WWE\u2019s 25th anniversary edition of Monday Night Raw in January 2018 was designed to celebrate the company\u2019s history in a big way. The special broadcast aired live from two locations in New York City. One portion of the show took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, while the other returned to the Manhattan Center, the venue that hosted the very first episode of Raw in 1993.<\/p>\n
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While the idea was meant to deliver a nostalgic tribute to the brand\u2019s legacy, the experience inside the Manhattan Center quickly turned sour for fans in attendance.<\/p>\n
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During a recent appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet<\/a>, former WWE star Mustafa Ali reflected on the chaotic night and explained how the crowd at the Manhattan Center grew increasingly frustrated when they realized the event would feature very little in ring action.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Ali explained that many fans had paid high ticket prices expecting to see matches, but the Manhattan Center portion of the show mainly consisted of appearances from WWE legends delivering short promos while the actual matches were taking place across town in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cIt was when Raw was doing the Barclays Center and the Manhattan Center at the same time,\u201d Ali said. \u201cThere\u2019s a bunch of people that have paid a lot of money to attend this event. But here\u2019s the problem that they didn\u2019t plan, there was no actual matches there. It was just legends coming out and cutting a promo. So about almost an hour into it, the fans start realizing, \u2018Hey, we got jibbed.\u2019 There\u2019s no matches, and they start booing recklessly.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n According to Ali, the atmosphere inside the venue quickly became hostile as the audience voiced their displeasure. WWE officials soon realized the situation could spiral out of control if the crowd wasn\u2019t given something more substantial.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Ali recalled that Triple H, who was overseeing operations at the Manhattan Center that night, quickly sprang into action once the reaction from the crowd became impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cSo Triple H is at the Manhattan Center. He gets on the phone, and he calls over Barclays, and he goes, \u2018I need matches, and I need them now,\u2019\u201d Ali said. \u201cSo Mark Carrano goes, \u2018I know, the cruiserweights!\u2019 So he stuffs a bunch of cruiserweights into a van, and just sends us blindly to Manhattan Center.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Ali described the frantic rush across the city as officials scrambled to get performers into the building to calm the restless crowd.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cHideo Itami is driving, I don\u2019t know,\u201d Ali joked. \u201cSo we\u2019re running upstairs and everyone\u2019s panicking, go, go, go, upstairs. Go upstairs. We\u2019re running with our gear, because we\u2019re all coming from Barclays. And Triple H goes, \u2018Situation \u2013 there\u2019s no matches during the commercial break. I just need you guys to go out there and do the craziest s**t for two or three minutes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Ali was scheduled to face Lince Dorado that night, and the pair barely had time to get ready before heading to the ring. In their rush to find somewhere to change, the two accidentally walked into a locker room they definitely were not meant to enter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cAll right, cool. So I was wrestling Lince Dorado, and we run upstairs, we have our bags, so we just open this door and we throw our bags down,\u201d Ali said. \u201cThe referee comes up and goes, \u2018Hey guys, where are you changing?\u2019 \u2018Right here.\u2019 And then we look up \u2013 private locker room for The Undertaker.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Ali said they quickly realized their mistake and awkwardly attempted to leave.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cOpen the door sheepishly, me and Lince, \u2018Hello, sir. I\u2019m Ali, this is Lince. Huge mistake. We\u2019re just gonna grab our bags and leave,\u2019\u201d Ali recalled. \u201cWe go to reach for our bags, and he goes, \u2018Hey, you guys don\u2019t want to hang out with the motherf**king Undertaker?\u2019 Before I could say anything Lince goes \u2018Hell yeah!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Instead of kicking them out, The Undertaker welcomed the two cruiserweights and struck up a conversation that Ali still remembers fondly.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re changing. He\u2019s asking us about life,\u201d Ali said. \u201cI told him I was a former police officer. He was like, \u2018Oh s**t.\u2019 Lince was a former teacher. So he\u2019s like, \u2018Isn\u2019t that crazy?\u2019 We\u2019re talking to The Undertaker about life, and then we kind of forgot that we had to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Eventually the reality of the situation hit them and they rushed to the ring to perform their short match for the Manhattan Center crowd.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cWe just ran out and did our match up,\u201d Ali added. \u201cAnd then, yeah, it was just one of those wild experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
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