12 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 2005

Raw has been many things to WWE over the years. It's been 'War' and 'Jericho', for example. In 2005, it became a vehicle to push John Cena to the forefront as the brand new poster boy of his generation. 'Super Cena' moved to Mondays during the 2005 Draft, and there was a real good reason for that - he'd been on SmackDown for years, and it was clear that John's next step was dominating the 'A' show.

Cena wasn't the only fledgling main event mainstay on Raw though. Edge was right there with him, and the Canadian planned to seize the very title JC had been holding. He'd become WWE Champion alright, but not until 2006. The patience creative types showed with their blossoming 'Rated-R Superstar' is really quite special looking back.

It wouldn't be the kind of patience WWE would show Money In The Bank too often.

2005 had a little bit of everything. Whilst Batista settled into a groove on top of SmackDown, Raw put on borderline PPV quality episodes over in Japan, rushed back into the waiting arms of the USA Network with a memorable Homecoming, dropped the ball on an easy push that would've been grounded in gritty realism, and even went 3 hours for the first time in its lifespan.

There's a lot to unpack here, so get ready. We've got forgotten onscreen romances that ended with a literal thump, teary tribute shows that had more to offer than some might've expected inside the ring, and missed opportunities wrecked by ego behind the curtain.

Raw Is War? Nah, Raw is everything.

News of Matt Hardy's April 2005 release hit his fanbase like a sledgehammer. It was so unexpected, but then details started to leak out about the circumstances behind it. Matt found out that his girlfriend Lita had secretly been seeing Edge, and he was naturally distraught by it. Eventually, due to fan pressure and knowing they could make some dollars here, WWE brought Hardy back into the fold.

People were right behind Matt’s story in the summer of '05. He was a jilted lover who wanted revenge on Lita and to tear Edge apart. His 11 July return was the hottest thing in the biz at the time, but then Edge beating him in less than 5 minutes at SummerSlam muddied the waters and a lot of the magic was gone. Vince McMahon blatantly didn’t want to push Matt as a main eventer because that wasn’t his plan, but he probably should’ve pivoted and ran with Hardy as a ’Stone Cold’ style rebel.

The fan support was there, and Matt carried an air of legitimacy when he was encouraging fans to watch him in ROH on WWE TV. Things like that didn’t happen at the time. This was pre-CM Punk "Pipebomb", after all. Watching all of this play out with the benefit of hindsight makes it pretty obvious that Hardy could've been booked better than he was.

He needed to give Edge the ultimate comeuppance, and he needed to use his real-life heartache as fuel to become akin to WWE's very own Punisher. Instead, they raced through the most tangled up emotions then moved him over to SmackDown just like that.

Talk about missed opportunities to create a new headline star.