10 Things You Learn Re-Watching The First Ever Episode Of Raw Is War

5. Shoot!

raw intro
WWE.com

The near-the-knuckle debate between Jerry 'The King' Lawler and Paul Heyman was designed to draw eyes onto ECW's upcoming Barely Legal pay-per-view, but served dual purpose in ramping up hostilities between Lawler and the entire ECW crew ahead of his eventual appearances for the Philadelphia outfit in subsequent months.

Allotted 90 seconds to start proceedings, Lawler took aim at the company for being small-time, at Vince McMahon for allowing the company anywhere near WWE's television output and Heyman himself for perpetuating the Land of Extreme from his parent's basement.

Paul E hit back, banging the drum for his organisation and drawing a positive response from the live crowd, before turning on Jerry specifically with cutting remarks about 'The King's legal troubles and inferring that Brian Christopher wanted to hide his familial links by changing his surname.

ECW wrestlers had surrounded the ring by this point, threatening to assault Lawler before Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman had to be physically held back from attacking the Memphis legend.

The segment ended comedically, with Lawler beckoning WWE superstars out to help him, before the realisation sunk in that he had no friends backstage ready to help.

Only a cut to the commercial break would save 'The King', leaving the storyline open for future development.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett