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What's the story?
Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated recently mentioned some backstage information on the Extra Mustard column regarding Raw 25. One of the topics covered was why Vince McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin kicked off the special on Monday.
In case you didn't know...
The very first Stone Cold Stunner that Austin delivered to Vince McMahon was on the September 22nd edition of Monday Night Raw in 1997. Austin was out of control, so Vince had police placed around ringside, but Austin still got in the ring and would beat up Owen Hart.
Vince was still a play-by-play announcer at this time, so the transformation to Mr. McMahon was yet to come. Vince got in the ring to try to reason with Austin, but that was when history was made.
The heart of the matter...
The main reason why Austin and McMahon kicked off Raw 25 was to pull in as many casual viewers as they could to help build a bigger audience on the Road To WrestleMania. Many see the Royal Rumble pay per view as the official start of that road.
The hype surrounding Raw 25 coupled with Vince and Austin starting things was a huge success in the ratings. The first hour gained an outstanding 4.8 million viewers on their way to the first viewership of over 4 million since the Raw after WrestleMania 32 in 2016.
Raw 25 kicked off with Shane and Stephanie McMahon welcoming us to this special edition of Monday Night Raw. After a video package, they would introduce their father Vince McMahon.
After some heartfelt words from Vince, his children would present him with a plaque; which would turn Vince into the Mr. McMahon character we loved and hated in the Attitude Era.
After proclaiming he built Raw all by himself, the glass broke and Austin came out. No words were spoken, but Shane would eat two Stunners and Vince would take one more to add to his astronomical total throughout the years.
What's next?
A big weekend is on the horizon for the WWE as NXT Takeover: Philadelphia takes place on Saturday with Johnny Gargano challenging Andrade Cien Almas for the NXT Championship.
One of the big four pay per views is on Sunday with the Royal Rumble. In addition to the men's and women's Royal Rumble matches, four titles will be on the line with the two tag titles and two major titles.
Author's take...
It made complete sense to me that Austin and McMahon kicked off Raw 25. It is the best feud in pro wrestling history, and as soon as word of mouth on social media got around that the McMahon's were starting Raw 25 off, I'm sure that got those casual fans to tune in as they knew Stone Cold was not far behind.
