Raw 25 is in the books and plenty of people have their own opinions of how it all went. Although some of the biggest segments caught our eye, some parts of the show really made us wonder why WWE decided to go that direction.
WWE made a lot of promises with the big 25th Anniversary of Raw and they certainly delivered when it came to having big names on the show. Of course, not everyone could make the big night, but one huge highlight involved “Stone Cold” Steve Austin coming down and having a little segment with Vince McMahon to kick off the night just like old times.
This segment ran well into the first hour of the show and was the first thing people really saw from the Barclays Center but there was a very good and strategic reason for WWE to start the show off in this manner.
Sports Illustrated reports the behind the scenes reasoning why Mr. McMahon ate a Stone Cold Stunner in the opening segment. WWE wanted to attract the more casual fan to the show and keep their attention. The thinking was to snag them back in time for the Road To WrestleMania.
This strategy probably helped a lot in getting a big audience and keeping them throughout the entire show. After all, they did pretty well when it comes to ratings. 4.53 million people tuned in to watch raw and although the number dipped by around 650,000 through the three-hour broadcast, they still did a pretty good job keeping people on board.
It was great to see Stone Cold back in the WWE and even though he didn’t say anything on the microphone, it was still an excellent moment that helped us remember the good times when Austin and McMahon were battling every week. We might never get that back, but Raw 25 was still a pretty cool taste of nostalgia.
AAAAAAAAAND ANOTHER ONE! STONE COLD STUNNER! STONE COLD STUNNER! STONE COLD STUNNER!#RAW25 @steveaustinBSR pic.twitter.com/K2WAQmuUEv
— WWE (@WWE) January 23, 2018