Posted in: TV, WWE | Tagged: nostalgia, Raw, wrestling, wwe

WWE Raw 30th Anniversary Show Set for January as Part of Winter Tour

Published Mon, 14 Nov 2022 08:06:14 -0600

WWE has announced over thirty live show dates and locations bringing the company from the start of 2023 right into WrestleMania season with its Winter Tour. Those dates include several special events, such as NXT Stand and Deliver on WrestleMania Weekend, as well as the 2023 Hall of Fame ceremony, which will apparently be bundled with Smackdown on WrestleMania weekend. There's also the WWE Raw 30th Anniversary show, set to take place on January 23rd.

The official logo for WWE Monday Night Raw. Credit: WWE.

As time goes on, WWE Raw seems to produce more and more nostalgia-fueled shows. Just last month, the company celebrated 25 years since the founding of the Degeneration X stable with a reunion show, and the company has had an anniversary edition of Raw in January for a few years now. For the big 3-0, expect WWE to pull out all the stops. After all, WWE Raw is getting into mid-life crisis territory with that number.

For more on why WWE fans love nostalgia so much, we spoke to one of the world's foremost experts on wrestling fandom, World-Renowned Markologist at the For-Profit University of Phoenix, Professor Thaddeus T. Puffinbottoms.

"Well, I think there are a few reasons WWE fans love nostalgia so much," Puffinbottoms explained. "First of all, professional wrestling is a form of entertainment that is very much rooted in the past. The origins of the sport go back to the 19th century, and even the earliest days of television were filled with wrestling programming. So, for many fans, wrestling is something that harkens back to a simpler time, when the world was a less complicated place. In addition, I think many fans see WWE as a sort of modern-day mythology. The characters and stories that are told in WWE are, in many ways, similar to the tales that have been told throughout history. And, just like people love to revisit their favorite myths and legends, WWE fans love to revisit their favorite matches and storylines. Finally, I think there is a sense of comfort that comes with nostalgia. When we revisit things from our past, it can be a way of coping with the present. It can be a way of escaping from the problems of the here and now, and retreating into a time when things were simpler and we didn't have as much to worry about."

"So, those are a few of the reasons why I think WWE fans love nostalgia so much," Professor Puffinbottoms continued. "Of course, there are probably other reasons as well. For example, it is well known that WWE places subliminal messages in their television programs. Why do you think there are so many camera cuts? WWE uses them to hide the messages, which inundate viewers with a variety of commands."

Wait, what?

"Oh, yes," Puffinbottoms confirmed. "WWE has successfully used subliminal messages to get people to think Logan Paul can make a legitimate wrestling star, to make them forget about the fact that Charlotte Flair has been missing from TV for months, and, of course, to keep fans hooked on their memories of the bygone days of wrestling, which were more filled with homophobia, misogyny, and wrestlers dropping dead of drug abuse on a regular basis fans would recall when WWE gets the geriatric members of DX together to tell the crowd to 'suck it.'"

"The way it works is actually quite simple," Puffinbottoms said. "When we are bombarded with subliminal messages, it overloads our conscious mind and causes our subconscious mind to take over. And, once our subconscious mind is in control, we are more susceptible to suggestion. In other words, the subliminal messages in WWE programming are planting the seeds of nostalgia in our minds, and those seeds eventually blossom into a full-blown love of all things nostalgia."

Well, that makes sense, we guess.

"Of course it does," said Puffinbottoms. "I'm a Professor."

Check out the full lineup of newly-announced WWE live shows including the WWE Raw 30th Anniversary from January through April below.

Monday, January 2: Raw – Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
Saturday, January 7: Saturday Night's Main Event® – Mississippi State Fair Coliseum in Jackson, Miss.
Sunday, January 8: Sunday Stunner – Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala.
Monday, January 9: Raw – Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala.
Friday, January 13: SmackDown – Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis.
Saturday, January 14: Saturday Night's Main Event – Berglund Center Coliseum in Roanoke, Va.
Sunday, January 15: Sunday Stunner – The Corbin Arena in Corbin, Ky.
Monday, January 16: Raw – Heritage Bank Arena in Cincinnati, OH
Friday, January 20: SmackDown – Little Ceasars Arena in Detroit
Saturday, January 21: Saturday Night's Main Event – Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, Pa.
Sunday, January 22: Sunday Stunner – Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton, N.Y.
Monday, January 23: Raw 30th Anniversary – Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia
Friday, January 27: SmackDown – Sames Auto Arena in Laredo, Texas
Monday, January 30: Raw – BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.
Monday, February 13: Raw – Barclays Center in Brooklyn
Friday, February 17: SmackDown – Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec
Saturday, February 18: Elimination Chamber – Bell Centre in Montreal Quebec
Monday, February 19: Raw – Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ONT
Friday, February 24: SmackDown – Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.
Saturday, February 25: Road To WrestleMania Tour – State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill.
Sunday, February 26: Road To WrestleMania Tour – BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, Ill.
Monday, February 27: Raw – Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Saturday, March 4: Road To WrestleMania Tour – Upstate Medical Arena at The Oncenter War Memorial in Syracuse, N.Y.
Sunday, March 5: Road To WrestleMania Tour – CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, N.J.
Sunday, March 5: Road To WrestleMania Tour – The Aud in Kitchener, ONT
Saturday, March 11: Road To WrestleMania Tour – Covelli Centre in Youngstown, OH
Friday, March 17: SmackDown – T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Saturday, March 18: Road To WrestleMania Tour – Fargodome in Fargo, N.D.
Sunday, March 19: Road To WrestleMania Tour – Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Sunday, March 19: Road To WrestleMania Tour – Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield, Ill.
Monday, March 20 – Raw – Enterprise Center in St. Louis
Friday March 31: SmackDown/2023 Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony – Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles
Saturday, April 1: NXT Stand & Deliver – Crypto.com Arena in Angeles
Monday, April 3: Raw – Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles