This post is to keep readers up to date with every RAW History of WWE Project post. the posts so far are.
RAW History of WWE: Introduction
RAW History of WWE: Royal Rumble 1993
RAW History of WWE: RAW Episode 10
WWE Opinions
RAW History of WWE: Episode 2
Welcome to the second instalment of our journey through the history of WWE from the start of Monday Night RAW. You can read the first instalment here .
Champions
WWE World Champion Bret Hart (1st Reign)
Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels (1st Reign)
Tag Team Champions Money inc. Ted DiBiase (2nd Reign) Irwin R. Schyster (4th Reign)
This episode opens with Randy Savage on commentary being attacked by Repo Man and his hat being stolen, sounds goofy yes but that was WWE in 1993. Later Savage challenges Repo Man to a match which will be covered in the next instalment.
The first match is Mr Perfect vs Terry Taylor, as you would expect these two deliver a great match. The match also has interference form Ric Flair who attacks Perfect adding fuel to their feud since Survivor Series 1992. Despite this Perfect picks up the win. After the match Bret Hart cuts a promo on Razor Ramon ahead of their Royal Rumble match, in which Hart declares 78 year old Stu Hart could take on Ramon.
The next match is Marty Jannety vs Glenn Ruth, as expected this match is so that Jannetty looks strong heading into his Intercontinental Title match against Shawn Michaels. Michaels calls into RAW via phone for this match to act as hype for the match at the Rumble. This is the only two angles given any real hype outside the Royal Rumble segments hosted by Gene Okerlund. Events regarding Doink and Crush from Superstars is shown to keep building on the feud.
The final match is Tito Santana vs Ric Flair, again this a is a very good match that both wrestlers use to show off their abilities. The match ends in a no contest when Mr Perfect interferes leading to a brawl between him and Flair. This brawl continues until the end of the show, where after being separated Flair challenges Perfect to a Loser Leaves the WWF match next week, which Perfect accepts. The show ends with Repo Man wearing Savage’s hat repossessing announcer Rob Bartlett’s car.
Despite the cheesiness of the Repo Man angle this is a very enjoyable episode of RAW with two great matches that are hidden gems in the early years of RAW. Join us next time when we examine Royal Rumble 1993.
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RAW History of WWE: Episode 1
Champions
WWE World Champion Bret Hart (1st Reign)
Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels (1st Reign)
Tag Team Champions Money inc. Ted DiBiase (2nd Reign) Irwin R. Schyster (4th Reign)
Episode 1 of Monday Night RAW has little in terms of story happening in it despite a pay-per-view being two weeks off when it first airs. The first match is Koko B. Ware against Yokozuna, this is a squash match literally, Koko gets crushed by Yokozuna three times before finally being pinned. While it may seem strange to start a new show with a squash match before the Monday Night Wars it was a rarer sight to see matches with an uncertain outcome with the big names dominating jobbers or lower level talent constantly with the odd big match. This squash match serves a purpose as it furthers Yokozuna as unstoppable and builds up his momentum for the coming months of dominance he would enjoy.
The next match was a tag-team match with The Steiner Brothers against The Executioners. Many modern wrestling fans dismiss this period and before as being a barer duller version of modern wrestling, this is not the case . While there was not as much bouncing around of smaller wrestlers as seen today teams like the Steiners made wrestling in one of its slump periods a a great treat. While it is another squash match the finisher of the Steiners bulldog from the top rope is always a treat and as a team the two brothers always were great athletes who deliver a great performance in their WWE career.
In between the next lot of matches is an interview with Razor Ramon about his building feud with Bret Hart ahead of their match for the WWE Title. This is the only real build for the Royal Rumble this seems strange again for modern fans who are used to twelve pay-per-views at least but this was commonplace again as with only five a year you had to look further than a month ahead. The angle is good and is a great promo from Razor Ramon who was an integral part of the early years of RAW.
The next match is an Intercontinental Title match between Shawn Michaels and Max Moon. Max Moon is better known as Mexican wrestler Konnan and these two put on a great match. The match is full of the high speed that we are used to in the modern product and is to be expected from these two competitors. Reference is made to Michaels’ upcoming title defence at the Rumble but no run ins as would become the norm in later years just discussion. For a time when lower talent would lose drastically to champions this match is a welcome change.
The final match is The Undertaker against Damien Demento again a squash match that Undertaker dominates showing his great ability. It also highlights how terrible it is that Undertaker was earmarked for monster opponents during this era as his ability shines throughout the match.
The show ends with a promo from Doink the Clown who is interrupted by Crush who chases him off. This is a sign of things to come as these two would face each other at Wrestlemania showing how long angles would last in 1993. This RAW showed a lot of promise of what was to come as WWE sought to move past the Hogan era.
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RAW History of WWE: Introduction
The WWE Examiner would like to announce the first of a series of new exciting project. The first of these is a chronicle of the history of the flagship show of WWE RAW. by using the WWE Network the Examiner will show what RAW was like in 1993 to 2005 where RAW is being currently uploaded to with minimal interruptions and beyond.
To do this the WWE Examiner will look at RAW and all available B shows such as Smackdown, yes all shows are not on the network and if we pass a year with only Raw and later that show is uploaded we will revisit the year with this new show. Pay-per-views will also be included as RAW and pay-per-views have always gone together. Once 1995 arrives the second Network project will begin titled the Monday Night War Journal Chronicling WCW Nitro and other available shows and ECW a they were a key player in the war in many ways and the same rules apply for them as they do for the RAW project.
This project shall begin in the coming days and also stay tuned for other projects as they become possible to do on the Network.
Upload Update: RAW Uploads Near Conclusion
This week saw what was a promising week of uploads grind to a near halt as the week concluded. As the week began we got large chunks taken out of the 2002 and 2003 RAW episodes to the point that it would have been safe to say they would be finished by the end of the week. However, there were hardly any on Thursday and none on Friday. As of writing there are 19 episodes combined of RAW from 2002 and 2003 meaning it is (hopefully) safe to say that they will all be finished by the end of the week. In an ideal world we would be seeing what the next next batch of uploads would be by Friday. Monday’s have been unusually quiet for uploads besides scheduled things, but they were used to finish up the ECW uploads last month so maybe we will have a large scale upload to start the week.
The question that is getting hotter as we are in a new month and as these uploads conclude is what is next? It seems the Network is going by an A shows first policy as we have only had Nitro uploads and no Thunder and it seems possible that the same policy as being adhered to for Raw and Smackdown. The only Smackdown we got in quantity was during Brocktober and only because it was relevant to Lesnar. It sadly seems that we will be waiting a while for Smackdown as there are at least another 3 uploads of Raw before completion going by their patterns which may mean an even longer wait for fans of Heat, Velocity and Shotgun Saturday Night. While we have got B shows of shows like ECW and Mid South this was all under the same category banner on the Network as for some reason they are seen as being the same or not long enough or enough episodes to warrant its own category
Other possibilities for uploads are the Freebirds related upload of WCCW while Texas and Wrestlemania is still fresh in our minds. Though this may be pushed back again due to Sting’s retirement. If the plan is for a Sting upload the options are the end of Nitro or the next World Championship Wresting upload which would go through aspects like Sting’s first Starrcade and his broadway with Flair at the first Clash of the Champions. Of course if they were going with Sting they could go out of left field and do the Sting related upload of Mid -South that was named in the survey that included most of the uploads we have gotten so far and the Freebirds upload.
Other Network related news involves a rumour that popped up of WWE buying more tape libraries including two foreign ones in particular. Rumours have abounded with All Japan being a firm favourite due to its ties to so many Hall of Famers and World of Sport in England. Nothing concrete but the buying was to start after Wrestlemania so it is still early days and any further news will be reported on as it comes to light.
New month means new collections this month we only got two a DX one and a Swerved one looking back on season one. No word of any further collections and considering the WWE reported on them it does not look likely unless something is moved up or something topical happens.
The Week That Was in WWE 6-13 March
This week saw the build up for the WWE Roadblock event on Saturday. However, as the week progressed it became clear that Roadblock was not the only interesting thing that was happening in the week. From Raw to Roadblock the week was a very interesting one starting with Raw.
Raw opened with Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon, it was a good opener that involved Vince smashing a photo of him and Shane as a child before sicking security on Shane who destroyed them, literally. Obviously this segment was meant to show that Shane is a worthy adversary for Undertaker and if his brief attack on security as anything to go by he is more than ready.
In Singles action the night started off with Kevin Owens and Neville, since their NXT days these two have put on excellent matches and this was nor exception and came with a twist. As Owens attacked Neville post match Sami Zayn appeared making the save. While this would seem to point toward a Zayn/Owens match at Wrestlemania, I cannot help but hope for a triple threat between Neviile, Zayn and Owens considering they are three of NXT’s most iconic stars in the promotions history. Before Raw there was some rumoured controversy involving Dolph Ziggler possibly being asked to remove a tweet insulting the Authority, however it came to nothing but a plot device to put Zigller in a three on one handicap match against The League of Nation minus Del Rio. The only member eliminated was Barrett so who could blame him wanting to leave. Kalisto fought Tyler Breeze in a very entertaining match which shows Breeze deserves to be more than a named jobber. Speaking of Breeze there are rumours of unease in the NXT roster over Breeze’s treatment on the main roster and stars apparently wondering should they mover up or stay big draws on NXT for life. This is coming on the heels of Vince McMahon apparently viewing NXT wrestlers as not draws and more of a touring company, again it could be internet hearsay but it seems like a pro-big wrestler Vince McMahon thing to say for a promotion that has a lot of low 200 pound wrestlers as top stars. Kalisto also was in a backstage piece with Ryback seeming to hint at Ryback being his opponent at Wrestlemania. Ryback is a wrestler that has certainly improved and deserved a continued push following his Intercontinental Title Reign last year. Ryback also had a match with Curtis Axel, the entire Social Outcasts need a title, eve the J.O.B Squad had a title. The main event was Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt which ended after a run in from Triple H who Ambrose layed out.
In Divas action Summer Rae defeated Brie Bella, after which Lana attacked Brie in what is a weird feud that hopefully will not make it to Wrestlemania. The interesting thing about this match is it marks the second defeat of a former Divas Champion by Summer Rae in a couple of months, could it be possible that she is on the verge of a push? The other Divas match was Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks against Tamina and Naomi, these four have prove that a Diva’s tag title at this stage is an excellent idea and would allow more Diva’s a chance in the spotlight at the same time.
One Tag-Team match for the Tag-Titles held by New Day against Jericho and Styles wrestling as Y2AJ. The match was excellent definitely the highlight of Raw. The ending was perfect where after defeat Jericho turned on Styles which will probably see a match at Wrestlemania.
On NXT only one match and it was a humdinger. Sami Zayn against Samoa Joe in a 2 out of 3 Falls match. The match was everything that is right with NXT from beginning to end and a strong contender for match of the year and it is only March. Joe won so will face Finn Balor at Takeover and it was also announced that Austin Aries will face Baron Corbin at Takeover, all the matches are already known but these are the first two to be officially confirmed.
Smackdown opened with a confrontation between Owens and Zayn on Miz TV leading to Neville saving Zayn from a beatdown from Miz and Owens. This led to a tag-team match between the two groups.
It was a very tag-team heavy card as besides this great match where Zayn and Neville proved that they would make a formidable tag-team and Owens left Miz alone costing them the match. There was also a League of Nations win over the Lucha Dragons obviously to hype them as contenders for New Day ahead of Roadblock. The Main Event was Ambrose Ziggler and the Usos against the Wyatts who lost, after such a big build in their feud against the Dudleys it is weird to see them lose nearly every week now.
Only other match was Brie Bella beating Summer Rae which seems to imply Summer’s involvement in the Lana and Brie feudas Lana attacked Brie again after the match.
Smackdown also had an excellent promo from Chris Jericho who burnt a Y2AJ shirt and was definitely the highlight of the night.
Roadblock like the last Network specials was interesting as it is essentially a house shiw but televised but this one felt special. In singles we had a Anti-Canada Chris Jericho face Jack Swagger so a confused Canadian crowd opted to cheer for the absent AJ Styles instead. Brock Lesnar took on Harper and Bray which was a very interesting match, not a hand was lain on Bray and Harper put up a hell of a fight. It was made clear that they are saving Bray for something big, maybe interfering in Brock’s Wrestlemania match with Dean Ambrose? Zayn faced Stardust in a weird pairing that worked so well the match was pitch perfect, Zayn is seemingly headed for a push but Stardust certainly proved he deserves one. The Main Event was a great match Triple H beat Ambrose but not after a close call where it seemed Ambrose won and the crowd went wild. It was predictable ending but it was a great match.
There was an excellent Diva’s match between Charlotte and Natalya, again the match proved just how much of a push Natalya deserves if she can put on a match like she did with Charlotte. It hearkened back to one of their matches at one of the first NXT Takeovers which is already considered a classic before it is not even two years old.
Two Tag Title matches one with the New Day and The League of Nations, no surprise for New Day getting the win. With their lengthy reign Kofi Kingston now almost has the most number of combined days as champion for that belt for a random fact. The other match is the match to watch the show for The Revival vs Enzo and Big Cass. The match was a classic from beginning to end and was a great showcase of the high calibre of tag-teams that NXT has to offer.
In other news Big Boss Man is going into the Hall of Fame, an interesting choice as he was not expected and was not among the rumoured and another one that has emerged as a possibility this year is Stan Hansen and Jacqueline also after a WWE Magazine that was published listing them.
With all the developments this week it seems that the final few weeks before Wrestlemania will certainly be interesting ones and will keep everyone guessing.
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Are WWE Network Live Specials Attempt at Modern Day Revival of Saturday Night’s Main Event
With Fastlane a week away WWE fans have over a month to then wait for Wrestlemania. This may seem to be a very long wait, however, the WWE Network is due in March another live special called March to Wrestlemania. These specials have been very interesting in the past, the first one on particular gained a lot of praise as we saw Finn Balor win the NXT title in Japan. The second from Madison Square Garden saw Lesnar take on Big Show and Seth Rollins and John Cena fight in a cage match. These events are very good at giving us matches that we would not normally see on Raw or Smackdown, both stipulations and title matches make these shows special and harken back to the old days of supercards and shows like Saturday Night’s Main Event.
The format of these shows seem to echo the old Saturday Nights a lot. The WWE did make an attempt of reviving that show ten years ago but it soon faded again. These live Network specials seem to be a way of bringing back those old forms of cards, without actaully calling them by the much loved show. March to Wrestlemania even acts like an old fashioned bridge between pay-per-views as Saturday Night did as did WCW’s Clash of Champions.
The fact is that we may never see a revival of Saturday Night’s Main Event or Clash of Champions called as such, however this is the closest thing in the modern era to those much loved shows. These shows should be made to be special and also completely different from regular pay-per-views and hopefully March to Wrestlemania will mark out how future specials will go.
The WWE Examiner will have a review of Fastlane.March to Wrestlemania and all future WWE pay-per-views and specials.
Is NXT Stars Going To WWE Roster Really a Promotion?
NXT is one of the best things that the WWE have done in a long time, the fans are loyal and passionate and talent that would not traditionally get a push or even a chance now find themselves getting those opportunities. The chance these stars are essentially getting is that if they prove popular they will be upgraded to the main roster for even more opportunities as they are the future. However, there is a flaw in that so many of these stars due to lack of opportunities end up floundering on the main roster or returning to NXT to ‘revive’ their careers. These actions symbolise what happened with another company that ended acting as a feeder for WWE and WCW, ECW.
It was seen throughout the renegade’s promotion tenure top stars that were worthy of world titles in bigger promotions, only to flounder in WWE, WCW or both. The same is happening in NXT top champions such as Neville and The Ascencion, who hold the longest reigns of the NXT and tag-team titles respectively have received no chance after their initial push because interest is lost in them. We as fans want to see stars like Finn Balor, Enzo and Cass and Bayley enter the ‘Big Leagues’ when in reality some of them will be lost in the shuffle.
While we have seen breakout stars from NXT like Seth Rollins, Charlotte and Kalisto, there have been far more than the list that WWE cites as successes who have ether just petered out or fallen out of favour. The WWE needs to begin to push all the NXT stars especially as we see the major stars like Cena and Orton getting injured and getting to the point where winding down is inevitable. WWE always cites WCW as a failure in their history, however, they risk repeating one of WCW’ major mistakes, giving only chances to the older stars.
One solution to this problem is to introduce more titles at least a secondary Divas, Cruiserweight or Tag-Team title. This would allow these NXT stars if not the chance to win a belt the chance to chase these belts. Yes it takes away the novelty if belts are diluted but with an ever rowing roster due to NXT this is one of the easiest ways to give these stars a major push.
It is clear that the WWE needs to something more to sell the fact that these stars have the potential to make it in WWE. Talent wise they do but in a world where Vince McMahon gets easily bored or offended, these stars need to know they are guaranteed a major push once they have departed form the safety of NXT.
Forget a Divas Revolution We Are Sitting On A Tag-Team Revolution
Love it or hate it you cannot deny that the Divas Revolution if repetitive and stagnated by the end did an excellent job of highlighting the excellent women’s division of NXT. The NXT Women involved in the angle are now ether champions or in the championship picture for the Divas Title just to highlight the positive effect it had on a division that was not being taken as seriously as it should. Look now to the tag-teams of the main roster, like the Divas only a handful of the teams or competitors are making impact. Dominant NXT teams such as The Ascension despite initial push are now stagnated with few appearances on Raw and Smackdown. That is why looking at NXT is so important for another revolution or revival.
The amount of pure talent in the Tag-Team division is so obvious that Corey Graves has named it the tag-team revival, these teams seem permanent and there too many too mention from Enzo and Big Cass to Dash and Dawson the division is a treat to watch. With so much talent sending the top teams to challenge for Gold at once could work, Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch arrived at the same time and are now staples of their division, so sending two or three teams at once could lead to turning the WWE tag-team division on its head.
The only tag-team consisting of all new champions in the last year was the Prime Time Players. The division is stagnating familiar faces are the majority if the champions and this leaves little room for the newer promising teams. An injection of tag-team talent not only gives young, hungry talent a chance in ‘The Big Leagues’ but also leaves room in NXT for new teams to shine in a division that is getting crowded very quickly.
NXT always has to worry about losing big names to WWE at some point but holding onto talent at the same time is damaging to the division. If enough talent is thrown at WWE it can’t all get lost and opens the door for the talent that has been discarded so carelessly after an attempt at a push.
The Strangeness of Titus O’Neil’s Suspension
The hot topic of the WWE at the moment is the suspension of former Tag-Team Champion Titus O’Neil. The reason for this suspension is grabbing Vince McMahon’s arm after the celebrations for Daniel Bryan’s retirement, which can be seen on the video and McMahon looks less than impressed. However, the suspension which is between 60 and 90 days depending on the source seems unnecessary for something relatively minor. Admittedly grabbing your bosses arm after a touching moment involving a co-worker’s retirement may not have been the best idea but the punishment does not fit the crime.
It seems that something more is up than grabbing an arm, it is an especially harrsh punishment especially for such a high profile face for the company as Titus O’Neil. Titus is known for his charity work and his accomplishments and awards are regularly brought up on Raw, he was also up for a Slammy for charitable acts by wrestlers. It seems that WWE feel he has done more than this that we do not know about. As well as this in the past something as trivial as this usually results in lack of push or losing more often than usual.
The fact that Titus is suspended shows that ether Vince McMahon is more of an egomaniac ten we all first thought and is showing that he is losing his grip on reality when it comes to his wrestlers or there is something that we are not being told about. Whatever the case as more comes to light the WWE Examiner will report on it.
The WWE Examiner 