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Really though, what better way to celebrate 25 years of Raw than by giving the paying crowd 25 minutes of live content during a 3 1/2 hour show.
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Oooh, yeah.
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So glad I didn't waste my time watching this tonight. Seems like I made the right choice.
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I enjoyed it. But I think WWE has reached "peak nostalgia" because can you imagine trying to get people excited about current stars 25 years from now for RAW 50?
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I look forward to Austin with a walker stunning the skeleton of Vince.
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I'm looking forward to chunks breaking off and crumbling into the ocean.
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This is the only way wrestling draws emotion out of me these days, dammit.
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There should have been some XFL banners somewhere
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Actually, there should have been ICO PRO banners in the Manhattan Center.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">AAAAAAAAAND ANOTHER ONE! STONE COLD STUNNER! STONE COLD STUNNER! STONE COLD STUNNER!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RAW25?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RAW25</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/steveaustinBSR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@steveaustinBSR</a> <a href="https://t.co/K2WAQmuUEv">pic.twitter.com/K2WAQmuUEv</a></p>— WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/955611007191142400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> What in the fuck with that camera |
Kevin Dunn really needs to be given his severance package and sent on his way.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WOW! To keep people at the Manhattan Center they’re having DX and Balor Club watch from the ring haha. <a href="https://t.co/PDgOFM4BCB">pic.twitter.com/PDgOFM4BCB</a></p>— Big B (@BTuckerTorch) <a href="https://twitter.com/BTuckerTorch/status/955654557509419008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2018</a></blockquote>
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So is Finn Balor a heel now?
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Kind of have a feeling that the men's Rumble isn't going to close the show. I can see it being the Women's Rumble or even Brock's match.
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Undertaker's promo was him saying that if he beat you in the past you can now sleep.
No one can decipher anything from that. He might be retired, he might have gas, he might want some spaghetti. Who knows? |
In other words, "I'm still negotiating. If they pay me 3 million I might come to Mania"
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Is there a single person alive happy to see Taker these days?
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Even Michelle McCool probably groans when the deadman gets stiff.
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So Raw 25 was basically Raw 1000 all over again. Austin stunning McMahon. DX reuniting and the announcers acting as if it's the first time we've ever had the full DX roster with the New Age Outlaws and HBK etc. The same played out returns over and over. Some of the piped in pops were ridiculous. I don't believe for one second that Kelly Kelly or Brother Love are cared about that much to receive such pops.
Only five matches, with only two of them featuring any legit stars. So glad I skimmed through the highlights of this on the main page. Absolutely awful show by the sounds of it. |
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He can keep his shares. Just get him out of production.
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The flow could be considered worse than RAW 1000. They hooked me with Stone Cold and gave me a mini heart attack cutting to commercial during Razor Fuckin Ramon's entrance. |
Surprised at no appearance of Jake Roberts, Hogan was never gonna happen. Nash despite being in the poster for it said the plane ride after his operation would be torture and declined.
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Here's a final tally of what the Manhattan Center received:
-Mustafa Ali vs. Lince Dorado in about a 2 minute match wedged in during a commercial -A short Undertaker promo which made no sense -Akira Tozawa and Hideo Itami vs. Drew Gulak and Tony Nese, match went 2 minutes during commercial before they brawled backstage for a no contest. When the crowd chanted bullshit, they came back out and finished the match during the next commercial -A 5 minute Bray/Matt match that was no different at all from their last match before Hardy got woke, including Bray going over clean as a whistle -Jeff Hardy singing off-air -A random Miz promo -A terrible DX promo that the fed up crowd barely seemed to care about -A 2 minute Revival/Gallows and Anderson match that seemed more about a bunch of old guys burying the Revival at the end -Flair showing up randomly -Rollins attacking Miz to "send the crowd home happy" Beyond that, they had to watch over 2 hours of the Barclays show on a big screen. I realize that the original Manhattan Center Raws weren't exactly known for lengthy matches, but I don't think those fans were being charged $800 for front row. This may have been the biggest ripoff WWE have committed on an audience. |
Would have been so easy to make them happy too. Nothing much going on at the Barclays Centre, so why not have Revival/AJ Styles Vs. Balor Club or some shit. Hell, have Ricochet make a dark match debut against Nakamura or something. The only people paying that money were hardcore enough to know who the fuck he is.
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Exactly. The Manhattan Center crowd didn't NEED to see the Barclays stuff. They weren't attempting to tell a cohesive story all night. I figured they'd just basically get a house show that two or three times a night WWE switched over to for a live feed.
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Hell, I'd have thrown War Machine vs. Bludgeon Brothers on for the Manhattan Center. They'd have loved it.
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The old Raws not having long matches is not really relevant to giving paying customers what they want today. I hope each and every one of them asked for refunds.
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That was a strange show. it was like they put it together yesterday at 6pm est. thank god for Reigns/Miz. but even that i thought went shorter then it should have. that was a pretty big match and it was obvious they just wanted the belt off Reigns to get him to Mania.
I don't know, the whole show was awkward and poorly produced. |
kind of wished the Bullet Club with AJ beat the fuck out of DX to end the Manhattan Center part of the show
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I want a refund just for skimming through the videos on the news page. Bloody rip off.
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Looking back - While I have positive thoughts on Miz winning the IC Title, seeing Austin/Vince and the show ending w/ Braun instead of Roman...overall it was a bit of a disaster, one week after the best RAW I've seen in ages.
I'm not sure why they thought 5 matches split between 2 venues was a good way to please both crowds, but that's the 'E for ya. |
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If you think the nostalgia shows are bad now, I can't even imagine what they'll be like for the next big one which will be Raw's 1500th episode, Raw's 30th anniversary not long after that.
Yeah, sure...Randy Orton will be showing up to hit the RKO on a mouthy heel as a nostalgia pop, Daniel Bryan will be leading YES chants in backstage comedy skits, there'll be something there. But, where are the IRSes and the Koko B. Wares of this generation? The midcarders that would be instantly recognizable if they popped up in a Battle Royal ten years down the line - is anyone going to be nostalgic for a Curtis Axel cameo? As great a wrestler as he is, is Cesaro the kind of guy you can give a thirty second cameo after he's retired and get instant recognition? Beyond that, I think it's also the problem with the lack of roster turnover - particularly in the midcard - over the past ten years (compare the roster in WWE from 2013 to 2018, then look at the difference from, say, 2000 to 2005, or 1996 to 2000, or whatever), so there's very little to get nostalgic about when we've had Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler on TV for ten years straight. How can I miss you if you don't go away? It also doesn't help that WWE are intent on telling us, at every opportunity, how much better and more important the Attitude era crew are than the current roster. If they're going to make the current roster look like schmucks compared to the old-timers, we're still going to think they're schmucks once they're the old-timers. |
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Wait, I forgot MVP was there.
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Feel like they should have just did two shows and ran the Manhattan Center show on the Network. The Hardy/Wyatt match over there made sense as the gimmicks are representative of gimmicks of that time. Seems like there was alot of dead time over there though apart from the Taker and DX segments. Should have had a legends battle Royal for a spot in the Royal Rumble but that would have required them to bring in more guys that could have worked. Show overall wasn't all that good or well planned.
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The women used to be so much hotter in WWE. Crazy that all those women are mostly even hotter now.
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Miz and Daniel Bryan could main event a WM if they built it right.
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Roman's entrance for his match is edited out of the Hulu version. I guess he got booed pretty bad.
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Shawn looked horrible
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The DX shtick and nostalgia is horrible too
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The last time Triple H was seen he was a corporate suit and a heel. But "DX" is just a button he can press to magically become face for a night. It's so dumb.
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I am tired of seeing Triple H "perform" especially when he's talking to the "Universe".
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Oh god when Vince dies Triple H is gonna act like him and "receive" the praise of the Universe. And he'll do these quarterly promo's to "fire us up" and remind us "just how far we've come" and "just how far we've yet to go".
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Billy gun looks incredible holy shit. Clearly didn't run his piss through a doctor before showing up here.
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Good lord the years of drug abuse in the clique. And somehow Scott Hall looks better than everyone save Triple H.
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HBK looks so bad. He needs a big time image consultant to hit him up and do some work on his look, it's just really sad.
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Oh wow watching The Revival vs The Club in this Manhattan Center old school set up is totally like going back in time, amazing.
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With Jr. and King.... this good stuff.
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I think Finn Balor and The Club should turn heel around WM and take on Roman and Cena later in the year.
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Well the tag match was too short to mean anything.
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I hate the Balor Club name. Should become Bulletproof or just The Club again.
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As much as I love HBK and hate having to shit on him for any reason, that "WE AIN'T AS YOUNG AS WE USED TO BE, HARDY HAR HAR!" shtick he does every time he cuts a promo now is SOOOO bad. It's sadder to watch than current era Jerry Lawler on the mic.
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Eh, he's just following the scripts. Considering half the show was just a remake of Raw 1000, they rehashed a lot.
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cA_qpimgEi4" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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RAW ended up hitting its highest numbers in almost 3 years. First time in a while it swept the top spots for rankings, all hours were 4+ million, and a massive increase for yearly comparisons.
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Imagine getting that audience at your fingertips for a special event, then presenting that show to try and get them to stick around next week.
Woof. |
Listening to a Wade Keller clip and brought up the theory that WWE didn't want to do too much from the Manhattan Center on TV because it would make people clicking over think WWE is "small time". Considering how WWE comes off as the most insecure company imaginable at times, I can see that being the case. It's still funny that they did a 2 arena show and didn't plan it out better though.
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I don't know whether the ratings news is good or bad for the WWE. Is it bad that so many people who gave them a(nother) chance saw such a crappy show? Or is it good that their expectations are going to be low going forward?
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Well, they went over 6 million with a much better Raw 1000 show in 2012 and we see how well they did at keeping those people around.
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It does show that there is still an audience that enjoys WWE and wants to like it and watch it, but that what they serve up every week just isn't good enough.
Good, exciting TV and those fans are willing to come back I would bet. I am certainly one of them |
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If you were not really a fan but watched last night what would make you want to stick around and continue to watch?
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Quote from a TPWW "When did you get hooked on wrestling?" thread 20 years from now: "It was the night of the Raw 25th anniversary show. I saw it advertised and tuned in halfway through to see a Titus Worldwide vs Slater and Rhyno match. NEVER LOOKED BACK."
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Good - WWE can uses this during the bidding wars for the next tv contract to show they have a lot larger pool of viewers than their weekly numbers suggest. Also people are still very interested in past stars which is why WWE still loves to trot them around, especially for Mania. Bad - WWE likely blew their biggest chance in years to keep those viewers with how terrible the show was in general. Also bad the WWE could end looking at these numbers and think more focus on part-timers is the solution to their problems. |
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Slater-Gator was the best Titus has ever been.
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CBS needs a grammar lesson because that makes me think Austin won and stunnered Vince and Taker and whoever Two Sweet is |
As a WWE fan, this show pissed me entirely the fuck off.
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But I still have a Royal Rumble ticket, so I guess I'll see those assholes in Philly.
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RAW was pretty shitty this week (outside of Austin/Vince) but I think the Royal Rumble will be good.
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Honestly, the shitty Raw may be an added incentive to make the Rumble even BETTER. [/WISHFULTHINKING]
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I found it quite odd that they went out of their way to announce that The Miz was in the Rumble, but not Roman despite the fact they were in the process of having a match against one another. Last year it made sense for Roman not to be announced since he was in the Universal Title match earlier in the show, but this year they're just totally downplaying him being involved at all which has me nervous that he's actually going to win.
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:| Apparently the main reason why RAW 25 was a mess was due to Jimmy Fallon being late to the arena and WWE having a sizeable chunk of the show revolve around him.
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I'm not sure if knowing that makes it better or worse. I've always hated Jimmy Fallon anyway.
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I'm sure Fallon had a very full day prior to Raw
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Hmm and I thought it was smart of WWE to only show him in the crowd, didn't realize their plans were different.
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If the 25th anniversary of RAW would have revolved around Jimmy Fallon that would have made the show even worse.
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The opening McMahon/Austin segment was actually entertaining.
The segment with Angle & Co. seemed a bit weird and like it had no real purpose. It was basically "look at all these guys you haven't seen in a while! Remember them?". The Undertaker promo was also a bit weird. What was that all about? I was pretty happy to see Big Johnny and seeing Regal just reminded me of how much I enjoyed his (depressingly) short run as GM. As for Bischoff, he's beginning to look his age. I'm so happy Miz won the title. Reigns did absolutely nothing for that title. The Miz has shown that he can make people care about The Intercontinental Championship and make it interesting. However, with Regins dropping the title, it just means he's much more likely to with the Royal Rumble match and then win the Universal Championship at WrestleMania. I was pretty surprised to see MVP. I actually wouldn't mind seeing him make a return. I get the feeling that The Peep Show was a replacement for The Cutting Edge as Edge couldn't make it. Ric Flair is looking old as shit these days. I'm happy he's still alive though. That's always good. I never really cared for the whole Wyatt/Hardy thing but hopefully this is the end of it. It's served its purpose in changing Hardy. Hardy and pretty much everything about it sucked. They were pretty damn generous with their use of "some of the greatest female superstars of all time" when you see The Bellas, Kelly Kelly and even Maria there. Terri was a big surprise however and no Lita was another big surprise. Also, God Damn how great does Torrie Wilson look? She must have drank that water that Lita and Beth Phoenix drank during their time there. She looks amazing. As for Trish, she's like Bischoff, in that she's beginning to look her age. I found it Hugh Morris that they actually blacked out Johnny Cash's finger on Elias' shirt. Why even wear it if it's going to be censored? I've never really been into Elias since he debuted but I'll try and see what he's all about if his altercation with Cena leads to something between the two. The Slater/Dudleys & Co. segment made no sense. Also, what the fuck is "Dilly Dilly"? Oh, DX. Cool. I guess. The match (which surprisingly was the main event) was a bit rubbish and I'm not really a fan Triple H being all chummy and smarky with Bαlor. In fact, I don't really like it when Triple H is like that with anyone, but he seems to do it a hell of a lot. The show overall was pretty much just "look at all these guys you haven't seen in a while! Remember them?", just like the Angle & Co. segment. It was just a pretty bad show. Especially when it comes to The Manhattan Center. I really thought they would have used it more but all we got was two two minute matches and two weird promos. What was the point of booking The Manhattan Center? I think this Raw was probably the worst "special" the WWE has ever done. It's certainly a strong contender anyway. |
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