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Who would have thought that something that came from not so humble beginnings would go onto become something that would become a cornerstone of Monday evenings on cable network USA.
Well for many of us around the world, WWE’s Monday Night Raw has reached a milestone that we’ve helped make happen, because it’s televised its 1000th consecutive episode this past Monday, and that says an awful lot about how far wrestling has come and what the viewing public will actually call entertainment.
I grew up watching wrestling and I’ve seen it grow from a simple 30 minute Saturday morning program to a wonder of modern marketing promotion, with larger than life heroes who we love to cheer for one week and boo and hiss at another week.
Over the years those heroes have changed of course as some wrestlers have gone onto lucrative careers in films, and others have just left the WWE (which incidently for many was called the WWF) and are now wrestling for other organizations.
Raw is the WWE’s premier wrestling program, and far outshines its sibling wrestling program Friday Night Smackdown on the SYFI network, mostly because that show is taped rather than an actual live event.
In celebration of Raw’s 1000th consecutive (episodic) episode there are many things happening on the program. At the beginning of the program is the reuniting of one of Raw’s most popular and outrageous team ups.
That’s right, retired WWE hall of famer Shawn “The Show Stopper” Michaels and Hunter Hurst Helmsley otherwise known as “Triple H” (or better known as Paul Levesque) return (probably for one night only) as DX.
Other wrestlers to appear on this eventful evening is Duane “The Rock” Johnson, Brock Lesner, and of all things the wedding of Daniel Bryan and AJ, but if you’re looking for a wrestling match you’ll get it when WWE fan favorite champion CM Punk wrestles for the title against challenger (and not just a WWE fan favorite, but the face of the WWE and one of its most popular wrestlers) John Cena.
The truth is that today’s wrestlers are much more hyped than they were back in the early days of wrestling, with a female manager who comes out with her protégé, screaming at the top of her lungs (with the help of a microphone of course) “Excuse Me,” much to the delight and boos of the crowd.
The names over the years have changed, as wrestlers including Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Brutus Beefcake and more have left and others such as The “Rattle Snake” Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Ultimate Warrior, Ray Mysterio and others have come to the ring to entertain us week after week, all leading to this momentous 1000th episode and as fans of the often times over the top entertainment extravaganza watch eagerly, we hope that we’re around to witness the 2000th episode of what’s become a part of Monday night prime time programming.
