now. Punk has been face for far too long and his face character has vastly changed from what it was last Fall, and not in a good way.




Overall, this was a pretty damn good RAW. A night filled with great nostalgia moments and great entertainment throughout. Sure the whole show wasn't perfect, but it was still a great show.

They set up A LOT of angles in this RAW. AJ as GM, Miz winning the IC Title, The Rock/CM Punk situation and the continuation of John Cena's chase for the WWE Championship because for some reason, Cena can never lose clean so he's obviously going to get another title shot.

I am worried about RAW going 3 hours from here on out. Remember what happened to WCW when they went 3 hours? They never recovered. This Monday, RAW won't have Brock Lesnar, The Rock, DX, and some Marriage Ceremony to eat up a good chunk of their show. They need to keep up this momentum. I feel like they can, but they're probably gonna use all the extra time for ridiculous social media plugging, or whatever instead of building up characters and progressing storylines which is what they should be doing.

WWE has a lot to prove by permanently going 3 hours. Hopefully things get interesting.



Feel free to Comment.



By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete