10 Live Observations From Attending The Raw After WrestleMania 32
WrestleMania couldn't live up to the hype - could Raw?
WrestleMania weekend came to an official close on Monday evening with Raw. In some ways the most anticipated show of the year, the post-WrestleMania Raw has become famous in the past half-decade for delivering shocking debuts and returns while taking place before a raucous crowd.
I was at the 2012 show where Brock Lesnar returned and F5'd John Cena after an eight-year absence. In 2013, I got to be part of a crowd that proved the audience could be more entertaining than the matches themselves at times.
Two years ago, I saw Paige make a shocking debut and win the Divas' Championship, and last year, I saw John Cena and Daniel Bryan make classic first defenses of the United States and Intercontinental Titles, respectively.
This year, there was a lot of buzz in the air, especially considering that a lot of fans felt disappointed by WrestleMania. I didn't think the show of shows was quite as bad as some other people did, but I still agreed with a lot of the critiques and I was hoping that Raw would set the company on a more positive path.
In the end, was the show as good as it needed to be? Did it deliver the surprises for which it's become famous while setting the stage for a better WWE? Read on and find out. Here are ten observations from attending Raw live.
10. But ... Why?
Vince McMahon opened the show up for a bit of a gloat (and to chastise the fans for being a "crazy crowd").
The WWE Chairman admitted feeling a bit of sympathy for Shane during his match with The Undertaker, and even wished Shane would have reconsidered his leap off the top of the Hell in a Cell, but Undertaker won, so all was right in WWE.
At that point, Shane interrupted, but he simply wanted to shake Vince's hand and say goodbye to the fans. The mercurial Vince stopped his son from leaving, though, then decided that he'd give the boy wonder a shot to run Raw that evening.
In case you've forgotten - because Vince did - he waged a war on his son to keep him from taking over Raw. When questioned later, Vince claimed that he gave Shane Raw simply to see how badly he'd fall on his face and ruin the show - exactly what he had been afraid of weeks ago.
If Vince can't even book his own character with any consistency, what hope does anyone else have?