WWE's Monday Night RAW Celebrates 15th Anniversary

World Wrestling Entertainment's flagship show, Monday Night RAW, just celebrated it's 15th anniversary on the air. To celebrate the milestone WWE put on a special 3-hour show featuring an endless list of superstars that appeared on RAW over the last 15 years. The show featured wrestling matches, backstage segments, and highlights of RAW's history as well as funny clips and big surprises.

If ever anyone can be accused of throwing crap on the wall and seeing how much of it will stick, it's the WWE and its 15th anniversary show. I guess I should give credit where it's due, since Vince McMahon did manage keep the show on the air for 15 years, and he did put together a 3 hour show that couldn't contain the abundance of star power that was present for the major event, which is a testament to a lot of his creative and business decisions, however questionable they might be at the time. But I think I am quite justified in what I say when there is an over-the-top rope Battle Royal featuring some of the very worst wrestlers to ever step foot in a ring. After all that RAW went through, from starting out in a small arena to touring the world, from the USA network to SpikeTV and back again, from being beat in the ratings for over a year by World Championship Wrestling's Monday Night Nitro to owning WCW, from RAW to RAW IS WAR and back to RAW, and so forth. Is this the best way that WWE can celebrate this historical night in wrestling history? The match featured mostly jobbers (consistent losers) but also included some true legends. Among the participants were IRS, Repo Man (who appeared on the second-ever RAW), Al Snow, Steve Blackman, Bob Backlund, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, and quite a few others. The winner was IRS, but The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase came out and paid IRS to eliminate himself, thus making Dibiase the winner of the match. That came off well but I still think that the best part of the match was the beginning when Gilberg made his entrance, obviously mocking Goldberg as he always does, and was the first man eliminated. Some things are classic no matter how childish and stupid. I just wish that Vince McMahon didn't think that way 24/7.

RAW also featured some normal match-ups such as Cade & Murdoch losing the tag titles to Hardcore Bob Holly and the son of Dusty Rhodes, Cody Rhodes, and Carlito vs. Jeff Hardy in a Ladder Match, but the big moments came with the legends. Evolution reformed in a tag match, but it was Triple H, Batista, and Ric Flair vs. Randy Orton and his partners instead of a full on reunion, which makes more sense since Randy Orton is a heel (bad guy) right now and has been in recent matches opposite Triple H and Ric Flair. Later on Triple H and Shawn Michaels posed down as Degeneration X to the delight of the fans. Also on RAW, 7 ft. 4 in. tall Great Khali from India was set to take on the dwarf sized Hornswoggle when Hulk Hogan came to the rescue, dressed in black with white and black feather boas around his neck, but apparently not in his evil "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan persona (he probably couldn't fit into his old gear or lost his luggage). Sorry Hulkamaniacs, but I wasn't impressed by this showing from the Hulkster. Nevermind that the Undertaker, John Cena, and Batista have all pretended to be badly beaten by The Great Khali, because somehow this 50+ year old, plastic hipped has-been star who never could wrestle, knocks Khali off his feet after "hulking up" and delivering a power punch. After Hogan's pathetic physical display he got on the microphone and proceeded to call the fans "WWE Maniacs" and called WWE the best company in the world. Trying to get the fans to pop, but you could tell that there were a lot of reluctant fans in the crowd. How cool is it to be a die-hard WWE fan? Not very. After pretending to care about a company he swore he wouldn't return to just a couple of months ago, he heavily plugged the return of the series American Gladiator, which he will be hosting. I can't possibly fathom any intelligent person not seeing the greed and insincerity oozing from his pores. And if you didn't know, the Hulkster isn't having the best time of his life right now. His son Nick is looking at prison time for literally crippling his passenger during a supposed drag race on a city street and his wife Linda filed for divorce recently. Apparently his daughter Brooke didn't talk to him for at least a week either. I guess Hogan doesn't always know best after all. I stopped being a Hulkamaniac a long time ago, but with the amount of cheers Hulk Hogan still receives, I can't blame WWE for calling him up every once in a while for an appearance. I just hope he's done wrestling for good. Sadly, I have to say that if Hulk Hogan were in the Battle Royal from earlier in the night he would have made it even worse.

Not all was bad about the 15th anniversary of RAW. Possibly the best part of the show, despite it's predictability, was the ending. A couple of days before RAW the internet was already abuzz with rumors that the show was written to end with Vince McMahon declaring himself the greatest superstar in RAW history which would lead to a beat down by some of RAW's biggest stars of the past. The rumor was 100% true but it didn't take anything away from it. After Vince McMahon made his bold claim about being the greatest superstar in RAW's history, Mankind was the first to come to the ring and deliver his finishing maneuver, The Mandible Claw with Mr. Socko. Then came The Undertaker, who even showed McMahon enough respect to take off his hat and coat before dishing out a choke slam. By then, Vince was acting completely hurt and unable to stand. Stone Cold Steve Austin made his way out and helped Vince to his feet to share a beer with him, promptly giving him a Stone Cold Stunner as expected. Then the entire WWE roster from RAW, SmackDown!, ECW and dozens of RAW legends crowded the ring and drank with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the 15th Anniversary edition of Monday Night RAW went off the air.

In the end, WWE did what it has been doing for the past several of those incredible 15 years of RAW, disappoint. There weren't really any big matches and most of the segments were corny and seemed ill rehearsed. Unfortunately The Rock declined to appear on the show because he's on a public vacation, which could have naturally added some much needed freshness to the stink that was Monday night. But who am I to judge? The final rating for the show was a 4.1, which the WWE was reportedly happy with. Just the fact that WWE is happy with that rating shows how far they've fallen. Negativity aside, if there is anything I was able to take away from the show, it was that hard work pays off and anything is possible. RAW was far from perfection, but it was still a grand show and the amount of characters that were present, no matter how good or bad, is a testament to how strong a machine the WWE has been and continues to be. I guess if I were a little kid and I had only watched wrestling for a couple of years, I might have been thrilled, but I'm a grown man now and as much as I love wrestling, I can't defend the childish blunders of WWE that Vince McMahon is ultimately responsible for. All that aside, this is ultimately a victory for wrestling fans, who love to see the business reach new successes. Monday night, Stone Cold Steve Austin said it best by telling the fans in the arena and watching at home all over the world that they were the true greatest superstars of RAW for these past 15 years. So here's to us!