| WWE Raw 25 Years | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster for the 25th Anniversary ofRaw | |||
| Promotion | WWE | ||
| Brand(s) | Raw SmackDown | ||
| Date | January 22, 2018 | ||
| City | Brooklyn, New York Manhattan, New York | ||
| Venue | Barclays Center Manhattan Center | ||
| Tagline | Then. Now. Forever. | ||
| Raw special episodes chronology | |||
| |||
Raw 25 Years was aspecial episode ofWWE's weekly television seriesRaw, broadcast on theUSA Network on January 22, 2018. The episode was a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the program's debut in January 1993.[1][2][3]
The event was held in two separate venues inNew York City – theBarclays Center inBrooklyn and theManhattan Center Grand Ballroom inManhattan, the latter of which hosted the first episode ofRaw.The event also featured various appearances fromWWE Hall of Famers andlegends. These included, among others,Shawn Michaels andThe Undertaker—who both notably appeared on the very first episode of Raw—Stone Cold Steve Austin,Shane McMahon,Stephanie McMahon (the then WWE Chief Brand Officer),Vince McMahon (the then principal owner and chief executive officer of WWE),Teddy Long,The Brooklyn Brawler,Brother Love,The Boogeyman,William Regal,Eric Bischoff,"The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiaseJohn Laurinaitis,MVP,John Bradshaw Layfield,Ron Simmons,Ric Flair,Christian,X-Pac,Kelly Kelly,Bubba Ray Dudley,D-Von Dudley,Trish Stratus,Lillian Garcia,Terri Runnels,Michelle McCool,Triple H,Road Dogg,Billy Gunn,Gene Okerlund,Mark HenryScott Hall andThe Godfather[4][5][6][7][8][9]
The card consisted of nine matches, including four dark matches, that resulted from scripted storylines and had results predetermined by WWE's writers on theRaw andSmackDownbrands.[10][11] Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows,Monday Night Raw,SmackDown Live, and205 Live, the latter of which iscruiserweight-exclusive.[12]Raw first aired on January 11, 1993, onUSA Network and since became the longest-running weekly episodic program in television history with no reruns albeit from its brief run on TNN (renamed to Spike TV in 2003 and now known as theParamount Network) from 2000 to 2005.[13] On October 30, 2017, WWE announced thatRaw would celebrate its 25 anniversary on January 22, 2018.[14][15]
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Pre-show panel | Renee Young |
| Peter Rosenberg | |
| David Otunga | |
| Sam Roberts | |
| Commentators | Michael Cole (Barclays) |
| Corey Graves (Barclays) | |
| Booker T (Barclays) | |
| Jim Ross (Manhattan) | |
| Jerry "The King" Lawler (Manhattan) | |
| Ring announcers | JoJo (Barclays) |
| Greg Hamilton (Barclays) | |
| Howard Finkel (Manhattan) | |
| Referees | Jone Cone |
| Chad Patton | |
| Shawn Bennett | |
| Rod Zapata | |
| Mike Chioda | |
| Interviewer | Charly Caruso |
Before and during the event, there were a series of untelevised matches for the live crowds in attendance. The first match in the Barclays Center sawGoldust defeatCurt Hawkins and laterGran Metalik andKalisto defeatGentleman Jack Gallagher andTJP. The Manhattan Center saw two cruiserweight matches withMustafa Ali defeatingLince Dorado andAkira Tozawa andHideo Itami defeatingDrew Gulak andTony Nese. The matches from the Barclays Center were later shown onWWE Main Event.
The event opened in the Barclays Center withVince McMahon and his childrenStephanie andShane celebrating the 25th anniversary ofRaw. Later in the segment, Hall of FamerStone Cold Steve Austin appeared to attack both Shane and Vince withStone Cold Stunners.
In the first televised match at the Barclays Center,Asuka,Bayley,Mickie James, andSasha Banks facedMandy Rose,Sonya Deville,Alicia Fox, andNia Jax. Banks forced Fox to submit to theBanks Statement for the win. After the match, Asuka threw her partners over the top rope, symbolizing eliminating them in the upcomingRoyal Rumble match. Later a segment occurred in which Raw General ManagerKurt Angle interacted with various WWE legends, includingJonathan Coachman,Harvey Wippleman,The Brooklyn Brawler,Teddy Long,Brother Love, andThe Boogeyman.
In the second match,Roman Reigns defended theWWE Intercontinental Championship againstThe Miz. After Reigns collided with an exposed turnbuckle, The Miz executed theSkull Crushing Finale to win the title for the eighth time in his career.
The event opened in the Manhattan Center with a segment featuringThe Undertaker. In the first match at the Manhattan Center,Bray Wyatt defeated"Woken" Matt Hardy after executing aSister Abigail. After the match in a non-televised segment,Jeff Hardy appeared and said that Wyatt will soon be "classified as obsolete."
Back in the Barclays Center,Chris Jericho made a special appearance, puttingElias on the "List of Jericho." Shortly after, Elias was interrupted byJohn Cena during his musical performance, which led to Elias attacking Cena with alow blow and then hitting him with his guitar.
The main event at the Barclays Center was atag team match, which sawHeath SlaterandRhyno fight Titus Worldwide (Titus O'Neil andApollo Crews) to a no contest. Following the match,The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray andD-Von) appeared, with the duo attacking Slater with theWhassup? before putting him through a table with the3D.
Later at the Manhattan Center,D-Generation X (X-Pac,Shawn Michaels,Triple H, andThe New Age Outlaws),Razor Ramon, and Bálor Club (Finn Bálor,Luke GallowsandKarl Anderson) appeared in the ring to celebrate the 25th anniversary ofRaw and to exchange "Too Sweets" before being interrupted byThe Revival (Dash Wilder andScott Dawson). The interruption led to a tag match between Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson and The Revival, which saw Gallows and Anderson emerge victorious after performing theMagic Killer on Dash Wilder. After the match in a non-televised segment, The Miz appeared and insulted D-Generation X, causingRaw Tag Team ChampionSeth Rollins to interrupt and attack The Miz with acurb stomp.
The show concluded with a segment from the Barclays Center, which sawBraun Strowman,Kane, andWWE Universal ChampionBrock Lesnar brawl. The three wrestlers fought until Strowman put Lesnar through the announcers table with arunning powerslam.
Raw 25 Years received mixed to negative reviews and reactions from critics and WWE fans.[16][17][18][19][20] The Undertaker's segment in particular was criticized, being said to have "made no sense" and been "too cryptic."[21][22][23]
Those who attended the event live, particularly those who attended the Manhattan Center portion, were disappointed by what was described as WWE's "poor planning" of the event.[24] The venue in Manhattan was said to have not provided adequate screens for attendees to watch the portion of the event happening at Brooklyn's Barclays Center, resulting in extra downtime for the live crowd. Although WWE scheduled several non-televised matches at the Manhattan Center, fans became upset with the event and chanted profanities and called for refunds.[25][26]
Hours prior to the event then-WWE Cruiserweight ChampionEnzo Amore was suspended due to a violation of WWE's zero tolerance policy regarding matters involving sexual harassment and sexual assault. WWE released a statement indicating he would remain suspended "until the matter [was] resolved."[27] 15 minutes after the show ended, Amore was released by WWE and the Cruiserweight Championship was vacated.[28][29][30] The following day on205 Live, SmackDown General ManagerDaniel Bryan announced that Amore was no longer part of the205 Live roster and that the show would receive a new on-screen general manager,[31][32][33] which later revealed to beDrake Maverick, previously known as Rockstar Spud inImpact Wrestling. Maverick announced a16-man tournament to crown a new champion with the finals being held atWrestleMania 34.[34][35] The tournament and title would be won byCedric Alexander.[36]
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[2][3][6][7][8] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goldust defeatedCurt Hawkins | Singles match [a] | — | ||
| 2 | Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik andKalisto) defeatedGentleman Jack Gallagher andTJP | Tag team match [b] | — | ||
| 3 | Asuka,Bayley,Mickie James andSasha Banks defeatedAlicia Fox,Nia Jax andAbsolution (Mandy Rose andSonya Deville) (withPaige) | Eight-woman tag team match | 12:05 | ||
| 4 | The Miz (withThe Miztourage (Bo Dallas andCurtis Axel)) defeatedRoman Reigns (c) | Singles match for theWWE Intercontinental Championship | 12:25 | ||
| 5 | Heath and Rhyno vs. Titus Worldwide (Apollo Crews andTitus O'Neil) (withDana Brooke) ended in ano contest | Tag team match | 5:32 | ||
| |||||
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[37] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1D | Mustafa Ali defeatedLince Dorado | Singles match | — | ||
| 2D | Akira Tozawa andHideo Itami defeatedDrew Gulak andTony Nese | Tag team match | — | ||
| 3 | Bray Wyatt defeated"Woken" Matt Hardy | Singles match | 5:55 | ||
| 4 | Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (withFinn Bálor,Razor Ramon, andD-Generation X (X-Pac,Shawn Michaels,Triple H,Road Dogg andBilly Gunn)) defeatedThe Revival (Dash Wilder andScott Dawson) | Tag team match | 1:50 | ||
| |||||
WWE has zero tolerance for matters involving sexual harassment or sexual assault. Until this matter is resolved, Eric Arndt (aka Enzo Amore) has been suspended.
