25 Years Of WWE Raw Mistakes

Incomparable to almost any other genre of television (despite their best efforts to suggest otherwise in 'DO YOU KNOW' graphics), Monday Night Raw absolutely deserves plaudits for reaching a landmark few broadcasts ever arrive upon. A quarter of century broadcasting Vince McMahon's vision of pro wrestling represents a symbol of WWE's assuredness as a brand in the eyes of the American mass audience, and a sizeable global contingent that now also receive the show live.

Comparing the product to a combination of Monday Night Football and Days Of Our Lives always felt lazy, and even at times derivative. The athletes performing on Raw often push themselves far beyond the realms of the NFLers, and even the most ridiculous soap plots (and plotholes) can't compete with the in-front-of-a-live-audience nature of WWE's on brand chaos.

But to paraphrase the late Andre The Giant, "25 years...is a long time". With two hours since 1997 and three since 2012, the company have forced themselves into knocking out so much that the hit-rate was destined to drop. That's not to excuse these particularly putrid pieces. As the front face of the WWE output since its inception, Monday Night Raw has forever worn the heart of the company on it's tattooed sleeve. It's subsequently required a fair share of cover-ups over the years.

A sad end to a legendarily misunderstood gimmick, Doink's shift from schizophrenic psychopath to...well, a clown was the premature end of one of Vince McMahon's most intriguing ever ideas. Plunging the character into unjustified infamy, a babyface turn stripped a nuanced persona back to its literal worst.

A circus act in an increasingly cartoonish world, the vision of prankster Doink playing tricks on heels instead of disarming babyfaces with callous intent flushed away any memory of Matt Bourne's phenomenal year in the guise.