From inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn this past Monday night, it was immediately clear that this episode of Raw felt a bit ... different. That may sound like a simple observation, but in modern WWE, “different” is rare.
Online, the Stranger Things crossover drew its share of skepticism and nitpicking. In the arena, though — speaking from personal experience — this felt like an event. It felt like a night that mattered. And in a product that is often defined by weekly repetitiveness, that alone should count for something.
Michael Cole and Corey Graves opened the broadcast not from their usual desk, but from the iconic WSQK van, welcoming viewers with the line, “We aren’t in Hawkins anymore,” as the Stranger Things-themed episode kicked off.
A Scoops Ahoy (?) boat — now is probably a good time to say that I have never watched an episode of this show before — sat ominously near Gorilla Position, while vines crept over the ringside barricade.
A Demogorgon (or so I'm told it's called) burst through the curtain, turning a routine backstage area into the Upside Down. Netflix even unveiled a Stranger Things-themed championship belt. It was strange, sure, but it was also unapologetically fun.
Was it perfect? Of course not. And it’s fair to say WWE could have gone even further. Some fans were disappointed that no members of the Stranger Things cast appeared, especially with the finale premiering on Netflix less than a week earlier.
That criticism is reasonable. WWE also could have leaned more into the set itself, using it as a backdrop for the wrestling rather than just window dressing. Imagine the main event between CM Punk and Bron Breakker spilling onto the stage, or a brawl ending with someone crashing through one of the vans.
After all, there was a referee bump, as is so often the case in WWE main events these days. That kind of integration could have enhanced the product rather than distracting from it. It’s a difficult balance, but it’s one WWE came close to finding.
WWE's Stranger Things edition of Raw proved that uniqueness is critical in wrestling
And that’s really the key point here. Wrestling fans want uniqueness.
They want breaks from the weekly monotony that so often defines WWE television. That used to be commonplace. Pay-per-views — now Premium Live Events (PLEs) — once had unique sets tailored to each event. Today, that sense of identity has largely been replaced by corporate uniformity.
In fact, WWE arguably went more all-out on the presentation of this one episode of Raw than it does for most of its PLEs throughout the year. That should tell you something about how starved the audience is for shows that feel distinct.
Uniqueness has always been at the heart of wrestling. Think about the SmackDown fist from the mid-2000s. That single visual defined an entire era of the blue brand. When people think of SmackDown, many still picture that massive fist bursting through the stage.
That’s branding. That’s identity. And it does matter.
The same principle applies to entrance themes, which is another hot-button issue in today's wrestling world. Much of the criticism directed at "def rebel" stems from how generic so many modern themes sound. When music blends together, wrestlers blend together.
Wrestling, at its core, is about selling uniqueness — every performer, every entrance, every moment feeling distinct. That philosophy shouldn’t stop with the roster. It should extend to the shows themselves.
I’m not even a Stranger Things fan. I’ve never watched an episode of the hit Netflix series. Plenty of references likely went over my head. And yet, the show still worked for me. That’s the real victory here.
Even without emotional attachment to the collaboration, the presentation elevated the experience. It made the night feel like a special occasion. Wrestling purists will always argue that wrestling should just be wrestling, untouched by pop culture. But there’s a best-of-both-worlds approach, and this Raw came close to finding it.
Monday night wasn’t flawless, but it managed to capture something WWE too often forgets. Different is good. Unique is powerful. When wrestling feels special, fans tend to respond favorably.
From my seat in the arena, this Stranger Things-themed Raw felt like an event, and WWE would be wise to chase that feeling more often.