It began on a chilly January New York City night. The first episode of the WWF's Monday Night RAW was performed in front of an intimate but
enthusiastic
crowd and broadcast to millions of rowdy wrestling fans around the country. It would begin loudly but innocently enough; who knew it would grow,
and grow,
and grow some more and evolve into professional wrestling's flagship broadcast going well over 1,000 episodes strong into the year 2013, playing to
sold out stadiums around the country and, sometimes, beyond its borders. To celebrate about twenty years' worth of wrestling excitement and to
commemorate the 1,000th episode that aired on July 23, 2012 from St. Louis' Scottrade Center in front of over 18,000 fans, WWE Home Video has
compiled RAW 100, a collection of highlight clips singling out the best of the best of nearly two decades of unforgettable moments from
television's longest-running episodic program.
Triple H: the human "like" button.
RAW 100 delivers plenty of "awesome!," a wide array of stars, and simply the best the sports entertainment world has ever seen pass on
through, in, and around the square circle, all collected here in 100 moments presented in exactly 210 minutes. Basic math says that's only 2.1
minutes per highlight, arguably not enough time to do them all justice -- and definitely not enough to show them in their entirety, a real shame and
a missed opportunity for a more expansive set -- but enough to get and enjoy the gist of each and every one of them, to capture the, well,
raw sensations of delight, excitement, shock, hilarity, and all the other emotions that the best of RAW tends to bring about. Some moments
get a
little more time, others less, but ultimately this is a rapid-fire collection of the best of the brightest Monday Night RAW highlights that every WWE
fan will want to prominently display in their WWE Home Video library and watch time and time again.
And now for a few fun little statistics from RAW 100. Amidst a fairly even spread of matches, farewell speeches, humorous moments,
historical precedents, and flat-out-fun snapshots is a largely even collection that does cluster up in a few spots in terms of number of highlights in
any given year or grouping of years but that shows no recency bias. A quick count shows 49% of the highlights hail from the years 2003-2012,
leaving 51% for the years 1993-2002. The years 2007-2011 are home to 31% of the included highlights, while 32% come from the years
1997-1999. There are 12 total events from the year 1998 alone, making it the "best" year in RAW history if one were to judge based solely on this
set. On the flip side, 1994 would be declared the "worst;" it's not represented at all (it's the only year without at least one moment; 1995 only sees
one, and 2000 only two). However, 1999 claims not just the top moment and not only the top two moments, but all three of the declared "best"
moments from RAW history. Finally, the event that kicked it all off -- RAW's debut -- comes in at number 29.
Below is partial list of the chosen 100. All are presented in their respective 1.78 or 1.33 aspect ratios and in native or up-converted high
definition, both dependent on the age of the material in question.
100: Silent Stare -- February 21, 2011.
99: Tea Time with Santino -- November 8, 2010.
98: Evolution Kicks Out Randy Orton -- August 16, 2004.
97: WrestleMania XIV Challenge -- March 2, 1998.
96: Mouth-to-Mouth -- May 27, 1996.
95: Sheamus Puts Mark Cuban Through a Table -- December 7, 2009.
94: Are You Ready for Some Wrestling? -- November 22, 2004.
93: DX Mocks the McMahons -- June 26, 2006.
92: Tuxedo Match -- January 9, 1995.
91: Seth Green is the First Celebrity Host -- July 13, 2009.
90: Snitsky Punts Kane and Lita's Baby -- November 8, 2004.
89: Shawn Michaels Superkicks Hulk Hogan -- July 4, 2005.
88: Mr. McMahon Trains for Royal Rumble -- January 11, 1999.
87: Loser-Leaves-RAW Ladder Match -- October 3, 2005.
86: Mr. McMahon is Bald -- April 2, 2007.
85: The Rock's Eulogy for Stone Cold -- April 19, 1999.
84: Santino Marella: Milan Miracle -- April 16, 2007.
83: Mr. McMahon's Birthday Bash with DX -- August 24, 2009.
82: Marty Jannetty vs. Shawn Michaels -- May 17, 1993.
81: Edge's Retirement Speech -- April 11, 2011.
80: Triple H Takes Over DX -- March 30, 1998.
79: Hugh Jackman Punches Dolph Ziggler -- September 19, 2011.
78: Musical Chairs -- July 5, 2004.
77: Big Show's First Match -- March 22, 1999.
76: An Hour in England -- April 23, 2007.
75: Loser-Leaves-Town Match -- January 25, 1993.
74: Triple H and Shawn Michaels Reunite DX -- July 22, 2002.
73: CM Punk Cashes In Money in the Bank -- June 30, 2008.
72: Stephanie Announces Her Pregnancy -- February 11, 2002.
71: Bret "Hit Man" Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin: Street Fight -- April 21, 1997.
70: Floyd "Money" Mayweather Confronts Big Show -- March 10, 2008.
69: Kofi Kingston...Boom! Boom! Boom! -- November 16, 2009.
68: Hornswoggle is Mr. McMahon's Son -- September 10, 2007.
67: Y2J Throws HBK Into Jeritron 5000 -- June 9, 2008.
66: Cemented Corvette -- October 12, 1999.
65: Donald Trump Crashes RAW -- January 29, 2007.
64: Shawn Michaels Farewell Speech -- March 29, 2010.
63: The Rock Makes Fun of Toronto -- February 24, 2003.
62: Bob Barker Hosts RAW -- September 7, 2009.
61: Greater Power Revealed -- June 7, 1999.
60: Intercontinental Title Over a Bridge -- December 15, 1997.
59: Dumpster Incident -- February 2, 1998.
58: The Miz Cashes in Money in the Bank -- November 22, 2010.
57: U.S. vs. Canada Flag Match -- July 21, 1997.
56: Ric Flair Retirement Celebration -- March 31, 2008.
55: Lita vs. Trish Stratus -- December 6, 2004.
54: Chris Jericho "Wins" the WWE Championship -- April 17, 2000.
53: Dude Love Debuts -- July 14, 1997.
52: John Cena vs. Kevin Federline -- January 1, 2007.
51: Goldberg Debuts -- March 31, 2003.
50-1: Oh, no. Not that easy. Want to know the top 50 moments in RAW history? Slide up to the top, order through
Amazon, and enjoy!
No surprise, Raw 100 Moments' Blu-ray presentation varies wildly in original picture quality. From standard definition 4x3 material to early
lower-end
and more modern sharp 1.78:1 HD presentations, the collection is understandably all over the map in terms of how it looks. As usual, the standard
definition
material won't factor into the overall score, but fans should be satisfied with the general look and feel, even as it's home to a myriad of technical issues
inherent to the source material. The newest material fares quite well, and viewers familiar with the evolution of WWE HD picture quality know to expect
a little bit of a lesser presentation from the earlier days of the high definition footage on through to its more mature, stable appearance as seen in the
most
recent moments brought to Blu-ray. The new graphics are sharp, though they do show a bit of aliasing. Newly minted interview snippets offer superior
detailing and colors, not to mention strong black levels across the background. The newest HD footage shows fewer compression issues. It's all very
much watchable and thoroughly enjoyable if videophiles go in expecting a naturally wide berth of content from the past twenty years.
Raw 100 Moments features a stable and accurate Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Generally, the presentation is high on dialogue but does muster
up some additional elements. The spoken word is sufficiently clear even way back down memory lane; the presentation of older ringside, in-ring, and
backstage banter lacks the crispness and definition of the more recent elements -- both in the wrestling clips themselves and through various interview
footage crafted just for this set -- but the net effect is fine and most listeners absorbed in the material won't detect a very steep drop-off. Bass is a little
heavy and rattly when the graphics introducing each moment pop up on the screen. Music in various forms whether front-and-center or off in the
background during classic clips plays adequately and reflects the vitality, clarity, and presence of the original source. All in all, it's about the best-case
scenario for a program that spans about twenty years of material.
Raw 100 Moments features a very nice collection of extras spread across two discs, including the entire RAW 1000 episode and a lengthy RAW
roundtable. The only thing that's missing? The entire first episode of RAW. Seems sort of like a no-brainer for inclusion, but interested
parties (probably most buyers of this set) can find it easily enough on Youtube.
Disc One Bonus Moments:
Rocky Waters (HD, 1.33, 0:53): The Rock tosses a championship belt -- and the champ -- into the river.
WCW on RAW (HD, 1.33, 0:54): Booker T remembers his favorite moment.
One Man Band (HD, 1.78, 1:12): Heath Slater talks up some of his career highlights.
Piven Hosts RAW (HD, 1.78, 1:11): Jeremy Piven discusses his appearance on RAW.
Sheamus Wins King of the Ring (HD, 1.78, 1:04): The Irish wrestler remembers his favorite moment from 2010.
Shawn Michaels Mocks Montreal (HD, 1.33, 2:22): Michaels responds to his critics.
Disc Two:
The 1,000th Episode of RAW (HD, 1.78, 2:23:44): The program in its entirety, sans commercials.
The Making of RAW 1000 (HD, 1.78, 5:39): A disappointingly brief, but at the same time intriguing, behind-the-scenes look at how the
evening came together.
Legends Roundtable: The History of RAW (Blu-ray Exclusive) (HD, 1.78, 1:49:25): Gene Okerlund hosts Jim Ross, Brian James, Michael
Hayes, and Pat Patterson for a reflection on 1,000 episodes of RAW.
Raw 100 Moments is a superb collection and a must-own for every WWE fan, but of course it's not perfect. The perfectRAW
100 would feature the moments in their entirety, not just snippets of history. What's here is a compromise to squeeze it all into a manageable
runtime and onto one Blu-ray disc. It's disappointing that this is little more than a highlight reel, but it's better than nothing and it's well-executed
within its parameters. The set also comes up short by foregoing the inclusion of the very first episode of RAW to go with the 1,000th episode. Maybe
the WWE will get it right for the 2,000th show homage. As it is, the Blu-ray features high-end picture and sound quality, or at least high-end given the
nature of
the program, which is a collection of archival footage. Recommended to wrestling fans.
