The 1000th episode of Raw has come and gone. In the end, it was a very entertaining show
that had incredible ups and very few lows.
It was a celebration of both Raw’s past, present and future. It was nice to see the WWE take some time to
make fun of themselves like the return of Mae Young and Mark Henry’s son
all-grown up. The 1000th
episode of Raw was easily the best 3 hour Raw the WWE has put on in years. Now the question is if the WWE can keep each
Raw from dragging each and every week now that it is permanently three hours
long? This next month will be the real
test and I hope the WWE either brings the same passion and excitement they
brought for this 1000th episode that they do for the next 1000 or
change the Raw back to a two hour show before the three hours damages the
overall quality of WWE’s product. For all
wrestling fans, the 1000th episode of Raw is a must-watch show. Also make sure to watch this week’s
Smackdown, it has some quality matches that deserve your viewing.
The Rock, Daniel
Bryan and CM Punk Steal the Show
A lot of focus might have been on Daniel Bryan and AJ’s
wedding on Monday, but it was what followed that wedding that really stole the
show in my opinion. After being stood up
at the altar by AJ, who is now the new General Manager of Raw, Daniel Bryan was
livid. He would not leave the ring until
AJ came back to the ring to apologize.
Instead CM Punk made his way down to the ring to rub salt into Bryan’s
wound. It did not turn out as Punk had
expected as Bryan’s tirade on being the greatest wrestler of all-time brought
out The Rock. The Rock did his normal shtick,
but added in one important detail. The
Rock will be challenging whoever the WWE Champion is come the Royal Rumble in
Phoenix. Then Rock went on to wish CM
Punk good luck in his match against John Cena later on last Monday’s Raw. Feeling a bit left out of the proceedings,
Daniel Bryan interrupted Punk and Rock’s talk, which lead right into The Rock
making of fun and laying out the American Dragon to end this incredible
segment. Seeing Daniel Bryan and CM Punk
hold their own on the microphone with the Great One was an excellent
moment. It was easily the best segment
of the night and the most fun I had while watching Raw 1000.
Triple H and Brock
Lesnar, Summerslam
The 1000th episode of Raw began with the full reunion
of D-Generation X sans Chyna. It was
very fun and light-hearted segment that had some of the best superstars from
the Attitude Era giving one hell of a rub to the up-and-coming Damien Sandow. While Triple H did get to have some fun with
old friends at the top of the show, things got serious when he came out to find
out Brock Lesnar’s answer to his challenge for a match at Summerslam. Triple H called out Brock Lesnar once again
only to have Paul Heyman make his way to the ring. Heyman reiterated yet again that Brock Lesnar
would not accept Triple H’s challenge to a match at Summerslam. Before Heyman could waddle backstage,
Stephanie McMahon, Triple H’s wife and daughter of Vince McMahon, made her
first appearance on Raw in a few years.
Stephanie got on the microphone and just torn into Paul Heyman. At first, Heyman went back-and-forth with
Stephanie in an incredible war of words, but eventually Vince McMahon’s little
girl got under Paul Heyman’s skin. Paul
Heyman, in Brock Lesnar’s name, accepted Triple H’s challenge for a one-on-one
match at Summerslam. Once Heyman made
the announcement and a few derogatory comments towards Triple H’s children, all
hell broke loose. Stephanie started
beating the crap out of Heyman and Brock Lesnar made a mad sprint to the ring
to fight Triple H. At the end of
segment, Triple H stood tall in the ring as Lesnar and Heyman would retreat
backstage, but this is just the start of a feud that should escalate nicely in
the next few weeks leading up to Summerslam.
Long Live Heel Punk
You knew WWE had something big planned for the very end of
Raw 1000. They needed a huge hook like
the debut of the Nexus or CM Punk’s pipe bomb to get everybody excited to tune
into episode 1001 of Raw. There was a
ton of speculation, but what we actually happened got caught many including me
completely off guard. Like expected the
main event had CM Punk and John Cena put on a fairly entertaining one-on-one
contest for the WWE Championship. The
only thing I personally did not enjoy was the disqualification ending to the
match. Personally I would of preferred a
screw job finish with the Big Show costing John Cena the match, much like the
false finish we had earlier in the match.
While the ref was knocked out, Big Show hit Cena with a huge spear,
which gave Punk the opening to pick up the victory. CM Punk, being a face, was conflicted over
taking the easy way to victory or winning fair and square. The time Punk spent reflecting gave Cena
enough energy to kick out of the eventually pinfall attempt. I can see why they went with the DQ ending
because they want to extend CM Punk vs. John Cena until Summerslam. I just believe things could have done
differently to get the same great end result.
The ending I am talking about happens immediately after Big Show breaks
the STF. Big Show continues to beat down
John Cena while CM Punk walks away with the WWE Championship in hand. Seeing that nobody is coming to John Cena’s
aid, The Rock sprints to the ring to plant the Big Show with a huge
spinebuster. When Rock goes for the
People’s Elbow, CM Punk intercepts the People’s Champ with a thunderous
clothesline. With John Cena, Big Show
and the Rock all laid out in the ring, Punk turns his back and walks down the
ramp with a serious look on his face. At
first, I did not fully enjoy the ending of Raw 1000 as I thought WWE would put
a bigger, more in your face cliffhanger than what actually happened much like
the debut of Nexus. It was very surreal
and more thought-provoking cliffhanger ending that took a while for me
personally to see it’s brilliance much like Shawn Michaels’ turn on Hulk Hogan
way back in 2005. I was surprised that
WWE would turn CM Punk heel just a year after turning him face even though Punk
works much better as a heel than he does as a face. CM Punk’s heel turn was an excellent way to
end the 1000th episode of Raw off and it keeps fans wanting to see
Punk’s explanation this coming week on Raw.
Great job WWE and long live heel Punk!!
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