With the WWE having made a huge splash on Netflix and the fact that it's been a good while since I last took a look at a classic episode of the truly historic Monday Night Raw. It only seemed about right that I take a look at another episode of the show and well let's just say that i've chosen an episode that would have made fourteen year old boys VERY happy and so then join me as I review the episode of the show that would have made teenage boys and adult men happy with the show in question being called simply just "Raw" enjoy.
The main plot of this episode is the feud between Triple H , Chris Jericho , The Rock and Chris Benoit as that's the feud that gets alot of focus on in this episode. With this plot being advanced in ways that does feel natural as while they do constantly bring up the fact that Steve Austin is returning at the then upcoming PPV but at the same time tho it's not something that does play into the plot of this episode as it's something that's saved for Backlash and yet at the same time this episodes feud really doesn't need Steve Austin in it as all four men alone are more then talented enough to carry the plot alone and while both The Rock and Jericho are in feuds with at least either Benoit or Triple H in the case of Jericho he just so happens to be feuding with both men which is something that does add an interesting angle to the plot of this episode as it means that Jericho would have to be looking over his shoulder the whole night because either Benoit or Triple H could attack him at any point something that does happen after the shows first segment but also anyone who is friends with either of the dup could attack Jericho as well and it wouldn't feel out of place either and while the main advancement for this plot would indeed come at Backlash here it was a feud that was balanced rather well with all of the other segments of the show as well with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
The Raw set from this era of the show is perhaps one of the most really iconic sets that the show ever had. As it's the big titantron in the middle with the two smaller trons either side all of which do serve to make this set look like a truly chaotic but stunning set as well as it's one that doesn't really have any wasted space to it as every single inch of this shows set is used up and isn't really creating any dead space and it's something that really does make you wonder why this set hasn't been used in any of the the recent WWE 2K video games as when you think of the attitude era chances are this is the Raw set that you think of as it's something that really is just that iconic and while yes Raw has had some better sets both before and after this one it's this one that alot of people will be thinking off when they think back on the sets of Raw from the attitude era and it's also a set that would look good in video game format as well and yet it's a set that keeps on getting overlooked for some strange reason for some strange reason with this shows set being perfect for the where the company was at this point in time with this show as Raw was beating Nitro in the ratings week in and week out and the WWF was on the verge of winning the Monday Night Wars and this is a set that does represent just how confident that the WWF was feeling at this point in time and as well as being true to the show by being chaotic as Raw was a place where anything can and did happen as well.
If there's anything that this set gets wrong it's the fact that it's not all that interesting to look at alot of the time. Where as even if you compare this set to the set used for Smackdown the Smackdown set is alot more interesting to look at as while yes that set does have alot of dead space due to the caps inbetween the circles it's the fact that it's circular that makes it interesting where as with this set it looks like alot of the PPV sets only with nothing added to it and at the very least with the PPV sets they at least have things on the stage that make each set stand out out and feel unique where as with this set there's none of that because of the fact that it's weekly TV show and a not a PPV set but at the same time tho the WWF really could have done something to make this shows set feel unique in it's own right as this is the show that they were using to compete against WCW and as a result of the fact that they should have put some effort into making sure that there set both look and feel different from anything that WCW was using at this same point in time as this is a set that does look like alot of the sets that they were using and straight up copying WCW when they were on there way out is not something that looks good on anyone even more so for the WWF as alot of the show from this same time period shows that they can and have created sets and shows that are ten times better then anything that WCW was doing at this same point in time even on there best day and yet here the WWF is just straight up copying a WCW set.
If there's one thing that this episode gets wrong it's it's story telling as given by the fact that Triple H was straight about injure Shane's mother last week on Raw. It makes no sense for Shane to then apologize to him this week as by all rights the two of them should be ready to hurt each other and yet for one reason or another they just straight up forgive each other which is something that does scream like the fact that this storyline was changed at the last minuet as that aspect of the storyline just doesn't make sense and it's something that would have made alot more sense if Shane was only acting like he was going to hurt Hunter instead of straight forgive him as at least then you could have the reveal at the end of the episode that Shane and Hunter are actually on the same page by having Shane act like he's going to hit Hunter only for him to to turn around and hit either The Rock or Jericho something that would have made alot more sense and it would have resulted in both Hunter and Shane getting alot of heel heat in the process but because of the fact that they don't do that it then makes this storyline come across as feeling like something that was changed at the last minuet when this is something that should have been locked down as it's the biggest storyline that's currently going on in the company at this point in time as well and by not locking it all down and possibly making changes to it's storyline it makes it feel like that Vince was making last minuet changes to the episodes script when that's not something that needed to happen with this episode in particular.
Alot more recently the WWE have been trying to get the fans to bring signs to there live shows and TV tapings. Which is a good thing as it's in those signs that we get to the see the fand passion for certain superstars be it for who they hate or who they love and yet by not doing that it makes the fans feel like that they don't don't have any passion for the show that they've come out to watch and yet if you watch shows from around this time period every single fan that you see in attendance has a a homemade sign and it's something tat does add to the overall experience as while it doesn't make the show any better what it does do is make it look like the fans are genuinely having a good time watching this show and when you see what the card is for this show that's not hard to see a reason as o why the fans would be excited and yet despite the fact that the match card of today's WWE show is still really good in it's right and despite the fact that the fans do still have there chants which they use to great effect your not going to beat seeing a crown with a bunch of homemade signs as it just adds that extra special something that alot of shows today are missing as for some really strange reason the fans just aren't bringing in there homemade signs when that's a good way to show just how creative you are as a wrestling fan which makes today's fan just seem like a boring crowd of wrestling fans when if you look at the fans of the product from the attitude era you'll see that it's the opposite that's true as they got to make some really creative and fun to see signs.
If you have just watched one of the latest videos from the Youtuber WrestlingBios then you'll know full well why alot of fourteen year old boys and older men would like this particular episode of the show. As since it would impossible for me to post quite literally any pictures from any of the segments featuring this particular person from this episode let's just say that they involve Trish Stratus and tables in quite literally all of her segments which is something that do explain and it is something that does make sense when you take into account that this is during her T and A days and it involve Bubba Ray Dudley and while those segments where great back then they have aged like milk and really wouldn't be something that the company would even dream of airing today and thankfully so as women's wrestling has come along way since the year 2000 and having segments with Trish wearing next to something spread out on a table just wouldn't sit right with quite literally anyone let alone making multiple segments with the same set up and having them all air in the one episode as while they do help to tell one story with those characters it's also something that the company really could have found a way of telling from a different point of view but given where not only we as a society where at the time and what the companies target demographic was at this point in time it does make sense that they would have her wearing next to nothing whilst being spread out on a table.
Just to be frank Edge & Christian where totally awsome in this episode as they straight up said that not only where they going to do a run in on the Road Dogg in this episode which they did but they also said when they were going to do it. Both of which was extremely funny as it felt like they were tipping there hats to wrestling terminology without being outright forward with it like they were in WCW which made all the more funnier as the WWF at this point in time had moved fully away from breaking the fourth wall and yet to see one there top tag teams pretty much do exactly that felt not only right but also well within either of there characters to do exactly that and because of it we got a truly entertaining sequence with the two of them just saying what they were planning on doing and when it was going to happen and not only that they also pulled double duty by having a match up against The Dudley Boys later on in the episode which if you know those two teams was also going to be good with both teams brining there A game when they really didn't have to as nobody would have blamed them for not putting on that good of a match for a weekly TV show and while yes there match up wasn't PPV quality as given the shot match time that was never going to happen we still got to see two of the all time greatest tag teams work together and really show us the audience why they both still the one of the best tag teams in not only WWE history but pro wrestling history as well.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and thirty three minuets and forty two seconds. With this pretty much being the exact running time for this show for many years and to e this episode really does have the right amount of the plot there to fully cover that amount of running and while the episode doesn't really use it's running time all that wisely as we don't really get any plot advancements in any meaningful way this is something that really does make sense as not only are there other episodes of this show where those advancements could have happen but due to the WWF having multiple shows all going at the exact same time then it does make sense that alot of those advancements could have happened on one of those shows something which we do see happen as it's straight up mentioned on this episode that Steve Blackman turned on his partner Al Snow on an episode of Sunday Night Heat this is despite the fact that the two are pretty much mainstays of Monday Night Raw at this point in time and yet even with that in mind and the fact that this show was the go home show for Backlash 2000 it still would have been nice if we did get some meaningful plot advancement even if it's from a minor feud as that would still be something and it would have given much of the companies mid card at the time something to do rather then just sit at home doing nothing for a week but I really will admit that this episode episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a wrestling show that really does mean that I gave to actually talk about the actual wrestling that's actually fesatured / presenten to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual wrestling that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. Which is something that's not really all that new for the company at this point as they were very easily outclassing WCW when it comes to there wrestling with almost every match up on this episodes card being really good and solid matches that whilst they wouldn't have made good PPV matches given the match time that they have in this episode they still make for some decently entertaining match up with the best match on the entire card being Chris Jericho and The Rock Vs Triple H and Chris Benoit as all you have to do is look at the talent of all four men to see why this was a good match as all four men even for a TV show match up still manage to bring there A game and make there match look good which is something that does make alot of sense as there match was the main event of the show and thats the slot where you want to best match to be and that's exactly what this match up was and while The Dudley Boys Vs Edge & Christian was a really good match up as is to be expected from either team it was to short and felt secondary due to the antics of Trish and T And A which is something that stopped it from being a really good match up in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall while the show might be doing better on Netflix the one thing that the show has lost is the one thing that the show had and that's a smaller running time and the ability to still tell of the stories that they need to to tell within that running time and that is something that episode gets across really well and while this might not be the best episode of the show it's one that alot of fourteen year old boys and adult men well surely remember in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about al of the good and as well as all of the bad thigs that are n this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out f 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Pro Wrestling fandom wiki page and Google Images. ith my personally preferred website that I personally preferred to use to get the images that I personally used in this very review being the wonderful the official Pro Wrestling fandom wiki page since all of the images that are currently up and and featured / presented to us on freaking the official Pro Wrestling fandom wiki page are all fairly freaking high in freaking quality and as well as being very fairly freaking high in definition.