My friend Phil was my go-to guy for wrestling. We watched PPV's at his house, created entrances set to Offspring's "Americana," and took chunks out of each other wrestling in our respective living rooms.

Phil was the first person I knew who got an Xbox, and so the hype around a wrestling game on this super advanced console was high. It's funny how right away we could see how awful this was. Despite being a generation ahead of the PS1's SMACKDOWN franchise, Xbox's RAW felt absolutely inferior. Limited game modes, awful looking character models, and abysmal controls.

It's kinda fitting though. RAW was released at a time when WWE was going through some putrid creative directions. The Era, like this game, was ugly and creatively bankrupt. I ended up bailing on my wrestling Fandom for a few years around this point.

Haven't talked to Phil in awhile. Wonder if he still likes wrestling.