Dot Net reader John Massey attended Monday's Raw in Washington D.C. at Verizon Center and filed the following report.

The arena was a near sellout and the most crowded that I have seen it for a WWE show in a few years. The crowd was live and into most of the show throughout the night. Bell time for the show was slated for 7:30 but the show began a few minutes late. Local print media was advertising a Raw show along with an ECW taping, while television ads have just recently over the last couple of weeks been correct, advertising Raw and Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Prior to the beginning of the show, a number of videos ran including the Wrestlemania 24 video that is commonplace before all television tapings.

Dark Match

1. Paul London defeated Charlie Haas in 6:00.

After the match, the Saturday Night's Main Event taping took place. See the main page for a separate report with full spoilers. This article contains no spoilers for Saturday's show.

Between SNME and Raw

A WWE International Video aired to Shinedown’s “I Dare You.” During the switchover of the sets, a number of videos aired speaking of the company’s charitable work. We had a quick live shot of the crowd to air on USA at 8:55 between the end of Law and Order and the credits, then Lillian Garcia made her way out and performed the National Anthem.

Raw Notes

The Tribute to the Troops video aired for the crowd in attendance after the Beth Phoenix and Santino Marella in-ring segment concluded.

After it was announced that Michael Cole would replace Jim Duggan in the tag team match, Cole was reluctant to enter the ring and hesitated leaving the broadcast booth during much of the commercial break prior to the start of the match.

A WWE Magazine commercial aired for the fans after Kofi Kingston’s one minute squash of Jamie Noble.

During the setup for the Highlight Reel, A Vladamir Koslov video aired as well as a video for the new Ric Flair DVD.

After the Smackdown Rebound and the Shane McMahon and Todd Grisham backstage segment, Mae Young came out for the Kiss-Cam for the live audience. She ended up attacking the referee and making her own kiss-cam in the end.

There was a Triple H DVD video that aired prior to the start of the main event.

When the show ended, Batista and John Cena had a staredown before Cena finally left the ring. Batista then took the mic and explained how he was bouncing just two blocks away eight years ago and he never thought he’d be in the position he’s in now. He said he loves D.C. and he loves the fans and was glad to be back home for the night. His music played and he left the ring to conclude the night.

Final Raw Thoughts

A pretty good night overall at the Verizon Center. It was a notable Raw, with the first in-ring confrontation between Batista and John Cena and their first time teaming up in the ring. We had an appearance by Shane McMahon, the return of William Regal, the final Highlight Reel and the announcement of a new general manager. While the final announcement may have been a letdown, it was a more newsworthy Raw than most of late.

The crowd was into the show just about all night but began to quiet down a bit near the end of the show. Batista was over huge in his hometown and probably received the biggest pops of the night. Shane’s first appearance during Raw received a nice pop. Cryme Tyme also received a big ovation. Cena got a very passionate mixed reaction from the crowd. The one thing about Cena is that people love to love him and people love to hate him.

Everyone worked hard and all in all a good show. Raw returns to the Verizon Center live on Monday night, December 1.

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