The Raw Reunion dominated most of WWE Monday Night Raw for this week and things got weird.
As one of the USA Network’s attempts to revive Monday Night Raw‘s struggling ratings, it suggested a “reunion” show, featuring some of WWE’s most well-known Superstars. Thus was the theme of this week’s edition of Raw, serving as a speed bump of sorts as the company also works to build toward August’s SummerSlam.
The Raw Reunion featured a litany of blasts from the past, some who don’t frequently appear on WWE programming and others who are practically regulars despite not being in-ring active. Among the guests: Booker T, Jimmy Hart, Hulk Hogan, Road Dogg, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Mark Henry, Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, Maryse, D-Von Dudley, Alundra Blayze, Lillian Garcia and Ric Flair.
With so many legends in the house, Raw was a bit light on moving stories forward with the current talent. While the good news was that the ratings ploy worked, it was also a confusing show, with over 80 Superstars past and present appearing on the three-hour episode.
The legends essentially were used in three ways on Monday night: As part of the 24/7 Championship storyline (which was the dominant storyline of the episode); as adjacent to matches between current Superstars (such as Rikishi cornering for The Usos, a bizarre quartet of Rob Van Dam, Sgt. Slaughter, Kurt Angle and Hurricane Helms preventing Sami Zayn from running away from Rey Mysterio, D-X and The Kliq evening the odds for Seth Rollins against AJ Styles and The Club); and in random backstage segments. Additionally, Mick Foley was ambushed by Bray Wyatt’s “Fiend.”
There was also a bit of exposition used to put over the current WWE product as much as its past. That was represented by John Cena’s opening remarks, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair showing up near the end and the “main event,” a speech by Stone Cold Steve Austin that, frankly, was the highlight of the show and succeeded in its mission.
While some of the legends’ segments were reflective of the self-serving nostalgia that WWE (and pro wrestling as a whole) traffics in on the regular, the incorporating of the legends into the 24/7 Championship chaos was a clever way to tie the night together. On the whole, the title changed hands nine times: From R-Truth to Drake Maverick to Pat Patterson, to Gerald Brisco, to Kelly Kelly, to Alundra Blayze, to Ted DiBiase (who bought it from Blayze), back to Drake and then finally, back to R-Truth, who then took off with the belt, Maverick’s limo and Maverick’s wife, Renee Michelle. Whew.
Though it wasn’t perfect — it was kind of a letdown that numerous women won the title before Carmella has — it at least provided a fresh spin on what could have otherwise been a dull parade of backstage segments featuring everyone saying their catchphrases and little else. And while we did get some of that, it wasn’t the only way that the legends could get involved.
In the midst of all this, we did get a big of modern-day action that had nothing to do with the night’s visitors. Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns had themselves an impressive match showcasing both men’s strengths and could build to something bigger at SummerSlam. We also got more motivation in the Becky Lynch-Natalya storyline that makes Natalya’s status as the challenger for the Raw Women’s Championship about more than her being from Canada and SummerSlam taking place in Canada.
Drew McIntyre also got his revenge on Cedric Alexander by completely demolishing him before the bell could ring, The Viking Raiders actually took on WWE talent and not local jobbers, defeating Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins while Braun Strowman was on local talent duty for the night.
Yes, Raw this week was light on the in-ring action and didn’t do a lot to build up the current roster’s various stories, but that wasn’t the point of the Reunion. There would have been no way to do the former with the latter going on and so jammed full of Superstars. As such, it did about as well as it could do given the theme of the show.
But it also made for a weird three hours, with a “what did I just watch?” feeling by the time it was over. Regardless, the Raw Reunion did what USA (and WWE) hoped it would: boost Monday Night Raw‘s ratings, if only for one night.