Wrestling Review
By: Tim Copeland

This week we take a look at the much anticipated RAW25!

Wow!

It's hard for me to process that it has been twenty-five years since I was a 9 year old boy, that cheered the likes of Max Moon (hey, I was nine). I feel pretty fortunate, to have lived in an age where I could witness firsthand the evolution RAW, and has had experienced the spectacle for the last twenty-five years.

If you are fortunate to have access to the U.S. version of the WWE Network, you too, can relive these awesome moments in the past quarter of a century. Personally, I think 1997 is an overlooked year for fantastic RAW programming, but I'll save that for another time and another article. So needless to say, I was really excited to sit down and watch RAW25!

I'm pleased to say that I was not disappointed!

While I know a lot of people took to social media to express confusion over the show, I myself enjoyed the program from start to finish. The only part I found a bit clunky, was the back and forth broadcasts between the Manhattan Center (where RAW's first episode took place) and the Barclays Center about 8 miles up the road in Brooklyn.

I would have had liked to seen the entire show that was broadcast solely from the Manhattan Center, but I understand the economics behind their decision. While there where some decisions made I would have changed (c'mon, how can you have Marlena on RAW and not have her accompanied by Goldust).

I found that the booking for the show to be very well done, and quite thought out. The Miz vs Roman Reigns was just fantastic! Holy cow! Was I surprised (and everyone else watching for that matter) to see the Miz win the championship match clean! Another thing worth noting was the Undertaker segment, while it was cool to see a throwback to his original RAW entrance, I felt that a little more thought could have been put into his promo. Because, I haven't been that bored by The Undertaker Promo, since he rambled on about him and the Big Show riding Harleys through the desert way back in 1999.

My only real complaint about the program, was how quickly they cut to commercial during Razor Ramon's return. Seriously! You couldn't have put that ad in another segment; aside from that, it was great to see Scott Hall back on RAW and most importantly looking healthy and having fun!

So kudos WWE for a great show, it was the first RAW I've enjoyed in quite some time!