5 subtle things you might have missed on Raw 25

The anticipation for the 25th Anniversary of Raw was sky high. With the show taking place at two venues (complete with a vintage setting in one venue) and the return of so many legends including The Undertaker, the WWE seemed to be pulling out all the stops to make the show extravagant.

In reality though, what we got was an underwhelming show with only a brief glimpse of the returning legends. Yet there were some good moments in the show as well, like the opening segment, for example.

Amidst all that, here are 5 things you might have missed while watching the show.

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#5 Just listen to the fans Vince

The opening segment was the best one in the show

The show started off slightly predictably with authority figure Shane and Stephanie McMahon in the ring getting the fans ready for the show. When Vince came out, there was a huge pop. After all, this is the man responsible for what the WWE is today.

To show their admiration, the WWE Universe started chanting "Thank you Vince" while the Chairman was cutting his promo. However, Vince mistook the chants for "CM Punk" chants and shot back saying, "Don't start that!".

Realising what just happened, Stephanie came to the rescue telling Vince that he was hard of hearing and that they were actually chanting for him!

#4 Continuity, please!

Another meaningless tag match took place on Raw 25

The second segment was an 8-women tag match (Is that you, Teddy Long?). The match itself was decent enough, with Asuka gaining momentum after the match.But the problem is, the teams did not exactly make sense.

It was only a couple of weeks ago that Nia Jax came out to the ring and attacked Paige to assert her dominance and today she teamed up with the Absolution. Really, who books these things? Carelessness like this will make sure that fans will never take the Women's division as seriously as they do the Men's.

#3 Mixed signals

A nostalgia trip with Mene Gene

After racist comments made by Hulk Hogan were leaked to the public, WWE took all steps necessary to sever ties with arguably the man who put pro wrestling on the map back in the '80s. However, a while later, WWE started talking about the Hulkster on air, with few wrestlers mentioning him in passing. But there were still no signs about Hogan returning to the company in any manner.

Fast forward to Raw 25. There were the usual rumors that Hulk Hogan might make an appearance, however, no credible source had confirmed any of this. Turns out that the WWE still have their reservations about Hogan as he was not part of the celebrations.

But, what the WWE did do, was have AJ Styles imitate Hogan by saying his iconic line, "Let me tell you something, Mene Gene!". A subtle hint that they might be open to Hogan returning one day? We can only speculate.

#2 A short stare down

The mutual hatred continued on Raw 25

The Miz was recently named Wrestler of the Year by Rolling Stone. This seems about right as The Miz finally found his groove in 2017. His stock shooting up can probably be attributed to the shoot promo he cut on Daniel Bryan on an episode of Talking Smack.

WWE has carried this ongoing feud throughout the year in various ways, with one of them being The Miz mockingly imitating Daniel Bryan's roundhouse kicks in his matches. It seems like the WWE is sticking to this feud till now, as even on the Raw 25 episode while making his entrance, The Miz and Bryan had a brief stare down of sorts on the ramp.

If Daniel Bryan is ever cleared to compete in a WWE ring again, this will probably be the best feud to start off with.

#1 Royal Rumble, what's that?

At least Asuka remembers that the Royal Rumble is coming up

In the midst of all the hullabaloo surrounding Raw 25, the WWE Creative seem to have forgotten that this was also the go-home show for the second biggest PPV of the year.

There was no real build up to the Rumble match, with nobody new announcing their entry into the Royal Rumble. The only semblance of a build up we got was Asuka throwing everybody in the ring over the top rope, asserting that she intends to win the Rumble.

Actually, this might not be a very bad thing. With no wrestler being singled out, this year's Rumble match has turned out to be one of the most unpredictable in recent history, and that is exactly how a Royal Rumble should be.