The 5 Most Emotional Episodes of Raw in WWE History
Right now, the wrestling world is in absolute shock after Roman Reigns opened up this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw to announce that he was having to step away from the squared circle to battle leukaemia. Added to the shock of that news, Roman also revealed that he had faced the same battle eleven years ago, which was something 99.9% of the wrestling community was unaware of.
This is a major moment in the wrestling industry, a major moment in Raw history, and clearly a major moment in the career and life of Roman Reigns. Whether fans cheered or booed him over the past several years, there was never any doubt that Roman has been a phenomenal in-ring performer. Yes, he's been miscast as a character, but the work ethic, the ability, and the constant development of his skills cannot be denied.
Seeing the very real Joe Anoa’i enter the ring on Raw and let the world in on his very real battle was an eye-opener, a shocker, and a moment that has shown just how much love the wrestling world has for this man. To be blunt, a huge percentage of us have been affected by leukaemia or cancer in some way, and to then hear that Reigns has had this battle for so long is something that resonates with so many. And to Reigns’s credit, the fact that he’s refused to mention any of this during the years that he’s been getting so much hate, that’s clearly the mark of the man that is Joe Anoa’i.
But this most recent Raw is only one of so many hugely emotional episodes of the WWE’s flagship show. So with that in mind, and not including this week’s show, here are the five most emotional Raw episodes in WWE history.
#5 Daniel Bryan Hangs It Up
The February 8, 2016 episode of Monday Night Raw was the evening that Daniel Bryan finally gave in to the WWE and their medical team, and confirmed his retirement live on air.
Following him famously standing victorious as the WWE Champion as WrestleMania XXX came to a close, injury would soon strike and put Bryan out of action for six months. Having successfully returned to the ring at the end of 2014, it would only be a matter of months before injury struck again, and this team in an even more serious way. Despite trying for ten months to get the WWE medical team to clear him – including visiting several leading non-WWE doctors, Bryan had to admit defeat and hang up his boots on that February 2016 Raw show.
To add to the high emotion of the moment, said episode happened to be emanating from Bryan’s home state of Washington, and it’s safe to say the home state hero was giving a rousing reception of support and thanks from those in attendance. For those of us watching at home, it was the sad realisation that the thing we’d been hoping so desperately to see happen, Daniel Bryan’s in-ring return, was now impossible, at least in a WWE ring.
Of course, fast forward to this year and Bryan managed to get himself cleared for action, with that shocking news again bringing a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye, but this time for a far happier reason.