Who needs a DeLorean that can hit 88 mph to travel back in time? Instead, Raw kicked off Old School night with a battalion of WWE Alumni and Hall of Famers. And although the classic Raw graphics and ring ropes were evident, there was still a lot of brand new developments leading up to this Sunday’s Survivor Series.
With two weeks until Survivor Series, Monday Night Raw hopped the pond and settled into jolly ol’ England. Although the proceedings appeared to be running smoothly, even “tickety-boo,” as the Brits might say, when Manchester native Wade Barrett started bossing around Superstars, that’s when things became all “sixes and sevens” – and that, as any Englishman will tell you – adds up to chaos.
John Cena can probably kiss that employee-of-the-month award goodbye. Among supremely bad ideas, ticking off your boss is right up there with arm-wrestling an alligator, but the reluctant Nexus member did just that when he stuck to his principles and refused to play favorites for Nexus leader Wade Barrett.
It’s been said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Whoever thought up that must have never watched Raw. There are a galaxy of Superstars who have never nurtured a good intention in their lives, and with just one week until they find themselves in “Hell,” they aren’t about to start now.
Twenty-four hours earlier, at Night of Champions, several WWE Superstars were in heaven when they earned new championships. During Raw, however, WWE Champion Randy Orton, Sheamus, John Cena and Wade Barrett realized they'll be feeling the heat when they compete at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
In this historic city, nearly 240 years ago, a group of men rebelled against the tyranny of the English establishment. Those American colonists would eventually go on to overcome their British oppressors. During Raw’s 900th episode celebration, however, it would be the Englishman who would prevail in the end.
When Team WWE dismantled The Nexus at SummerSlam the night before, it appeared that the sun had finally set on the seven deadly sinners. On Monday night, however, the group’s members, with the exception of one, each survived in singles competition, offering The Nexus hope that a new day may have finally dawned.
As a singer of sinister songs and a director of horror films, Raw special guest host Rob Zombie has experience with the darker side of human nature. That experience must have set him somewhat at ease when Randy Orton slithered past his foes to demonstrate just how far a snake will go to wrap himself around what he wants.
The WWE Universe took the reins of Monday Night Raw for the first-ever Viewer’s Choice Night, choosing the matches and stipulations by voting on WWE.com. Hosted by the cast of The A-Team, this three-hour, co-branded event was created by and for the WWE Universe, loaded with surprise match-ups that reignited old rivalries between both Raw and SmackDown Superstars while creating entirely new ones in the process.
With an entirely new constellation of Superstar draftees moving into its orbit, the Raw roster promised to be an altered universe. As if to punctuate that point, former SmackDown Superstar Chris Jericho devestated the Unified Tag Team Champions with the help of an unlikely ally and Edge nearly laid waste to a former friend before feeling the pain of angry fangs.
While the outcome of Extreme Rules rattled the WWE Universe just 24 hours prior, the following night’s 2010 WWE Draft on a special three-hour Monday Night Raw shook many of the Superstars themselves to their very core. The quake resulted when both the Raw and SmackDown rosters competed in inter-promotional matches to determine which brand would earn a Draft pick.
With a giant ash cloud hovering over Europe, thanks to an erupting volcano in Iceland, air travel has been severely restricted, causing most of the Raw roster to find themselves grounded overseas after their European tour. With Extreme Rules less than a week away, however, WWE found plenty of angry SmackDown Superstars just itching to blow their tops.
The day after WrestleMania XXVI ushered in a new era. While a crop of new, exhilarating, young Superstars are being cultivated in the hothouse of WWE, it was time for one Superstar, Shawn Michaels, to bid farewell after offering up a 25-year feast of cherished memories and jaw-dropping moments. Thank you, Shawn Michaels.
When the most popular Superstar in WWE history returns to guest host Monday Night Raw, certain rules apply. First, that Superstar should behave in a manner befitting WWE’s image. Secondly, that Superstar should speak in respectful tones. And lastly, that Superstar should demonstrate sufficient reverence to their former employer. As “Stone Cold” Steve Austin demonstrated, however, when The Texas Rattlesnake is that Superstar, no rules apply!
Let the celebration continue! Just one night after the New Orleans Saints captured the NFL’s top prize in the Super Bowl, the people of Louisiana were still in the mood to party when Raw rolled into the Cajundome. Good thing, too, since special guest host and NASCAR driver Carl Edwards gave them plenty to celebrate.
In his role as Capt. James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise, William Shatner presided over a crew that sometimes found themselves at each others’ throats. In his role as special guest host of Raw, the iconic actor also presided over a roster full of Superstars – and at least one Chairman – with enough personal vendettas to fill an entire galaxy.
After his co-star on USA Network’s Psych, James Roday, was rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy, actor Dule Hill was forced to act as Raw’s sole guest host. No worries, though, since Hill more than held his own with a little guidance from John Cena, who just so happens to guest star on Psych’s season premiere this Wednesday at 10/9 CT.
In the new comedy When In Rome, starring Raw’s special guest co-hosts Jon Heder and Don Johnson, a woman finds herself engulfed by an over abundance of affection from her suitors. Unlike the premise of their movie, though, Heder and Johnson found themselves surrounded by anything but love as Raw Superstars turned on one another in the lead up to the Royal Rumble.
As professional boxing’s former Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World, Mike Tyson enjoyed a reputation for delivering the knockout punch in no time flat. As special guest host of Raw, however, the “Baddest Man on the Planet” held off until the final round to deliver a shocking KO to the WWE Universe – and especially Chris Jericho.
Like unicorns, the Loch Ness monster and the lost city of Atlantis, the return of Bret Hart to WWE seemed merely the stuff of legend, a sight among the WWE faithful that would never come to fruition. Then it happened. After a controversial exit and a 12-year absence, The Excellence of Execution agreed to return to WWE as the first special guest host of Raw to kick off the new year. Even Bigfoot himself couldn’t have proven a more exciting host … or more shocking.