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Tonight is the historic 1000th episode of Raw - the "longest running episodic television show in history!" Well, not really but that's what WWE tells us. Anyway, it's going to be a great show tonight with a ton of huge segments, surprises, special guests, and big matches planned. Before we get to tonight's show, I think it's important to look back at some of our favorite Raw moments from the past 999 episodes. Yes, there has been a TON of crap, especially in recent years, but there still have been hundreds of amazing segments and matches throughout the years. Off the top of my head, here are a few of my favorites (in no particular order). Please post your own as well (Raw only, no Smackdown, PPV, etc).
The Steve Austin/Bryan Pillman Gun Incident
The Steve Austin Beer Truck
The Kurt Angle Milk Truck
Steve Austin and Mike Tyson Confrontation
HHH's 2002 Return at MSG
Chris Jericho Defeating HHH
John Cena vs Shawn Michaels UK Hour Long Match
The Undertaker vs Jeff Hardy Ladder Match
DX Invades WCW
CM Punk's Pipebomb Promo
The Rock Gives The Nation of Domination Gifts
The Nexus Debuts and Beatdown John Cena
Vince McMahon Humiliates Trish Stratus (awful but I'll never forget it)
Mankind Wins the WWF Title
Chris Jericho's Debut
123 Kid Beats Razor Ramon
ECW Invades Raw (1997)
Randy Savage Tribute Video
Ric Flair vs Mr Perfect Loser Leaves Town Match
Like I said, these are just a few off the top of my head. PLEASE post your own memorable moments. I would say lean towards great moments, but there are plenty of awful Raw memorable moments as well.
The talk in most circles is that Vince is pushing for a new "big angle of the summer" tonight. Nothing is confirmed and WWE is keeping things very quiet on this. However, they are hoping to get the buzz they had two summers ago with The Nexus debut and last summer with CM Punk's pipebomb promo. There are numerous segments confirmed for tonight, so let's run through them:
DX Reunion - This will kick off the show at 8pm et. HHH, Shawn Michaels, Sean Waltman, Billy Gunn, and Road Dogg Jesse James are all confirmed for tonight's show. Chyna will not be at tonight's show. Having HHH act like a goof after being portrayed as the serious COO for the past year is not appealing to me. However, there will be a ton of nostalgia tonight, so this will just be one piece of it.
Brock Lesnar Returns - Lesnar and Heyman will be on tonight's show to answer HHH's Summerslam challenge. I don't know if this will play into the DX Reunion, but it's certainly possible. The HHH vs Lesnar match at Summerslam is happening, so it's just a matter of if they officially announce the match tonight or hold it off for a few more weeks. The logical storyline is Lesnar destroys HBK, possibly breaking his arm with the kimura to build the match with HHH. However, in two weeks, Raw is in San Antonio and it's being billed as HBK Appreciation Night. So it's very possible they hold off a beating of HBK until then (if they plan on doing it at all). The most interesting thing to me is how they will portray Lesnar tonight. WWE has dropped the ball with him to say the least. Between losing his first match back, being portrayed as a whining baby filing lawsuits, and then being buried by HHH in promos while he was off TV, WWE certainly hasn't handled their $5 million dollar man very well.
The Rock Returns - It's unknown what The Rock's role will be tonight. I would think it will have something to do with his return in 2013 to set up his assumed rematch with John Cena, but at this point, it's anyone's guess.
CM Punk v John Cena for the WWE Title - Last week John Cena announced he would be cashing in his Money in the Bank title shot on the 1000th episode of Raw against CM Punk. This is my guess for the "big angle of the summer" because I think CM Punk will turn heel here which will help play out a few stories. First, they have seemingly been subtly been building a Punk heel turn the past few weeks as different characters have repeatedly pointed out that Punk has been overshadowed by multiple other wrestlers during his time as champion, specifically including John Cena. Secondly, a heel turn allows for a non-finish of tonight's match to set up a rematch at Summerslam. Third, a non-finish means that John Cena does not successfully cash in MITB. Cena is the perfect guy to be unsuccessful with MITB because failing will not hurt him one bit, and it then adds some intrigue to future MITB winners that they may not be an automatic lock to win the WWE Title. Lastly, WWE is extremely light on heels, especially with Jericho turning face, and Punk is much better as a heel, so it seems to be a perfect fit for him. The only problem I can see tonight is fans actually cheering a Punk heel turn tonight since it will be against Cena, so they will have to have a very well worked story to turn him. Punk has been pushing on Twitter for Jim Ross to call this match. Ross will be at tonight's show, so it seems likely. Plus, Ross calling Punk's heel turn will be 1000x more effective than Cole doing it.
Daniel Bryan and AJ Wedding - This is one segment I really wish wasn't happening on tonight's show. Wedding's are usually nice ratings draws, but on tonight's show, it's just going to get lost in the shuffle. Plus, they just announced the wedding last week, they rushed through the wedding planning segments on Smackdown (which were awesome), and are now rushing the wedding tonight. They could have had weeks of awesome videos between wedding planning, bachelor/bachelorette parties, and other goofiness with these two that would have been awesome. If we've learned one thing over the past 999 episodes of Raw, it's that WWE weddings NEVER go off without a hitch. The logical guess would be that Kane interrupts tonight's wedding, but that seems too predictable. I for one would like to see the wedding go off as planned and Bryan and AJ become the new power heel couple of the WWE because I think they're great together.
The Permanent Raw GM Will Be Announced - My gut says it will be John Laurinaitis. As long as it's not Hornswoggle, I don't really care because I'm so bored of the "authority figure role" on WWE programming.
Christian Defends the Intercontinental Title - It was decided by fan vote that Christian would defend his IC Title, so I'm going to guess that his opponent will also be decided by fan vote. With so many past wrestlers returning for tonight's show, I think the choices will be past IC Champions. I'll say Carlito, Val Venis, and Ken Shamrock.
As I said above, there is going to be a TON of nostalgia on tonight's show. Here is a confirmed list of talent returning for tonight's show. This is only a partial list. Many, many more will be on the show to the point that it is said to be overkill.
Shawn Michaels
John Layfield
Sid Vicious
Roddy Piper
The Rock
Mick Foley
Bret Hart
Brock Lesnar
Paul Heyman
Kelly Kelly
Jim Ross
Gene Okerlund
Mae Young
Steve Blackman
Alicia Webb
Sean Waltman
Sid Vicious
Diamond Dallas Page
Sgt. Slaughter
Jim Duggan
Vader
Road Warrior Animal
Slick
Billy Gunn
Bob Backlund
Road Dogg
Finally, as if 3 hours of Raw wasn't enough (and if you are setting your DVR, I suggest setting it until 11:30 pm et because there will be a LONG overrun), there is a 30 minute preshow on Youtube and WWE.com previewing tonight's show.
I've created a poll asking what you think the main event segment of tonight's show should be. I also look forward to reading/seeing all of your favorite Raw moments, predictions, and ideas for tonight's show. Should be a really fun night.
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