Stone Cold, Shawn Michaels on Raw a Reminder Personality Lacks in Today's Stars

Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and every other WWE Superstar should have brought their notebooks to Raw on Monday night.

Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker and, most prominently, Shawn Michaels gave lessons on how to make a mark in the industry they helped create. 

The former champions did for WWE and Vince McMahon what the deepest, most physically gifted roster of WWE Superstars ever hasn’t been able to do: Bring energy to a live crowd for an entire show while delivering cutting, meaningful promos that advanced agendas.

For all of their talents, the current crop of main-roster Superstars, as a whole, is a group that takes its cues from WWE Creative without question or critique. They are actors playing parts, men and women who deliver lines from a teleprompter with the intensity of a golf announcer. 

Austin, Michaels and their contemporaries—The Rock, Mick Foley, Edge and Christian—might have followed the same scripts, but they took the ideas given to them and made them their own. Delivery, charisma, showmanship: These are what make WWE Superstars into legends, and such legendary figures were on display Monday night. 

Austin, Undertaker, Heyman Deliver Opening Promo Magic

The standard formula for every Raw—the extended opening promo—didn't change on Monday night. 

Typically, no matter who leads off the show—Rollins, The Authority, Reigns—it dies a slow death due to poor timing and worse execution. 

Even The New Day, the most over-act on the main roster and deliverers of great promos, haven't been able to completely save the tent pole of every Raw. At best, The New Day act works because of the ability of Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E Langston to play off each other in a natural way. 

At worst, they're forced to extend their schtick too long, making repetitive jokes that fall flat on the audience both in the arena and at home. 

Contrast the typically staid format with what WWE gave us Monday night: three men who know how to deliver a moment. Steve Austin, The Undertaker and Paul Heyman gave WWE fans a well-timed, well-intentioned promo for both the WWE Network and the upcoming Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. 

Austin was shooting from the hip, giving us all reminders of the good times (opening American Airlines Arena in Dallas with The Rock) and naturally flowing into his core message: Don't forget: Brock Lesnar's on my podcast on the WWE Network after Raw.

Undertaker delivered carefully crafted lines that felt organic, not rehearsed. Paul Heyman reminded everyone the importance of Hell in a Cell, selling the entire fandom on why their TVs should be tuned to the upcoming pay-per-view. Brock Lesnar was Brock Lesnar, staring down The Deadman and letting his advocate take care of the heavy lifting. 

It was Selling 101 in wrestling, with each man's personality shining through. 

HBK Steals the Show, Teaches Valuable Lesson

The biggest display of personality on this night belonged to Shawn Michaels, who not only delivered classic Shawn Michaels but taught the entire locker room a valuable lesson in the process. 

Kicking off the second hour of Raw, Michaels oozed confidence and charisma the minute he stepped onto the entrance ramp. 

Heading down to the ring, the Heartbreak Kid high-fived adults, tickled a baby's stomach and even ate a young fan's pizza. You won't see that out of Rusev. 

Like Austin, he regaled the hometown crowd with quick anecdotes about fighting inside the Hell in a Cell structure. But it wasn't until Rollins joined him in the ring when Michaels really got rolling.

Rollins was his typical self-obsessed self. As the organization's top heel, there should be an aura about him. Instead, he generates little presence except for a few well-delivered lines about being not only the future, but Shawn Michaels Version 2.0.

Michaels, however, delivered counter punches to every Rollins jab. But the biggest takeaway for not only Rollins but every Superstar in the locker room was one Michaels remark that was so pointed it didn't feel scripted:

You can try and be a newer version of someone else, or become an original. 

"

Shawn Michaels is the best.

— Kevin Owens (@FightOwensFight) October 20, 2015"

Michaels couldn't have been any more spot-on with his assessment of the majority of the WWE roster. There are only a handful of wrestlers on the roster who can be considered originals: Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Kevin Owens come to mind. 

The rest are stripped down, antiseptic versions of their heroes. They are given little room by Vince McMahon and WWE Creative to work their own angles.

But even when they're let off the leash a bit, they don't know how to react. Roman Reigns, for example, was given a prime opportunity to deliver on the previous week's Raw. Instead of bringing meaning to his feud with Wyatt, he bombed his promo terribly, resulting in negative fan reaction both in person and on social media. 

Michaels, Austin, Undertaker and Heyman all delivered in a big way Monday night. They not only sold the WWE Universe and WWE fans on their matches and angles, but they taught the next generation of Superstars what it takes to be more than a wrestler on the roster. 

They showed how a Superstar delivers in a pinch, and how the greatest make even the smallest moments must-see TV. 

And you can believe that.