There's no doubt that the biggest show on Netflix was Stranger Things and given that Netflix also airs WWE Raw it would make sense that one day the two would sort of crossover with each other. Well that's exactly what has just happened on the latest episode of Raw with this being something that to there credit the WWE really did go over board promoting as they were pushing this episode for weeks on social media and well the episode has now aired and since I still love pro wrestling you all just knew that I had to check this episode the very first chance that I got and so then join me as I review the show that sees things get stranger with the show in question being called simply just "Raw" enjoy.
For once this episode really doesn't have much of a plot with the episode instead feeling like a free PLE and not an episode of a weekly TV show. Now then interms of what I thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as even tho this show doesn't really have a plot as the whole idea behind this episode is to basically be a glorified PLE which is something that could have been seen as being a bad thing yet it is something that does oddly work in this episodes favor as the whole push behind this episode isn't the stories going into it altho that is a big part of it rather it's the fact that the episode is one big crossover of sorts with Stranger Things and that's really it and to be fair that's not really something that does require a lot of plot especially when your storylines can last months which is something that WWE do with it being made clear that this episode is also there to get more fans into watching pro wrestling and having a lot of plots be further developed in this episode could be something that might put them off watching next week as it doesn't matter if you get those new fans to watch this week what happens is if they come back and watch next weeks episode and if this episode did have a plot or carried on or advanced several plots it is something that they wouldn't be able to do and while it would have been nice if this episode did have a plot as that's something that the die hard wrestling fans would love it's also something that wouldn't really work in what is just a glorified PLE and nothing more then that in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
The set for this show is as expected just the regular set for this show with the thing that sets it apart this week being he fact that there's alot of things tied into Stranger Things planed not only where the stage is but all over the place as well. With it seeming like the WWE wanted to let you know that this episode was tieing in with Stranger Things as they have branding for that show all over the place with the coolest part of that branding being at the top of the stage where they have what is quite possibly the entrance to the Upside Down where the wrestlers make there way to ringside which was a nice little touch but at the same tie tho given that this is meant to be a special episode of the show it would have been nice if they went over board and used some of that Netflix money to give us a more unique looking set as the one that they give us in this episode is nothing more then the regular set and that's it and while that would be fine if this was just an average episode of the show the fact is this isn't just an average episode of the show as this is one that both WWE and Netflix have been promoting all of the time and therefor it should have been treated as something special and part of that does mean giving the show a unique looking set as that would help to make the show feel more special even if it's something as simple as making the main LED screen slightly bigger it's something that would have gone a long way into making this episode feel more special and yet all they do is slap the Stranger Things logo on the LED screen and have some props from that show spread all around the stage which does look nice but it's not enough to make this episode feel all the more special then what they've been making it out to be on social media.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual set that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual set that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With this episodes set just being the set that they use for the show and really nothing more then that it is still a set that looks really good butt it's hard to say that this set is one of the best Raw sets of all time as this show did have some really good looking sets in the 2000's but for modern WWE this set does look really good but again as was just mentioned it would have helped this episode out quite a lot if they did come up with an original set as they have the money to make one and heck if they wanted to save money they could have made so that the set could then be used for special episodes or things like Saturday Nights Main Event or something like that and yet all they did was just use the typical main series set which oddly enough does make this episode feel alot less special as they do the bare minimum to make it look different when in this episode they should have gone all out in making it look as good as they possibly could have done as as right now the set feels like the set that they would use for a Christmas episode of the show where they do the bare minimum but there it makes sense as alot of there staff aren't there at that time to make the set as good as it could have been where as here they working with a full staff and yet they didn't create a unique set and don't get me wrong this set does make the show stand out from all of the other episodes of this show but given that they really did push this episode for weeks before it even aired it would have been better if they went over board with making a new and unique looking set for this episode.
To be fair even tho this episode really hits you over the head with the Stranger Things iconography they do also do alot of really cool things with it as well. With the episode quite literally turning things upside down at the start of the episode which was a really cool thing and then you add in the fact that they have unique transitions which feature characters from Stranger Things which do look really good and it is something that does show that the WWE was putting alot of care into this episode which is something make alot of sense as this episode is the first episode of Raw in the new year with the crossover aspect of this show being done more subtly then what it really could have been as if this was under the Vince McMahon era you just know that he would have done something crazy and over the top just to really make it obvious that this is a tie in episode of the show and yet as this show is under the Triple H era it's done alot more subtly with all of the cool things that we got from this tie in being nothing more then things that are on video and nothing more then that heck none of the cast and crew from the show even make an appearance in the episode which granted does make this tie in pointless as they could have had the cast take part i some backstage segments and maybe do some segments in the ring as well and yet the WWE didn't do any of that with all the things that they do do being these really cool little things that you don't get to see on the average episode of Raw with the only down thing being the fact that they play the Stranger Things theme song alot of the time which is bit of over kill especially when you only need to play it the once and that's really it.
When this tie in was first announced and first being promoted I and i'm sure many others immediately wished that this episode was alot more better then the Army Of The Dead tie in that the WWE did at Wrestlemania Backlash 2021. As on that PLE they straight up had two wrestlers compete in a match while surrounded by zombies and then had a further two zombies get eaten by those zombies where as here the tie in aspect was done in much more subtle with the focus being more on the wrestling side of things then in the tie in side of things which is a great to do something like as that is something that the wrestling fans will love this however doesn't make this tie in that good as outside of the set and graphics there's nothing to say that this is a tie in with Stranger Things which is were having things like the cast and crew appear on the show would have helped things out as it would been a really subtle thing to do and it wouldn't take away from the wrestling aspect of the show either and yet for one reason or another the makers of this episode instead chose not to that which again makes it pointless for this episode to be a tie in episode and while it's easily better then the Army Of The Dead tie in was that's not really saying all that much as it would have been fun to see some wrestlers interacting with the cast of the Stranger Things heck they could have had R-Truth confuse the actors from the show with there characters and treat them as there characters which sis something that would been true to his character and it would have been really fun to see in this episode but in all fairness not having the cast and crew of the show appear in this episode does also work for this episode as it keeps the focus on what it should have been that being the wrestling.
This episode is pretty much here just to provide Netflix with some synergy between two of it's shows and that's really it/ Which is fine but at the same time you have to wonder why the WWE why not have it be with something like Wednesday or one of there animated shows as there really isn't much crossover interms of fan support between both of the shows whereas alot of people that would love Stranger Things would also love something like Wednesday as those two shows are very similar in style and tone whereas having it be with WWE a brand that changes it's tone with every segment and has nothing to do with horror it makes no sense for them to team up for this episode but as this episode could serve as a great way for Stranger Things fans to see what the WWE is all about then you really can't go wrong as this episode does give you some good stuff but at the same tm this isn't the company at there best either with this episode just straight up dropping nearly all of the Stranger Things heavy talk after the first few segments and then they only mention the show by name once or twice and that's really it but to this episodes credit for a show like Stranger Things it really would be hard to do a proper tie in that appease fans of both shows and would get people from either show to watch the other with the makers of this show doing the best with what they had to work with and to be fair they do make the most of it even tho alot of the stuff that they give us would have been better served if it was on a PLE and not just a regular episode of the show and if this episode does get some fans of Stranger Things to watch Raw then great as they can very easily watch alot of the past episodes on Netflix and hopefully that will then make them fans of this show.
There was one thing that was really annoying to watch that being the fact that alot of the time the show does cut to black. With this happening very early on in the episode where it happens seemingly every few minuets which is just pointless as there doing it just for no reason whatsoever now if this show was still airing on regular TV and not on Netflix you could then make the case that this is were the show was cutting to a commercial break but it doesn't air on TV anymore it airs on Netflix which makes those fades to black pointless and annoying with the other thing that was kind of annoying was that for a wrestling show there was very little wrestling on the show itself as there was only four matches on the entire show and while that is close to the norm for the Triple H era as he has put more of focus on quality rather then quantity you still need to have alot more wrestling happen on your wrestling show and yet here the episode was filled up more with interviews and backstage segments then it was in actual wrestling which would be fine if this was a PLE as by then all of the build up for that event would have been and the event it self would just be the pay off to alot of the stories being told but here it's just another episode of the show and yet it's being treated like it was a PLE which is great for match quality but we still want to see more wrestling matches happen on this show heck there's alot of wrestlers who could have done something literally anything on this show that weren't featured as the makers of the episode were alot more focused on letting us know that this is a special crossover episode with Stranger Things then they were in giving us a good episode in it's own right.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running tome of exactly two hours and twenty seven minuets and twenty four seconds. Which is pretty much the bogstandard running time for this show to have and while this show doesn't really have a plot to cover that amount of running time in the first place alot of the shows matches are really well paced with none of the shows matches lasting longer then what they really need to with the only match going near the thirty minuet mark being the shows main event and that's really it as alot of the shows matches are all under twenty minuets long which is a perfect amount of time for them to last which again makes you wonder why there wasn't one more match added to this card with the episodes running time actually being shorter then some of the shows other episodes where they usually run alot more closer to three hours in length and yet this episode really doesn't feel all that long with this being due to the fact that the episode does have a good balance of match time and interview time which is something that very easily could have skewed more in favor of either one which would have thrown of the episodes pacing as the episode does need to balance the amount of times that they mention Stranger Things , the amount of matches that they have and the some of the shows interviews and backstage segments as well as the one the in the ring segment with this being something that the show does really well with even the shows Stranger Things aspect being alot more fun then what it really could have been as well as that is something that very easily could have been seen as being to campy and on for to long and yet here those aspects of the show run for just the right amount of time but I really will admit that this 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 featured / presented 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. With this episode having some really good wrestling in it be it from the opening women's tag team title match between The Kabuki Warriors and Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky or even the match between a returning Liv Morgan and Lyra Valkyria bottom line there is a lot of really good matches to be found in this episode altho given that only one match features the men and the rest of the women it does make this episode feel like a version of WWE Evolution and not an episode of Raw with the best wrestling match on the whole show being the amin even match between CM Punk and Bron Breakker as even the the ending was overbooked with there being far to many things happening just ti set up the end of the match the match it self was really well done with there being some really good looking moves done by both people with the match itself being very hard hitting with part of makes this match so good being the fact that the match had the time that it really needed to be this fun and crazy match and while the opening tag match also had that it's ending really did feel a bit rushed with it feeling like that they were just rushing to get to the end this match really was just hard hitting action that alot of wrestling fans might like in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall interms of tie ins go this one is easily better then Wrestlemania Backlash 2021 was as this episode whilst it didn't take the tie in aspect as far it really could have done it took it just far enough for the episode to be enjoyable but this is an episode that won't be remembered and will be forgotten about by the larger wrestling fan base by at best next month as it's just that forgettable of an episode in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that means that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally sued 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 IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.