I have many loves in live but one of the ones that take most of my hear is wrestling. For the past three weeks I have been on the CraicAttackCentral twitter [Shameless Plug on my Own Website https://x.com/CraicAttack] posting my live reactions to the events going on during the Monday Night Raw shows. Whats funny about that is that in Ireland I would be up at 1am watching it here in Thailand it was 8am to 10.30am which was handy because I had plenty of walking to do anyways [Postshadowing for a blog post later on] and honestly the time difference made this a far more enjoyable show. With that being said I will still be honest
This was week three of RawOnNetflix something that changes the view of this show vastely as it is the first time since the 90ās that a major culture event has occured that has brandished new eyes onto the product. As should be the way the show informing you where it is from tonight Dallas Texus with a beautiful stock video of the arena and then to a view of a few of the upper stars entering the arena your Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, CM Punk rule of 3 with great running commentary from the Voice of the Voiceless Michael Cole. It built the show phenomonally and made your excited for what you might see. The they mention the fourth person Rhea Ripley and how she got attacked by Nia Jax giving a brand new hook to reel us in even more. The we get a Drone shot of the arena sold out with over 15k people. Makes the spot feel like a music be at event.
For the first time the commentary team needed to be changed Normally itās Pat McAfee and Michael Cole but tonight it was Michael Cole and Wade Barrett. Pat and Michael mix like peanut butter and Jelly. Like bacon and Cabbage. Like me and wrestling. Whereas Michael and Wade are like a band without a drummerāsomething’s missing or pizza and pineappleāsome love it, some don’t however I must say they were better tonight then on past appearances
The we got one of two Audience Entrances with Main Event Jey Uso. Since Backlash in France on May 4 2024 he has been the most popular man wwe has. His base charisma and joy are infectious and wonderful and lead to situations that are enjoyable for the long time fans like when McAfee is there he will dance on the commentary desk and try to get Cole to take part that couldnāt happen and Wade Barrett is a far more serious character so for one time Cole became the cheesiest he cold possibly become and dance around youāll find the clip below thanks to the great CrispyWrestling on twitter, It genuinely makes you want to enjoy the show more seeing this
Before Jey can speak his opponent at the big event Saturday Night Main Event [SNME] the RAW world champion Gunther came out. For those that wouldnāt know it is of my opinion that Gunther is the closest thing to the perfect wrestler since one Randy Orton. Only thing he lacks is a connection with the fans. In his promo he can be brilliant but the fans have been distant and before tonight it has been a problem for him when he has been face to face with Jey. The two went back and forth and this time I think Gunther may have won but to be fair that’s also because Jey Lied about being in the Main Event of Mania. Night 1 Main Event doesnāt count. It does but does it really? Either way it made me excited for the Match next saturday
After there interaction we go backstage to Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods The New Day one of the greatest WWE tag teams of all time who have unfortunately been stagnating for a long time they meet Legend John āBradshawā Layfield otherwise known as JBL and I have to stop here.
WWE announced a partnership with a ārivalā called TNA and JBL was a very important part of their big show which was just one this weekend. Now throughout the next two segments I was awaiting this partnership or the event during the weekend to be mentioned neither of which were. This lead me as a SMARK which is a term for a fan who believes that the events and characters in professional wrestling are real. It can also refer to a fan who is overly devoted to a particular wrestler, promotion, or style of wrestling to expect JBL to do something which bothered me in the upcoming match
Thankfully they went straight from that interaction to the match for Rey Mysterio verse Kofi Kingston and well it got me thinking about The New Day. They still come out to the entrance they had when they were good guys. A mistake to me because the man they ābetrayedā Big E is the voice in there entrance. I would keep everything the same but remix his voice into something disparaging every week
To those unaware years ago JBL used to be on commentary with on Michael Cole and its amasing to watch a person go back into a position like they never left it. However it did lead to a few issue. First hes a legend and hasnāt been seen much so he currently a baby face in the crowds eyes but hes flipping from Babyface to Heel the entire match. Additionally He didnāt actually do anything and thus wasted his and our time. As for the match it was good but to me the wrong man won The New Day needed the win and a random beat down wont do enough to build them up correctly
After that we got a short scene with The Judgement Day, but specifically Dominik Mysterio and Chad Gable. Dom is one for the future it would not shock me if in ten years time he was a multiple time world champion and Gable is unfortunately running against the clock to see if heāll ever reach the peak he deserves to be at. So this made me extremely excited for what is next to happen
Now itās funny because after this they went to the reason Gable went to Dom they went to Pete Dunne Verse Penta and this is a showcase of where production is king. The new pyro they added to penta entrance was brilliant it made him feel like a king. One thing I did notice is his attire looks a lot like Domās and that worries me a bit that it could become a hurdle for Dom on I would despise seeing if Iām honest. Whats great too is the match went long which was badly needed for Dunne He has almost everything needed as well so hopefully he can get by these loses and build to something in the future he is remarkably young which helps
Next came and Interesting dichotomy of wrestling a fantastic Logan Paul video promo and an even better CM Punk live promo with a brilliant interviewer in Jackie Redmond. One man Hated, the other … Loved … by most and the timing helped rise on off the other. I think Logan Paul has it when it comes to wrestling and Punk has our attention with his ability and excellence also a checky Hulk Hogan bash which was funny if nothing else. It is only a matter of time until this match happens too and to me this was subtly foreshadowing of its approach. Could it be a Wrestlemania match I think it would rule but I donāt think this is the year fore it?
This is a post from Wrestle Ops on Twitter brilliant account and you can see the fun in Punk, Redmond and the audiences eyes during the whole thing
After this came a Tag Team match bring forth some of the best women drowning in WWE inability to do anything with the Tag Team division. Iyo Sky, and Zoe Stark, are Main Eventer quality and the others arenāt far off but this match didnāt help them much. Itās better to be in the ring than not but with the Silent Entrance which is basically an entrance that occurred when the main camera was focused elsewhere for Pure Fusion Collection to the fact that itās not the first match these groups have had for no reason I hope they all find something soon however, Iām losing faith in that
Then came the Main Event and I could write a thesis for this and the level of foreshadowing and story telling on display here. Earlier in the show there were a few segments with one Sami Zayn from a conversation with his former best friend Kevin Owens to one of the competitors within this match Seth Rollins this was all a set up to his story.
Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre have a long history and being used as setup for another story while prolonging their own story is the thing that makes this era of WWE so exciting. It helps even more that the matches are excellent. Those we got a Slobberknocker of a match and plenty of threads for the future. The match itself ended in a whimper with a roll up by Rollins but that was needed because both men needed to not outright lose.
The Thesis part come from the final scene Drew was going to lay out Rollins but after events and miscommunications Sami hit his finisher move on Seth Rollins instead of Drew. Why is this important because it is obvious at some point either Seth or Sami or both will be turning heel soon. That intrigue alone is enough to get me to continue watching this show be it at 1am in Ireland or at 8am in 30Ā°C heat.
This is why I love wrestling, Why I love WWE, As you may have noticed by some of my embedded tweets this isnāt even all of my thoughts. It isn’t even all of the tweets. I could write another 2k words on this show easily but Iāll leave it with this. Honestly if you have ever been interested in WWE this is the time to get into it. The community are a pleasure to talk too. The production is insane and the crowds are next level even non televised shows are next level.
I will continue to talk about wrestling from now on. Eventually I want to transition to a video review of these events to make my opinion easier to understand but for now please enjoy my honest opinion of 21-1-2025 Monday Night raw
Craic Attack Central 