Between WrestleMania, Raw and Smackdown, WWE has plenty of experience in anniversary/history books and this is much in line with recent instalments.

It’s a simple format of six pages for each year of Raw (expanding to eight pages from 2006) with a paragraph of two about each of the most notable events of the year, along with the occasional mention what happened on a pay-per-view where it significantly affected the Raw storylines. There’s also the occasional “Introducing…” box when a major figure makes their Raw debut.

For the most part it’s accurate enough, with a good attention to detail such as naming both people in a match, even when it’s a squash. The most significant error is listing the debut episode of Nitro as the first time Raw and Nitro went head to head, when in fact Raw did not air that week.

As always in such books, the handling of Chris Benoit is noteworthy. Here he gets just a single mention (as one of the names of the Radicals on their debut) with some creative writing elsewhere such as an account of the initial draft reading “Flair’s first pick was Undertaker while McMahon selected the Rock” — which is true but wilfully ambiguous.  The understandable policy does mean that the Benoit/Jericho vs HHH/Austin match is ignored, which is probably one of the two most memorable moments omitted from the book, alongside the Katie Vick skits.

Other points of nitpicking would be an inconsistency in whether to acknowledge wrestlers who changed gimmicks: Johnny Polo is listed as the future Raven, but Lord Tensai is said to have never won a singles title. It’s also slightly curious to see multiple mentions of Donald Trump’s involvement without mentioning his current position.

Overall it’s a fun enough read which may be more of interest for newer fans, but will undoubtedly bring back some forgotten memories even for long-time viewers.

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