A Retrospective Look at Monday Night Raw 3/26/2001

XL · 11-14-2016, 01:54 PM

With the recent rumours of Vince buying TNA I went back and watched Monday Night Raw from March 26th, 2001.

This was the episode that simulcast with the last ever Nitro, with Vince having purchased WCW 3 days earlier.

Everybody remembers the "The very future of WCW rests in my hands" line, and Shane turning up in Panama City to declare he had purchased the company from under his father's nose, but do you remember this show happened only 6 days before WrestleMania X7, and what happened between the Vince/WCW segments?

I also thought it'd be interesting to look at the show through modern eyes; what would work in today's era, and what would the IWC shit all over.

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After Vince opened the show Kurt Angle came to the ring to cut a promo about not having an opponent at Mania. Chris Benoit interupted the Olympic Gold Medalist and arranged a match for the "Showcase of the Immortals".

Modern Thoughts: Kurt was the WWE Champion only a month earlier, it's shocking that just 6 days before the event he wasn't already booked into a match. It really devalued being champion/Kurt is being buried.

Ahead of the 6 Man Tag Match pitting Tazz & The APA VS. Right To Censor, Tazz defeated Val Venis in a Lumberjack Match in an action-packed 52 seconds.

Modern Thoughts: The entrances for the match lasted 38 seconds longer than the match itself. How is anyone supposed to get over in that time?

Advert for the upcoming XFL game.

Modern Thoughts: HA!

The Classic WrestleMania WrestleMania Moment segment opened with a quick video package showing Savage dropping the elbow on DiBiase at Mania 4, Hogan slamming Andre at WM3, and Shawn Michaels' splash from the ladder at 10. This week's moment? Pete Rose getting choke slammed by Kane, and receiving the Stink Face from Rikishi one year prior.

Modern Thought: Don't think I need to say anything here.

William Regal defeated Crash Holly (w/ Molly Holly) by DQ (0:28). Regal actually challenged Molly to a match before putting a beating on the female Holly cousin. Crash then attacked Regal (which started a new match!?) before Jericho (dressed as Doink) attacked the then-WWF Commissioner causing the DQ.

Modern Thoughts: Male-on-female violence!!! Really confusing; The match between Molly and Regal should have ended when Crash got involved, but the bell rang when Jericho got involved in the non-match between Crash and Regal. Second match of the night to involve interference (after Steven Richards got involved in the opening match). The Jericho thing was pretty cool though.

After the Vince-Shane simulcast Chris Benoit & The Hardy Boyz (Jeff & Matt Hardy) (w/ Lita) defeated Team ECK (Christian, Edge & Kurt Angle) (2:20) when Christian tapped out to the Crippler Crossface. Rhyno made his presence known after the Mach, first Goring Matt, then delivering the move to Lita.

Modern Thoughts: Third match of the night where the entrances lasted longer than the match. More male-on-female violence. Yay!

X-Pac (w/ Albert) defeated Test (with special referee Eddie Guerrero) (3:37)

Modern Thoughts: First match of the night where the match time outlasted the entrances (by 1 minute 25 seconds) and it featured X-PAC! Another dirty finish (Albert interfered)

The Big Show defeated Chris Jericho (2:42) in a match that featured interference from Kane, Raven, and William Regal.

Modern Thoughts: More interference!! The Intercontinental Champion shouldn't be losing to a Hardcore Championship contender a week before a title defence at the biggest show of the year

Steve Austin & The Rock (w/ Debra) defeated The Brothers of Destruction (4:46) due to a chair shot assist from HHH.

Modern Thoughts: MORE INTERFERENCE!!!

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Overall Thoughts

This show gave us a total 13 minutes 25 seconds of bell-to-bell action in a show lasting 1:41:38. The current product gives us far more in-ring action and I feel like his should be a positive of the modern product...but I don't. The long matches fail to hold my interest, and the frenetic pace of the product made the show fly by. I can't help but think that featuring more people for less time each week would have helped the product without having to split the roster.

Paul Heyman was fantastic on commentary. Lillian Garcia was an awful announcer.

**The CyNick** · 11-16-2016, 04:41 PM

People on here at the time were complaining that matches were too short and EVENTUALLY fans will turn away.

To me the product is better now as a means of making money. However, it did feel more exciting in the late 90s. But even with the crazy TV ratings, advertisers looked at negatively at the makeup of the audience. It's taken a lot of work and some bold moves, but now the smaller audience is seen in a more positive light.

The one thing I remember about that show was how sad it was that WCW was running that venue. I think that angle would have played so much better if they were in a traditional WCW city in an actual arena. A whole bunch of things worked against WWE with that angle.

11-14-2016, 01:54 PM	#1
XL Feeling Oof-y Posts: 17,136	A Retrospective Look at Monday Night Raw 3/26/2001 With the recent rumours of Vince buying TNA I went back and watched Monday Night Raw from March 26th, 2001. This was the episode that simulcast with the last ever Nitro, with Vince having purchased WCW 3 days earlier. Everybody remembers the "The very future of WCW rests in my hands" line, and Shane turning up in Panama City to declare he had purchased the company from under his father's nose, but do you remember this show happened only 6 days before WrestleMania X7, and what happened between the Vince/WCW segments? I also thought it'd be interesting to look at the show through modern eyes; what would work in today's era, and what would the IWC shit all over. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After Vince opened the show Kurt Angle came to the ring to cut a promo about not having an opponent at Mania. Chris Benoit interupted the Olympic Gold Medalist and arranged a match for the "Showcase of the Immortals". Modern Thoughts: Kurt was the WWE Champion only a month earlier, it's shocking that just 6 days before the event he wasn't already booked into a match. It really devalued being champion/Kurt is being buried. Ahead of the 6 Man Tag Match pitting Tazz & The APA VS. Right To Censor, Tazz defeated Val Venis in a Lumberjack Match in an action-packed 52 seconds. Modern Thoughts: The entrances for the match lasted 38 seconds longer than the match itself. How is anyone supposed to get over in that time? Advert for the upcoming XFL game. Modern Thoughts: HA! The Classic WrestleMania WrestleMania Moment segment opened with a quick video package showing Savage dropping the elbow on DiBiase at Mania 4, Hogan slamming Andre at WM3, and Shawn Michaels' splash from the ladder at 10. This week's moment? Pete Rose getting choke slammed by Kane, and receiving the Stink Face from Rikishi one year prior. Modern Thought: Don't think I need to say anything here. William Regal defeated Crash Holly (w/ Molly Holly) by DQ (0:28). Regal actually challenged Molly to a match before putting a beating on the female Holly cousin. Crash then attacked Regal (which started a new match!?) before Jericho (dressed as Doink) attacked the then-WWF Commissioner causing the DQ. Modern Thoughts: Male-on-female violence!!! Really confusing; The match between Molly and Regal should have ended when Crash got involved, but the bell rang when Jericho got involved in the non-match between Crash and Regal. Second match of the night to involve interference (after Steven Richards got involved in the opening match). The Jericho thing was pretty cool though. After the Vince-Shane simulcast Chris Benoit & The Hardy Boyz (Jeff & Matt Hardy) (w/ Lita) defeated Team ECK (Christian, Edge & Kurt Angle) (2:20) when Christian tapped out to the Crippler Crossface. Rhyno made his presence known after the Mach, first Goring Matt, then delivering the move to Lita. Modern Thoughts: Third match of the night where the entrances lasted longer than the match. More male-on-female violence. Yay! X-Pac (w/ Albert) defeated Test (with special referee Eddie Guerrero) (3:37) Modern Thoughts: First match of the night where the match time outlasted the entrances (by 1 minute 25 seconds) and it featured X-PAC! Another dirty finish (Albert interfered) The Big Show defeated Chris Jericho (2:42) in a match that featured interference from Kane, Raven, and William Regal. Modern Thoughts: More interference!! The Intercontinental Champion shouldn't be losing to a Hardcore Championship contender a week before a title defence at the biggest show of the year Steve Austin & The Rock (w/ Debra) defeated The Brothers of Destruction (4:46) due to a chair shot assist from HHH. Modern Thoughts: MORE INTERFERENCE!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Overall Thoughts This show gave us a total 13 minutes 25 seconds of bell-to-bell action in a show lasting 1:41:38. The current product gives us far more in-ring action and I feel like his should be a positive of the modern product...but I don't. The long matches fail to hold my interest, and the frenetic pace of the product made the show fly by. I can't help but think that featuring more people for less time each week would have helped the product without having to split the roster. Paul Heyman was fantastic on commentary. Lillian Garcia was an awful announcer.

11-16-2016, 04:41 PM	#2
The CyNick Make the IWC Great Again Posts: 8,922	People on here at the time were complaining that matches were too short and EVENTUALLY fans will turn away. To me the product is better now as a means of making money. However, it did feel more exciting in the late 90s. But even with the crazy TV ratings, advertisers looked at negatively at the makeup of the audience. It's taken a lot of work and some bold moves, but now the smaller audience is seen in a more positive light. The one thing I remember about that show was how sad it was that WCW was running that venue. I think that angle would have played so much better if they were in a traditional WCW city in an actual arena. A whole bunch of things worked against WWE with that angle.