WWE Monday Night Raw 1000: Was It the Best Episode in the Show's History?

On paper, the 1,000th episode of Raw had the potential to be the greatest episode in history.

It had been meticulously planned and heavily promoted for months, built up to be the biggest episode ever. Virtually every major star the company has ever had—past and present—were there and scripted to participate. Several major angles, including a wedding and a WWE Championship match, were also scheduled.

Ultimately though, for the publicity, endless cameos and big returns, Raw 1,000 itself was rather patchy, and certainly not anything close to the best episode in the show's episode.

Oh, it had several great moments: The DX reunion at the beginning, complete with appearances from the long-absent Billy Gunn, X-Pac and Road Dogg, was fantastic fun and filled with witty, memorable moments (HHH's sly little dig at HBK "losing his smile" was particularly great).

The cameo-filled Heath Slater beat-down was a cool, nostalgic moment and it was nice to see the likes of Lita and the APA back on television again. Slater's selling was very good, too.

Another tremendous cameo occurred when former announcer Sean Mooney conducted an interview with Daniel Bryan, showing himself to be considerably better than the company's current crop of announcers/interviewers. Hire him, Vince!

The return of Mae Young's "son" in a backstage segment with AJ and Layla provided a marvelous throwaway laugh and may have helped partially redeem what remains one of the worst storylines in wrestling history.

The show also ended on a dramatic note: WWE Champion CM Punk shockingly turned heel when he attacked The Rock after he won his interference-filled match with Cena, sending shock waves throughout the company.

But several other things on the program fell flat, or were just downright bad.

The Undertaker's return, for one thing, was distinctly underwhelming.

Who exactly decided that one of The Undertaker's (rare) television appearances should be wasted in an awful, throwaway skit with Jinder Mahal and a bunch of other jobbers?

Why exactly Kane, long-considered one of the most dominant monsters to ever grace the company, couldn't handle some low-level stars on his own, and needed the help of his brother, was never answered either.  

The long-awaited Brock Lesnar/Triple H segment didn't live up to expectations either.

Indeed, the whole skit seemed to exist solely for Stephanie McMahon to lay into Paul Heyman and bombard him with a multitude of scathing work/shoot comments about how little she, and her family, thought of him (she berated him for so long, it eventually became a little uncomfortable to watch).

The HHH/Lesnar brawl afterwards was largely fine, but probably can't help revive this floundering feud. A few months into his WWE run and Lesnar has seemingly become "just another guy."

The AJ/Bryan wedding failed to live up to expectations too. Oh, it had some wacky little moments. Bryan coming out clad in a hilarious white tux. The return of former WWF manager Slick to preside over the wedding. Bryan screaming "Yes!" instead of "I Do!"

But the whole thing veered off into the ridiculous after AJ suddenly stopped the wedding and announced she would not be marrying her boyfriend after all. The former NXT Diva then revealed to the masses she had gotten a better offer earlier in the day.

That was the cue for WWE owner Vince McMahon to come out and announce that AJ was the new Raw general manager (presumably she's running SD too, but that's not been established yet).

AJ then happily skipped off, leaving behind a furious Daniel Bryan.

There were a few questions here: Why did being GM mean AJ couldn't marry Daniel? Did Vince give her an ultimatum? If so, why didn't she say? Also, how did she go from being madly in love with her boyfriend last week to being largely indifferent to him this week?  

The whole thing was nonsensical.

The Rock's comeback was also hit-or-miss.

His promo work was top-notch, per usual, but the tepid reaction from the fans in attendance to his announcement that he was getting a title shot at next year's Royal Rumble was worrying. The reveal was so random and sudden, it appeared the fans in St. Louis didn't know what quite to make of it.

This is not to say Raw 1,000 was a failure.

After all, despite its flaws it was a lively, action-packed show that got everyone talking and drummed up interest in the stagnant WWE product. No doubt it was a massive rating, too. The company shouldn't be ashamed of this show; in many ways, it was a big success and accomplished what it set out to do. 

But, quality-wise, was it the best Raw episode of all-time? Not even close.