MR. TITO: Reviewing the First Episode of WWE RAW on Netflix 1/6/2025 – How Did It Do?
Let’s just state the obvious, first… THAT was a great show and it felt like a Premium Live Event (PLE) more than it did a regular episode of RAW that we’ve seen for the past year. WWE wanted to make a statement for episode #1 and I think they did… If you ever wanted to get into a debate about WWE versus AEW, just show that bullying AEW fan this show and ask “do you have anything in comparison to this show” and they won’t. Production was on fire, storylines were excellently told, and the matches were great without the wrestlers having to kill themselves.
BUT – There is a big problem with episode #1 of RAW on Netflix…
How do you follow that first episode?
Because you gave us The Rock and multiple PLE-based matches that had actual payoffs. On the latter point, Roman Reigns finally vanquished Solo and the “new” Bloodline, taking his red necklace to affirm himself as the REAL “tribal chief” again. Then, Rhea Ripley defeated Liv Morgan to become the Women’s Champion again to potentially end that feud. After a great promo, seems like Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk is over with Punk getting the clean victory over Rollins. To me, based on how these matches ended, Roman, Rhea, and Punk can ride off into the sunset while Solo/New Bloodline, Liv Morgan, and Seth Rollins have to figure out what to do next after a loss.
So how do I follow all of that after RAW’s first episode on Netflix.
And the problem is YOU CAN’T.
While also remembering that you have to fill 2 more hours on Friday Night with Smackdown.
I guarantee you that WWE and Netflix will pump out a news release of something like “10 million viewers” or “5 million households” watched RAW on 1/6/2025 and be popping bottles of champagne.
The TRUTH is that WWE has to save some of this greatness for 12-14 PLE events and multiple NBC Saturday Night’s Main Event.
The FACT is that Netflix is paying $500 million for WWE RAW for at least 5 years and will want a weekly WWE product that merits that $500 million.
If viewership goes down, you better get ready for MORE SPONSORS to be covering that ring. Anything that an advertisement can be placed on, Netflix will require WWE to place it on their weekly shows.
Did you see how ridiculous that ring was with all of those advertisements?
Remember when it was just Logan Paul’s goofy sports drink and the controversy over placing that in the center of the ring? What now, haters? I’m sure all of those ads on the ring apron drove you absolutely insane. Well, GET USED TO IT because Netflix wants a return on it’s $500 million per year investment.
The Rock isn’t going to be there every week, nor will we be seeing PLE-like blowoff matches involving the company’s top stars. If the WWE tries, they’ll burn out their fans quickly and make the bigger money paydays of PLE shows completely worthless.
That’s my worry… Show #1 was so great that the WWE now has to somehow follow that up and please the new corporation that wants a return on their $500 million per year investment.
And for non-wrestling fans, are they able to watch 3 hours of this stuff weekly… LENGTH will be a problem if the WWE lets it become their problem. Sorry, but watching 3 straight hours of wrestling, even if you’re the biggest hardcore wrestling fan in the world, is mind-numbing for weekly television shows. I don’t know how many of you wrestling fans did it by watching many AWFUL 3-hour RAW episodes for the last 10-15 years. I’d give you a medal if I didn’t think watching full episodes of RAW was a waste of time. I checked out during August 2015 when I couldn’t take it anymore, as I cut the cord and have been watching condensed Hulu RAW or just YouTube clips. The PLE recaps fill in the gaps conveniently for you, as needed.
But yes, I was very entertained by episode #1 on Netflix… If WWE can keep things fresh and give opportunities to younger talents, it could work… HOWEVER, WWE still has this problem of trying to supply content for 6 hours of television each week (RAW, NXT, Smackdown) and then PLEs on the weekend… And now, Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Several show notes…
Hopefully, the Rock’s true turn on both Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes is coming later… I really didn’t like this diplomatic stuff, nor have I enjoyed the news stories that the Rock won’t be performing at all for 2025. However, if he does eventually turn, it will make it more satisfying the more false sense of security he presents the other wrestlers.
Looks like WWE is derailing any potential Roman vs. Rock storylines in favor of making 2025 as “John Cena’s year”. Kind of off putting, after the Bloodline stuff was so good through Wrestlemania 40. If Roman defeating Solo officially vanquishes the Solo-Bloodline, it’s kind of sad how it ended without the Rock being revealed to have bankrolled it. Missed opportunity, in my opinion, as I felt that Solo’s Bloodline needed a “final boss” to be revealed to be behind it the entire time.
Rhea Ripley is such a big star… I mean, damn. Nobody is in her orbit right now and we’re lucky, as wrestling fans, to be witnessing the early stages of the greatest female wrestler of all time. Sorry, but most of Charlotte’s pushes were the same and she struggled to evolve as a character other than being Ric Flair’s daughter. Rhea is a star, gorgeous from head to toe (could use fewer tattoos, IMO), has impressive personality, full of charisma, and is extremely talented inside the ring. She and Bianca Belair are naturally strong and can lift literally anyone like a feather, much stronger than Nia Jax and Jade Gargill who look cosmetically strong but aren’t really.
CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins was a battle and it was nice to see 2 veterans putting on a show last night. Lots of heat and drama, though it had too many false finishes with finishing moves taking a backseat in the WWE… But they told a great story of 2 wrestlers who appear to legitimately hate each other. I didn’t like the ending of CM Punk winning and it appearing like they are immediately moving on (Punk is likely wrestling Roman at WM 41). I still say both could extend their business if the wives got involved with AJ Lee and Becky Lynch. But again, that’s asking for AJ Lee to come out of retirement, once again.
Now, I want to address Hulk Hogan getting booed… Everyone thinks he was booed because WWE was in California last night (very blue state) and for the Hulkster’s support of Donald Trump. Yes, California still voted strongly for Kamala Harris during the 2024 election with her receiving 59% of the vote versus Trump’s 38%… HOWEVER, have you not heard Hulk Hogan being booed out of EVERY building for the past 10 years? Hogan is on tape repeatedly saying the N-word and following the reveal of that, WWE cut off ties of doing business with him for 2 years. They’ve been very careful using him ever since.
To blame Hogan’s open support of Donald Trump as the main reason for his boos is just incorrect… We’ve been booing the Hulkster since his WWE return, as you can watch any of his appearances on your WWE Network login or on YouTube. Getting caught, on video, saying the N-word repeatedly and being so casual about it will get you in hot water with anyone.
The FACT is that if Donald Trump didn’t openly promote people with character issues, such as Hulk Hogan, to positions of prominence, he would have won the 2024 election by bigger margins. That’s just a fact… Trump won because Kamala Harris was a WEAK candidate whom the Democrats rushed into the candidacy without any election. But I stand by Trump winning by an even wider margin if he didn’t normalize people like Hulk Hogan who have done questionable things or who lie repeatedly. Hogan HAS character issues and those character issues are what got him booed last night, not his Donald Trump support. Again, look at Hogan’s history with the WWE since he returned following his 2-year cancellation from the WWE following using racial slurs.
Go watch ANY of Hogan’s appearances since 2018 and you’ll see each crowd showering him with boos. When you get caught on video using the N-word multiple times, people don’t forget. And that’s on top of repeatedly lying and using your creative control to screw other wrestlers.
Want to use Hulk Hogan effectively? Then let him return as the New World Order “Hollywood” character and really lay into that “N.W.O.” stuff. If you’ve been watching the news lately, talks of the United States somehow expanding their map to include Canada and Greenland have promoted “New World Order” discussions. Well, WWE, there’s your opportunity to lean into it while conveniently having a Hulk Hogan character who once belonged to the “New World Order” group. Have him come out and talk trash on the fans who hate him. Easy money…
I hope that Nikki Bella is returning to the WWE, as she was there at the arena last night and seemed to be featured. The Bella Twins do NOT get enough credit for being the bridge between the Trish/Lita generation to the NXT/Divas Revolution ladies. They carried the division and don’t get enough credit for it, and I personally thought Nikki Bella was excellent. Go watch some of her 2016 stuff when she was trying to make Carmella into an instant star. She was WAY better than most of you think and gets discredited because she was dating John Cena. No, she was a solid performer BEFORE dating him.
Get Nikki into the 2026 Hall of Fame and make her the GM of the Women’s Division or something productive. She shouldn’t wrestle full-time due to the benign cyst in her head and bad neck.
So yeah, that’s my RAW review which you can look but you can’t touch… [ A+ ] all the way, baby! WWE is on fire!
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