10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 2008

Let it be known that Chris Jericho's heel turn on the 9 June 2008 edition of Raw remains one of the best ever. The Canadian was outraged that his childhood hero Shawn Michaels (someone he'd feuded with back in 2003) had hoodwinked everybody by feigning injury to score a win over Batista at Backlash. Things came to a head when Y2J thumped HBK through his Jeritron on the flagship.

Cue booing, cue Jericho reinventing himself as a stoic villain, and cue the best rivalry of the entire year.

That wasn't the only thing gleaned when charting WWE's '08 via 52 episodes of blockbuster telly. SmackDown was doing its best to push some new stars and counteract errant early criticism about the PG jump, but how about Raw? It was still considered John Cena's domain, but the Jericho vs. Michaels feud and ascent of ex-ECW workers like CM Punk offered some refreshing changes to the 'Super Cena' formula.

In truth, Raw didn't belong to Cena in 2008 - at least not 100% of the time. That'll be examined in depth here, and so will other topics like the hyped up HD switchover, a special broadcast WWE should honestly think about doing again, why politics and wrestling just don't mix, and perhaps the oddest General Manager in company history.

People are still scratching their heads over that one.

'08 was a year of change for the 'A' brand in many respects, including its presentation. That's another decision folks lambasted, and there was tension behind the scenes about certain Draft choices too. Oh the drama!

Attention, Triple H: Repeat this.

The 10 March 2008 Raw was billed as a chance to revisit WrestleMania matches of old in sequel form. So, for example, John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels ('Mania 23) would he happening again, so would Triple H vs. Kane ('Mania 15), and The Undertaker vs. Mark Henry ('Mania 22) in a 'Casket Match' was there too.

In a wild call, they even booked The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff vs. U.S Express duo Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo as a redo from the first WrestleMania. That didn’t end up happening after all though (it was for the best), and some of the other bouts were a little tenuous. Mr. Kennedy vs. Finlay happened because both were in Money In The Bank at one point. Erm...OK then?

Yes, WWE should revisit this idea again at some stage, because it’s a cool concept for a meaty episode around 'Mania time. Fans would surely jump at the opportunity to see rematches like Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns, Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus etc etc.

Admittedly, the company might want to execute it better than they did back in '08, right enough. Speaking of opportunities, this was a missed one other than HBK vs. Cena. 'Taker vs. Henry was far too short to really mean anything, and Trips vs. Kane was hardly one of 15's standout bouts.

Despite those hiccups, it's a solid premise on paper and one which definitely deserves another look in. The 'WrestleMania Rewind' name is also perfect. Just copy it in coming years and everything will be fine.