WWE Raw Season 18

Like unicorns, the Loch Ness monster and the lost city of Atlantis, the return of Bret Hart to WWE seemed merely the stuff of legend, a sight among the WWE faithful that would never come to fruition. Then it happened. After a controversial exit and a 12-year absence, The Excellence of Execution agreed to return to WWE as the first special guest host of Raw to kick off the new year. Even Bigfoot himself couldn’t have proven a more exciting host … or more shocking.

As professional boxing’s former Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World, Mike Tyson enjoyed a reputation for delivering the knockout punch in no time flat. As special guest host of Raw, however, the “Baddest Man on the Planet” held off until the final round to deliver a shocking KO to the WWE Universe – and especially Chris Jericho.

In the new comedy When In Rome, starring Raw’s special guest co-hosts Jon Heder and Don Johnson, a woman finds herself engulfed by an over abundance of affection from her suitors. Unlike the premise of their movie, though, Heder and Johnson found themselves surrounded by anything but love as Raw Superstars turned on one another in the lead up to the Royal Rumble.

After his co-star on USA Network’s Psych, James Roday, was rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy, actor Dule Hill was forced to act as Raw’s sole guest host. No worries, though, since Hill more than held his own with a little guidance from John Cena, who just so happens to guest star on Psych’s season premiere this Wednesday at 10/9 CT.

In his role as Capt. James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise, William Shatner presided over a crew that sometimes found themselves at each others’ throats. In his role as special guest host of Raw, the iconic actor also presided over a roster full of Superstars – and at least one Chairman – with enough personal vendettas to fill an entire galaxy.

Let the celebration continue! Just one night after the New Orleans Saints captured the NFL’s top prize in the Super Bowl, the people of Louisiana were still in the mood to party when Raw rolled into the Cajundome. Good thing, too, since special guest host and NASCAR driver Carl Edwards gave them plenty to celebrate.

The rowdy guests on The Jerry Springer Show are known for catching the objects of their scorn off guard and landing a painful blow or two. As evidenced by several WWE Superstars, however, those dirty tactics aren’t confined solely to the stage of Raw’s latest special guest host, Jerry Springer.

One night after WWE Elimination Chamber, special guest co-hosts, singer Jewel and her husband, pro bull rider Ty Murray, were riding high in the saddle as they helped wrangle an ornery herd of Superstars into several WrestleMania matches.

With Cheech and Chong acting as special guest hosts, the WWE Universe held on for a few loopy twists and trippy turns on The Road to WrestleMania.

Master illusionist Criss Angel may have acted as special guest host of Monday Night Raw, but it was Mr. McMahon who employed trickery and a host of hired hands to punish John Cena on The Road to WrestleMania.

When the most popular Superstar in WWE history returns to guest host Monday Night Raw, certain rules apply. First, that Superstar should behave in a manner befitting WWE’s image. Secondly, that Superstar should speak in respectful tones. And lastly, that Superstar should demonstrate sufficient reverence to their former employer. As “Stone Cold” Steve Austin demonstrated, however, when The Texas Rattlesnake is that Superstar, no rules apply!

The Road to WrestleMania ends in just six days when the WWE Universe descends upon Phoenix for the biggest event in all of entertainment. Tonight, though, the twists, turns and dangerous curves continued to pop up along the way.

The day after WrestleMania XXVI ushered in a new era. While a crop of new, exhilarating, young Superstars are being cultivated in the hothouse of WWE, it was time for one Superstar, Shawn Michaels, to bid farewell after offering up a 25-year feast of cherished memories and jaw-dropping moments. Thank you, Shawn Michaels.

When David “A-List” Otunga won an Eight-Man Battle Royal to earn the honor of special guest host, the NXT Rookie didn’t forget to bring his “A” games to Monday Night Raw.

As an international star beloved by fans around the world, who better than David Hasselhoff to take the reins of Raw across the pond in London? To say he did a phenomenal job, would be like saying that KITT from Knight Rider was a “decent ride.” Let’s face it, The Hoff went off!

With a giant ash cloud hovering over Europe, thanks to an erupting volcano in Iceland, air travel has been severely restricted, causing most of the Raw roster to find themselves grounded overseas after their European tour. With Extreme Rules less than a week away, however, WWE found plenty of angry SmackDown Superstars just itching to blow their tops.

While the outcome of Extreme Rules rattled the WWE Universe just 24 hours prior, the following night’s 2010 WWE Draft on a special three-hour Monday Night Raw shook many of the Superstars themselves to their very core. The quake resulted when both the Raw and SmackDown rosters competed in inter-promotional matches to determine which brand would earn a Draft pick.

With an entirely new constellation of Superstar draftees moving into its orbit, the Raw roster promised to be an altered universe. As if to punctuate that point, former SmackDown Superstar Chris Jericho devestated the Unified Tag Team Champions with the help of an unlikely ally and Edge nearly laid waste to a former friend before feeling the pain of angry fangs.

“The sole advantage of power is that you can do more good.” – Baltasar Gracian. It’s a pretty solid bet that Vickie Guerrero has never heard that quote. And while her reign as Raw’s General Manager proved mercifully brief, the ripples she caused are certain to reverberate for weeks to come.

With just six days before Over the Limit, special guest host Buzz Aldrin, one of the famed astronauts aboard the first manned mission to the moon, blasted the WWE Universe into orbit on a commercial-free Raw.

While special guest host Jon Lovitz enjoys success as a comedian, a movie star and a former member of Saturday Night Live, the brutal qualifying matches and one shocking departure that went down inside Toledo's Huntington Center were no laughing matter.

While the WWE Universe saluted the men and women of the armed forces on Memorial Day, it was special guest host Ashton Kutcher who ordered the Raw Superstars into combat with one another in front of a capacity crowd. Atten-shun!

The WWE Universe took the reins of Monday Night Raw for the first-ever Viewer’s Choice Night, choosing the matches and stipulations by voting on WWE.com. Hosted by the cast of The A-Team, this three-hour, co-branded event was created by and for the WWE Universe, loaded with surprise match-ups that reignited old rivalries between both Raw and SmackDown Superstars while creating entirely new ones in the process.

While it’s Raw guest host Mark Feuerstein who stars in USA Network’s Royal Pains, it was Raw’s General Manager, Bret Hart, who experienced serious and mounting pains of his own thanks to the group of ruthless and desperate season one NXT Rookies.

One night after the seven season one NXT Rookies decimated the WWE landscape at Fatal 4-Way, the pugnacious pack once again tore into the Raw roster to make their presence felt – even going so far as to attack The Chairman himself, Mr. McMahon!

As a singer of sinister songs and a director of horror films, Raw special guest host Rob Zombie has experience with the darker side of human nature. That experience must have set him somewhat at ease when Randy Orton slithered past his foes to demonstrate just how far a snake will go to wrap himself around what he wants.

During The Nexus’ reign of terror, the band of bothers have focused their attacks, managing not to involve the entire Raw roster. This week, however, their actions managed to drag nearly every Raw Superstar into their wicked wake.

While everyone’s favorite TV mom Florence Henderson tried to keep the Raw roster on the straight and narrow, The Nexus would have none of it, continuing to prove their as angry and out-of-control as Mel Gibson on a phone rant.

Push John Cena and the man is bound to push back. One night after losing a WWE Championship Steel Cage Match thanks to The Nexus, Cena came to Raw to return the favor – and he brought along reinforcements.

It’s often said that everything is bigger in Texas. Well, if you’re John Cena, that’s certainly proven true. As he and his seven-man SummerSlam squad move closer to the biggest bash of the season, the troubles, the tribulations and the headaches have all grown as large as the Lonestar State.

It’s the dog days of summer, and with SummerSlam just two weeks away, the Raw roster certainly seems to be feeling the heat. While WWE Champion Sheamus tries to escape the glare of his cold-blooded competitor, Randy Orton, Team WWE continues to tear themselves apart.

Like a runaway sailboat careening toward SummerSlam, Team WWE fought and flailed as if in the eye of the storm. With just six days left, however, will the crew finally right themselves in time, or are they destined to crash against the rock solid unity of The Nexus?

When Team WWE dismantled The Nexus at SummerSlam the night before, it appeared that the sun had finally set on the seven deadly sinners. On Monday night, however, the group’s members, with the exception of one, each survived in singles competition, offering The Nexus hope that a new day may have finally dawned.

During Monday Night Raw, the City of Angels played host to a pair of WWE's heavenly bodies, a contingent of deadly sinners and a half dozen Superstars ready to clash in a battle of biblical proportions at the Night of Champions pay-per-view.

In this historic city, nearly 240 years ago, a group of men rebelled against the tyranny of the English establishment. Those American colonists would eventually go on to overcome their British oppressors. During Raw’s 900th episode celebration, however, it would be the Englishman who would prevail in the end.

In the shadow of the breathtaking Washington Monument, Randy Orton made a few breathtaking monumental statements of his own. In the U.S. capital, The Viper countered the attacks of four Superstars with a flurry of RKOs.

With just six days until Night of Champions, several competitors in that night’s Six Pack Elimination Challenge pushed their luck with Raw’s Roulette Wheel. Some hit the jackpot in their matches, while others saw their fortunes dwindle at the tables.

Twenty-four hours earlier, at Night of Champions, several WWE Superstars were in heaven when they earned new championships. During Raw, however, WWE Champion Randy Orton, Sheamus, John Cena and Wade Barrett realized they'll be feeling the heat when they compete at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

It’s been said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Whoever thought up that must have never watched Raw. There are a galaxy of Superstars who have never nurtured a good intention in their lives, and with just one week until they find themselves in “Hell,” they aren’t about to start now.

WWE has been forever altered. One night after Hell in a Cell, John Cena, arguably WWE’s brightest Superstar, was forced into a shadowy arrangement with one of the darkest forces Raw has ever known, The Nexus, and the group's petulant principal, Wade Barrett.

With WWE Bragging Rights less than two weeks away, the time had come for the Raw roster to determine which Superstars would carry the brand’s flag into battle and just who would lead that charge – The Miz or John Cena.

As Team Raw prepares to make landfall at WWE Bragging Rights in just six days, the red brand found themselves awash in a stormy sea of blue when the SmackDown roster invaded Monday night.

Halloween may be a night for demonic spirits to wreak havoc on the living, but just six days prior to All Hallows Eve, a presence equally as sadistic, Wade Barrett, was busy haunting his nemesis, John Cena.

John Cena can probably kiss that employee-of-the-month award goodbye. Among supremely bad ideas, ticking off your boss is right up there with arm-wrestling an alligator, but the reluctant Nexus member did just that when he stuck to his principles and refused to play favorites for Nexus leader Wade Barrett.

With two weeks until Survivor Series, Monday Night Raw hopped the pond and settled into jolly ol’ England. Although the proceedings appeared to be running smoothly, even “tickety-boo,” as the Brits might say, when Manchester native Wade Barrett started bossing around Superstars, that’s when things became all “sixes and sevens” – and that, as any Englishman will tell you – adds up to chaos.

Who needs a DeLorean that can hit 88 mph to travel back in time? Instead, Raw kicked off Old School night with a battalion of WWE Alumni and Hall of Famers. And although the classic Raw graphics and ring ropes were evident, there was still a lot of brand new developments leading up to this Sunday’s Survivor Series.

Buckle up, hold on and expect the unexpected. While Central Florida may be the epicenter of theme parks and wild rides, the WWE Universe was forced onto a rollercoaster ride of their own, bidding farewell to one era while bracing for a completely new one - The Age of Awesome.

The lineage of those who’ve worn the King of the Ring crown is rich with WWE Hall of Famers and Legends, including “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Bret Hart, Edge and Triple H. Tonight, a new King, an Irish King would capture the throne to take his place among WWE royalty.

Before the American Revolution began in 1774, the kingdom of Great Britain assumed they had their American subjects squarely under thumb. And we all know how that turned out. Fast forward 200 years, and Englishman Wade Barrett appears to be on the verge of suffering a similar revolt.

In one of the most exciting awards ceremonies on television, bar none, Raw celebrated another year of the Slammy Awards. With the opening of each envelope, bombshells continued to drop throughout the broadcast. And the Slammy goes to…

T’was five days before Christmas, and all through WWE, the Superstars were stirring, in the wake of TLC...

According to Chinese astrology, 2010 was the Year of the Tiger. However, with The Miz as WWE Champion, The Nexus still a dominant force and CM Punk getting the best of John Cena, perhaps the past 12 months will best be known as the Year of the Rat.