Seven Random Thoughts From WWE ‘Raw’s’ Debut On Netflix

WWE’s Monday flagship program “Raw” made its debut on Netflix, and it was something.

It was an interesting night for WWE. The Intuit Dome crowd was hot for almost everything on the show, and it featured multiple cameos and celebrity guest appearances. “Raw” had the vibe of an anniversary-type show and felt special. The results are subjective, but let’s dive into what happened Monday night.

All Hail Netflix
Dwayne Johnson made a surprise appearance and cut a weird promo. Things already were off when you saw Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel sitting front row. The Rock was there physically, but his promo felt like it was by a man obviously on the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings. That became clear when there was a shot panning to Netflix executives. That started what became a growing trend: everyone thanking Netflix and talking about how much they love it. On the surface, it makes sense. This is a huge business opportunity and could change the streaming game forever. However, this wasn’t the best example of pro wrestling blending the lines of fiction and reality. That especially was the case because it set the tone for a three-hour show that felt like 10 hours.

Rocky’s WrestleMania Plans
Since it was businessman Rock on the stick, there wasn’t any clear case for his WrestleMania 41 plans. The Rock seemingly patched things up with Cody Rhodes after acknowledging the Undisputed WWE Champion. And there wasn’t any sign of tension between The Rock and Roman Reigns after the latter’s match to claim the Ula Fala. The Rock left Triple H hanging in an Instagram video, and that’s really the only thing to cling to. It feels like WWE is leaving money on the table not having The Rock face either Rhodes or Reigns, but his promo Monday gave the impression he’s sitting out WrestleMania this year.

Hogan Swerve
WWE under the Paul Levesque era was met with unquestioned positivity. It felt like no matter what was thrown in front of the audience they loved it. Then, Hulk Hogan showed up. For some reason, WWE threw Hogan in front of the Los Angeles crowd, who booed him out of the building. The 71-year-old, who could barely walk, tried to namedrop Randy Savage and Andre The Giant, but that didn’t matter. Yes, Hogan’s support of Donald Trump played a part. However, one, The Undertaker was met with cheers and he had the president-elect on his podcast, and two, fans booed Hogan before. This audience, who is willing to shill enough money to make Monday’s show the highest gate in history, didn’t want to see Hogan shill for his new beer that is partnered with TKO.

Cena’s Farwell
John Cena’s back and it seems like he’s doing a redux of his 2018 run. The 16-time world champion announced his submission into the Royal Rumble and his intention to win the world title. Other than that, he supposedly doesn’t have another path to the main event scene. If you remember from 2018, Cena had a crisis of confidence that led to a short match against The Undertaker at that year’s WrestleMania. That run was played for laughs, but Cena on Monday laid the groundwork for something eventful to happen in his final run in WWE. It’ll be interesting to see how this run plays out. Cena acknowledged it’s been over 2,000 days since he won a match. His attempts at putting other stars over haven’t gone so well, though. Also, fans nowadays seem more inclined to see their heroes go out on top rather than the traditional wrestling way of “going out on your back.” Who takes that fall will be fascinating to watch.

Main Event Punk
Monday’s win over Seth Rollins seemed like the blow-off between Rollins and CM Punk, who called out Rhodes and world heavyweight champion Gunther after the show. Either match would be great as Punk’s shown he’s still a top-level guy and those matches would allow him more to chew on. They also could help Punk achieve his dream of main eventing a WrestleMania.

Bill Simmons
There were a lot of celebrities who got the spotlight but none were funnier than Simmons. The Ringer founder, who was a producer of Netflix’s “Mr. McMahon” documentary, scored seats behind the announcer’s desk. That sort of exposed WWE for throwing talent in that section just for the camera since Simmons stuck around for the whole show. And he looked extremely uncomfortable having Nikki Bella dance in front of him, which made for one of the highlights of the night.

Why Come Back?
The debut of “Raw” on Netflix will go down as a huge success. There was the aforementioned gate record and the constant messaging of WWE being seen in front of millions around the world. What did they watch? Four mediocre matches and a bunch of cameos and surprises that aren’t going to happen weekly. WWE had to overdeliver for its debut on Netflix, but it’s hard to believe that anyone sampling the product is coming back, especially if they think what happened Monday is going to happen every week. Spoilers, it’s most definitely not.