How and Why to Watch RAW After WrestleMania – The Most Bizarre WWE Show of the Year

While lost in the hype surrounding WrestleMania Goes Hollywood, it's important to remember that we're now less than one week away from the most unpredictable and bizarre episode of Monday Night RAW of the year: RAW After WrestleMania.  

If WrestleMania is the weekend's main course, RAW After WrestleMania is the ridiculously extravagant dessert you devour even though you feel like you can't eat anymore. For fans not in the know, here's a quick explainer on what's so significant about the first RAW episode following WrestleMania each year.

Imagine taking all the fallout from WrestleMania and sprinkling in a heavy dose of the most hardcore members of the WWE Universe. But, of course, we're talking diehard fans here. You know the type: The ones who somehow know who will debut in WWE before USA Insider does, those who travel all around the world to take in every event during WrestleMania weekend, and those who come up with the wildest chants you've ever heard.

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In the eyes of WWE, RAW After WrestleMania is a chance to reset the deck. New storylines emerge, new Superstars debut, and surprises are aplenty. In the eyes of the WWE Universe, RAW After WrestleMania is a love letter of sorts to WWE's most passionate fans. 

RAW After WrestleMania has also developed a reputation for living in a separate, almost non-canon WWE universe, aptly nicknamed "Bizarro World" by the WWE announce team. For some reason, during RAW After WrestleMania, the fans in attendance frequently cheer the baddies, boo fan-favorite Superstars, and generally attempt to hijack the broadcast with some of the most creative and ridiculous chants they can come up with. In many ways, during RAW After WrestleMania, the wrestlers are not the stars of the show — the fans are. 

This year's RAW After WrestleMania occurs on April 3. Oh, and here's some excellent news: Watching this particular episode is as easy as tuning in to Monday Night RAW on USA Network at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT — just like you do every Monday night. So tune in, put your feet up, and enjoy three of the craziest and most unpredictable hours you'll encounter all year.

It's going to be the perfect capper for an unforgettable WrestleMania weekend.

Here are just a few of our all-time favorite moments from the past decade!

Roman Reigns Gets Booed Out of the Building

After his convincing win over the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXXIII, Roman Reigns walked into RAW After WrestleMania looking to gloat — but in one of the most bizarre moments in WWE history, the fans would not allow it.

As soon as Reigns entered the ring, he was greeted by possibly the most hostile crowd ever to attend a WWE event. As a result, the clip above has been edited down to just a few minutes, omitting some of the more — how should we put it — saucy chants directed at Reigns. The fans refused to let Reigns speak for nearly nine minutes before they responded to his "This is my yard" comment with some of the loudest boos ever recorded!

An Unforgettable Debut

Historically, the first show after WrestleMania has been home to some unforgettable Superstar debuts. From well-known pro wrestlers jumping to WWE to red-hot NXT Superstars finally making it to the main roster, there have been some genuinely shocking appearances over the years!

One of the most insane Superstar debuts came in 2016 when the NXT tag team Enzo and Cass made their RAW debuts to a thunderous reaction. If the above video doesn't give you chills, we will seriously question your wrestling fandom. If you were to show this video to a non-fan, they would assume Enzo and Cass were old-school veterans like the New Age Outlaws with the way the WWE Universe was reciting their catchphrases word-for-word. 

A Surprise Cash-In Blows the Roof Off

On this night, the WWE Universe agreed one thing: They wanted Dolph Ziggler to win the World Heavyweight Championship — and they weren't afraid to show it!

Thanks to a raucous post-WrestleMania crowd filled with fans who had felt for a long time that Ziggler should be rewarded for his unparalleled in-ring work, the World Heavyweight title changed in a night nobody in attendance will ever forget. At that moment, the calls of the most-hardcore wrestling fans were finally answered — one of their absolute favorites finally won a major world championship. The fact that Ziggler took the title from Alberto del Rio — a Superstar who honestly had no backing from the WWE Universe — made the moment even sweeter.

With RAW After WrestleMania less than a week away, we have to believe Triple H has something amazing planned for the WWE Universe. After all, this is his first post-WrestleMania episode of RAW since he took over as Head of Creative, so there's no reason to believe he'll hold anything back on April 3.

What kind of debuts, surprises, and general ridiculousness will happen during RAW After WrestleMania? We honestly don't know, but we can't wait to find out!

Catch up on all things WWE Universe on Peacock. You can watch WrestleMania on Peacock this Saturday and Sunday, April 1-2.