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Photo from WWE
One of Netflix’s new shows for 2025 is the weekly Monday Night Raw, which started airing on 6 January. It’s one of the flagship productions of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) alongside Friday Night SmackDown. As of the time of writing, two episodes have aired, each one featuring top-level wrestlers associated with the RAW brand. These include the Mexican wrestler Penta, who made his debut in the second episode.
Monday Night Raw aims to showcase wrestling to a large and broad audience. It features an array of content related to the sport, with fights being the highlight, of course. Many people enjoy betting on wrestling matches and tournaments, visiting online sportsbooks such as GGBet to place their bets.
The Netflix premiere of Monday Night Raw marked a significant change for the program as it started to be broadcast on a streaming service as opposed to traditional, mainstream TV. The program has been running since 1997, and had the previous names Raw is War (1997-2001) and Raw SuperShow (2011-2012) before adopting its current one.
Before making his debut on the second 2025 episode Monday Night Raw, rumors about Penta joining WWE had been circulating for many months. When he eventually made an appearance, anticipation was high. The episode was filmed live in San Jose, California, and saw Penta take on Chad Gable, who he managed to defeat in an exciting and nail-biting match.
This came about thanks to Chad Gable wanting to test his mettle against the best luchador fighter in the industry. He approached the General Manager, Adam Pearce, with his request, which was subsequently granted. Penta was contacted and agreed to join the WWE brand and fight Gable.
Generally speaking, Penta’s debut seems to have gone down quite well. The debut episode of Monday Night Raw attracted some criticism for catering to a broader audience and focusing on big names too much. This was likely to draw in new viewers and attract people who don’t usually watch wrestling shows. The second episode, Penta’s debut, was more in line with what regular viewers and wrestling fans should expect.
However, there was supposedly some tension behind the scenes owing to Penta’s match and promo section lasting longer than initially anticipated. This resulted in other segments of the show being reduced in length. As the show’s on Netflix, it can in theory be as long as it wants, and it doesn’t have to fit the ad-drive schedules of regular TV.
The first episode was three hours and the second was two and a half. It seems that the producers didn’t want the second to be any longer than it was. They also wanted to shine the spotlight on Penta. It seems inevitable, therefore, that other parts of the show had to be cut.
While some of the show’s other stars might have been disappointed with segment cuts, the producers were apparently satisfied with Penta’s performance on the night. As well as winning his match against Gable, he put on a show that delighted those in the crowd and at home. The producers were also said to have been pleased with the reaction Penta received from the crowd. Despite a few minor points, it seems that Penta’s Netflix debut has been a success.
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