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WWE celebrates 1,000 episodes of ?Raw' with three-hour special on USA full of all its stars, including the Rock

Posted: Jul 22nd 2012 By: CMBurnham

After more than 19 years, WWE?s ?Raw? marks its 1,000th episode with a celebratory show and permanent expansion.

One of the TV?s longest-running shows, ?Raw? (also known over the years as ?Monday Night Raw? and ?Raw SuperShow?) will air a three-hour special Monday night featuring WWE stars past, present and up-and-coming.

The Rock will be there, along with Mick Foley, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Brock Lesnar and Bret Hart.

?If you?ve never seen ?Raw,? this is the episode to watch,? says Michael (The Miz) Mizanin, a three-year ?Raw? veteran and former ?Real World? cast member. ?You will see things you will remember for a lifetime.?

The episode will be broadcast live from St. Louis? Scottrade Center at 8 p.m. on USA. It starts an hour earlier than usual, and bumps up from two hours to three.

As for why the show has remained so popular through the years: ?Raw? storylines make for some great watercooler talk. Heels (bad guys) vs. Faces (good guys). Feuds. Alliances.

?It?s like a soap opera for guys who won?t admit to watching soap operas,? says the semi-retired Foley.

While even the WWE admits that the story lines are fictional, the action in the ring is very physical.

Just talk to Zack Ryder, who in February was thrown from a wheelchair by fellow wrestler Kane, who had previously injured Ryder with a choke-slam that sent him through the floor.

?That messed up my back pretty badly,? Ryder says.

Even though the action is scripted, the audience doesn?t care, according to Robert Thompson, founder of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.

?It got to the point where it was a wink and a nod as to whether it was planned, but it didn?t matter much to fans,? he says.

Regardless, ?Raw?s? history is full of ?Did you see that?? moments.

The Miz recalls winning his first WWE championship in November 2010 after cashing in a ?Money in the Bank? contract.

During a ?Money in the Bank? match, a briefcase holding a contract hangs in the air, and eight wrestlers grab ladders and fight to unhook and grab it.

The Miz snagged the contract in July 2010, and cashed it in for a Championship Match against Randy Orton four months later.

?Nerves were running through my body,? said The Miz. ??Raw? has that live feeling ? there?s some sort of energy about it that you can?t explain.?

The fan base is broader than most may think, going beyond the stereotypical adult male. About one-third of ?Raw? viewers are women, and children are also into the action.

Cameras caught a priceless reaction of a little girl named Cayley after Miz beat her favorite wrestler, Randy Orton, during 2010?s ?Money in the Bank? challenge. The pint-size fan scowled fiercely and went down in WWE lore as the ?Miz girl.?

Foley, who spent 12 years with the WWE, remembers when fans tore his shirt to shreds during a Massachusetts match.

He?s also a standup comedian, and says that because of his wrestling career, he never runs out of comedic inspiration.

?I envision the other comics sitting around saying, ?This is no fair, Foley?s got so much material,?? Foley said. ?I was part of the world?s largest, greatest, most dysfunctional family.?

Memorable moments over the years include Steve Austin spraying the crowd with beer, and actor Hugh Jackman supposedly breaking Dolph Ziggler?s jaw with a sucker punch.

The show has changed with the times. Zack Ryder, aiming for more camera time on ?Raw,? started his own YouTube show, ?Z True Long Island Story,? and a Twitter campaign to get noticed.

?I wasn?t happy,? he says. ?I wanted to be the guy with action figures. I saw my own way to create opportunity and took it.?

It worked. Ryder is now a regular on ?Raw? and has since won his first WWE United States Championship.

With or without social media, Thompson believes it?s easy to see why ?Raw? has held on to its popularity.

?A fine French meal is different from a greasy pizza,? he says. ?But they both taste good.?