Monday Night Raw’s new era kicked off with an absolute bang on Monday night where WWE brought us one of the best episodes of Raw in quite a few years. For a change WWE had no problem filling out the 3 hours and the show was jam packed with huge matches.
Matches aside we noticed a whole host of small changes to the production aspects of Raw from the new logo to the set. WWE have tried to change the look and feel of the Raw to a degree so lets go ahead and look at what was awesome and what didn’t work.
New theme song and video
Raw opened up with changes from the word go this week with an amazing new intro video and a new theme song. The intro video itself if brilliant and features the best of the new era and the future of the WWE instead of focusing on the past. Slick production is something that WWE’s video team is renowned for and this video was no exception. It brings with it the excitement that a night of action packed wrestling should.
Verdict: Awesome
As for the new entrance theme, even though I’m a huge Shinedown fan in general, the song “Enemies” that’s being used as the new Raw theme just isn’t good enough. It sounds generic and doesn’t really fit with the product and bring that sense of excitement and adrenaline with it. It also doesn’t help that I loved the old theme “Tonight’s the night”.
Rating: Gruesome
New Logo
Mick Foley and the WWE unveiled a new logo for Raw in the lead-up to last week’s episode. The logo however, wasn’t well received by fans who compared it to something that a 4th grader have made out of stencils and with some asking if Vince had photoshopped it himself. The overtly simple logo looks more dated than anything else, and looks like it’s come out of early 90’s WWE rather than the cutting edge new era.
Rating: Gruesome
New set
In the lead up to the new era, many fans had been clamouring for a new set Monday Night Raw in a move away from the homogenous sets of the last few years. WWE have responded with a new look Raw set which is actually a redo of the SummerSlam sets from 2012 and 2013. Although a section of fans didn’t react well to rehashed set, this criticism is unwarranted. The new set looks really good and clearly sets apart the new era from the era before it.
Rating: Awesome
Commentary booth moved next to the ramp and Corey Graves called up
One thing I remember about WWE Raw from the mid-2000s is JR and Jerry Lawler in the commentary booth next to the ramp. For the new era, WWE has decided to move the commentary desk from ringside back to the ramp. Although this bring back memories, it’s not a great move.
Keeping the desk next to ringside added possibilities like guest commentators who could get involved in matches and at times the commentary desk itself was used as a weapon. Other than this, having the commentators calling the action from ringside is iconic of WWE.
Rating: Gruesome
On a brighter note, Corey Graves finally made his debut on the Raw commentary team and it was excellent. Graves joined Byron Saxton and Michael Cole in the new look commentary team for Raw and the trio were very good on their first show together. Even Michael Cole looked rejuvenated to be working with his protégé Corey Graves and wasn’t his usual dull and robotic self.
Rating: Awesome
New animations and graphics
WWE went the whole hog with the changes to the presentation with new animations and new graphics. The new graphics add a fresh look to Raw and brings welcome change to the presentation from fans who have been complaining about a stale product for years. Although this has nothing to do with the in-ring product, it’s a step in the right direction.
Rating: Awesome
