By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN’S WWE REVIEW SERIES
“THE BEST OF RAW AFTER THE SHOW”
RELEASED BY WWE IN 2014
BY SEAN RADICAN, TORCH COLUMNIST

“The Best of Raw After the Show” is a collection of segments that highlight what happens on Raw after it goes off the air. It’s amazing that WWE actually kept the cameras rolling for so long after Raw went off the air, especially during the Attitude Era through 2004 when most of the segments on the collection took place.

When reading the reports of what happened once Raw goes off the air in recent years, it seems like WWE just gives the fans a bonus match if anything at all to keep the fans happen, but during the Attitude Era, the show was never over when the cameras stopped rolling.

I have fond memories of Stone Cold Steve Austin coming out and laying out the heels several times when I attended Raw during the Attitude Era. These moments were a blast and Austin always set the crowd on fire with his hilarious theatrics after Raw was over.

“Raw: After the Show” perfectly captures what fans experienced when they attended a show from the late 90s to the mid-2000s. The stars of this set are Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. Fans will get to see Stone Cold and The Rock entertain the crowd and cut loose without the restrictions of TV time. Rock and Austin were just there to have a good time; although Austin’s comedic chops really shine on this release.

This set is likely to bring back a lot of good memories from the Attitude Era for people that enjoyed it. Right off the bat, there’s a segment with Austin drinking beer and dishing out stunners on Triple H and Shane McMahon. After watching this set, I never need to hear Austin’s theme again, as it played over and over throughout most of these segments.

One of the funniest segments features the heel Shane McMahon in 2000 trying to get on The Rock’s good side. McMahon’s Rock imitation is hilarious and the end result of their interaction is Rock at his best.

The one downside to this collection is that some of the segments with Rock and Austin get repetitive at times. If there’s one segment that doesn’t satisfy, it seems like the next one picks things right back up, so you’re never getting back-to-back segments that aren’t entertaining.

Although I had seen the segment with several of the wrestlers trying to get Undertaker to do a spinaroonie, it really is a hilarious segment, especially given Undertaker’s reaction to the big rib being pulled on him. I really enjoyed how the segment escalated to Vince McMahon coming out and strutting down to the ring to challenge Undertaker’s manhood and do a spinaroonie.

There’s a couple of touching segments as well with Rock as a heel. Although he’s a heel, The Rock broke character to create a couple of special moments with disabled children at ringside. It’s a lot of fun to see Rock try to saddle the line between heel and face while making these kids dreams come true.

There’s a really long and entertaining segment shown with Austin, Foley, RVD, and Booker T. Foley eventually leaves after getting a couple of cheap pops because he has to catch a red eye flight. I suspect he wanted to get out of the ring because he had one heck of a cut under his eye.

Eventually they get ring announcer Lillian Garcia involved and try to get her to do a spinaroonie in a short black dress. At one point she tells Austin that he just wants to see her underwear and Austin deadpans that he already has.

The segment continues to escalate as Austin tries to get the cameramen involved to get Garcia to do a spinaroonie, but she won’t relent. RVD even joins in the fun and does a really terrible spinaroonie. Garcia agrees to drink with Austin, RVD, and Booker and drinks several beers as they pour beer on top of her. Austin keeps getting back on the mic when the segment finally appears to be over and keeps mentioning how the people need to be somewhere and how it’s getting very late.

The payoff finally come when Austin gets down on one knee like he’s going to propose to Garcia, but instead of asking her to marry him, Austin says, “Lillian, will you get me another beer?” I just about died laughing at Austin holding court the way he did for so long during that segment.

The set concludes with an assortment of matches and in-ring segments that stretch this collection into the modern era. Many of these have never been released on DVD before, so if you’re looking for fresh material, there’s a lot of it included in this collection that hasn’t been released before.

Overall thoughts: (8.5) – This is a collection from WWE that is well-worth seeking out. It is fun to see the Rock and Austin hold court the way they do and have fun with the ring announcers, other wrestlers, the cameramen, and the fans. There are other wrestlers involved in the segments included on this set, but it really is the Rock and Austin show when it came to closing down Raw during the period showcased on this release.

This set will bring back a lot of good memories for fans that attended shows during this period. I can think of a couple of show closing segments from Raw’s I attended during this era that I would have like to have seen on this release, especially the entire Mick Foley title celebration after he won his first WWE Championship. It truly was electric in the building that night.

If you weren’t a fan of WWE during the Attitude Era and a little beyond, this set is still worth checking out. You get to why The Rock and Austin were such big stars and the payoff the fans get for being at Raw live after it went off air was a lot of fun during this period.

You can purchase WWE “The Best of Raw After the Show” by clicking HERE or by visiting Amazon.com. For more information on WWE visit WWE.com.

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