8 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (July 27th)

For the first time ever, no Hulk Hogan references whatsoever.

Welcome to the first Monday Night Raw in the post-Hulk Hogan era, a period in which the man who helped put the WWF on the map in the 80s no longer exists as far as the company is concerned. A quick note on that: Absolutely, Hogan should be condemned for his remarks. Whether they were made eight years ago while drunk or eight days ago sober, there€™s no excuse for that kind of bigotry. Should he be fired? Most likely yes. Should he be erased from WWE history? That€™s not as easy of a question. WWE obviously did what it felt was right. However, there are plenty of other superstars with checkered histories (and not within storylines like Triple H and Booker T in 2003). Steve Austin immediately comes to mind given his domestic abuse arrest and the fact that WWE now has a zero tolerance policy for such behavior. If Chyna€™s porn career disqualifies her from Hall of Fame consideration, why is Sunny still in the HOF? But that€™s an issue for another day. Raw brought us more women€™s wrestling, a series of €œfirst time ever€ matches and a stellar main event that included a gruesome injury for one man to rise above. There was no pull-apart brawl this time, but that didn€™t stop WWE from showing last week€™s Brock Lesnar/Undertaker melee multiple times. So what Hulked up and what got leg-dropped out of existence? Let€™s get to it€

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.