TOP 69 MOMENTS FROM THE LAST 30 YEARS OF MONDAY NIGHT RAW

“Welcome everyone! To Monday Night RAW!-” Crazy to think it has been 30 years and while there have def been lots of downs, the ups make it all worth it and we are so blessed to have all these amazing memories. Going back through them all just makes me appreciate that I was growing up with all of this iconic content. Since the 30th anniversary makes it RAW XXX, I decided to take a shot at ranking the 69 best moments and matches in RAW history lol I had more than 50 and wasn’t making it to 75 so 69 it is. LFG

1) Daniel Bryan turns on the Wyatt Family

• To see the entire arena adjust to DB’s cadence and chant YES! along with him is one of the most incredible things I have ever witnessed. I remember showing this to my parents and my Dad’s comment was ‘Wow you’ve never seen anything like that before.’ Bc of how the nature of this storyline and how involved the fans were, I have to give it #1.

2) Mankind wins WWF Title

• 750k changed the channel to see the title change and Austin came out to an all timer of a pop, they explode and then it actually gets louder when they see he is actually there. Austin was hurt so nobody expected he would be there and you add that to how bad people wanted Mick Foley to win the World Title, you get 1 of the most incredible moments in wrestling history.

3) Tyson vs Austin

• This legitimized Austin to the mainstream audience and was the reason why he achieved Hogan level popularity. In 1998, people believed it was a real confrontation and for Austin to hold his own with the baddest man on the planet gave him priceless credibility. I remember how jacked I was when this happened and how excited I was that all the news/sports stations were talking about wrestling. Perfectly executed and I absolutely love Austin’s delivery of ‘the Worlds Toughest son of a bitch!’

4) Austin Zamboni

• This is the moment you use to show someone that wasn’t there what Austin’s run was like, just pure chaos lol you had Vince in the ring working up the crowd, then Austin shows up on a fn Zamboni of all things, rampages the back until coming to the ring as the crowd is absolutely losing their shit watching Austin jump off the top of the Zamboni and clothesline Vince lol fn magical man it might be my fav Austin moment.

5) Austin Beer Truck

• Objectively this is prob the mountaintop moment for Austin given how beer was asuch a big part of his character. I mean for his character to come out in a huge tanker full of beer and spray down the McMahon family, doesn’t really get better and more badass than that. So thankful I was growing up at this time bc it was fcking awesome to experience this as it happened.

6) Hogan/Rock staredown

• After the dumpster fire that was the WCW Invasion storyline, Hogan/Rock finally gave us what we wanted, big marquee matchups between the big stars. I remember getting chills and just being mad with excitement for the match.

7) Raw/Nitro simulcast

• Such a surreal moment, I couldn’t believe my eyes as it unfolded. I wouldn;t say I was happy about it, I was excited about the potential matches, but I liked WCW and I liked having WCW there as an alternative. I knew what it meant for the wrestlers to lose a major company to work for. With all the history, it could be argued this is the biggest moment in RAW history.

8) Vince/Foley/Austin in the hospital

• This is comedic art and was the debut of Mr Socko. Mick Foley’s voice squeaking trying to talk as Socko, giving Vince’s boo boo a kiss, Vince nicely asking him to leave as he blows the whistle in Vince’s face so he gets angry and says ‘Dammit leave!’ already has me hysterically laughing before we hear ‘Oh I’ll take it from here nurse.” There should be a warning on this segment for Vince’s face/scream when Austin starts pounding on his foot, right up there with Marv’s scream at the spider in Home Alone, both fn kill me every time. Then Austin smoking Vince with the bedpan is just the cherry on top lol ***** segment

9) Debut of Chris Jericho

• Rumor was def going around that Jericho was gone from WCW and coming to the WWF so we were all hoping this would be it. This was a great night, 16 years old on a beauty summer night on summer break from school at my buddies and his Mom was out of town so we could smoke inside lol we had money so we had a great meal and top level snacks, we were ready and what a moment it was. Incredible pop and is without a doubt the greatest debut of all time. I wanna say Jericho didn’t disappoint but I remember we were all disappointed that he looked like he was gonna cry at the end but still, it fueled the rest of the night/summer with great energy.

10) “Daniel Bryan”

• Seattle fans for HOF after this one. Everyone is so frustrated they refuse to get behind DB and insist of forcing Cena/Orton on us but they underestimated the fans once again but esp the hometown crowd. HHH owned like a substitute teacher and a misbehaving class lol incredible to hear the chants start to rise and then completely overwhelm HHH to where he has no choice but to wait for them to stop. And of course Vince has JBL on commentary say nothing about them going crazy for DB and just say general things about “Huyuck the wild and crazy WW-AH-E universe this is wild maggle!’ 1 of the crucial moments in getting DB to the main event of WrestleMania and it makes it even better to know it was a special moment for DB and his Dad who was there in the crowd.

11) 123 KID upsets Razor Ramon

• -I remember being so blown away when I saw the replays on Susperstars and it hurt my soul as a kid not to be able to watch lol job guys did not ever beat the stars so it made the 123 Kid seem so special. This moment absolutely made Sean Waltman’s career and Scott Hall’s too as this almost made people start to cheer Razor and want to support him. Nothing you need to change about this moment.

12) Bret Hart returns

• Considering the ugliness of the Screwjob and most of the 13 years that followed, I thought there was a good chance we don’t ever see Bret Hart in WWE in any capacity again so it was jaw dropping to see him actually come into the ring. The shocks continued when HBK joined him and they finally killed their grudge by embracing in the ring so they could move forward as the friends they always should have been. Awesome moment.

13) The Man is born

• Becky Lynch turning what can only be described as a cheap shot into the hottest run a female wrestler has ever been on and the ultimate badass moment standing in the crowd with her face all bloodied up and arms out wide asking for someone to bring her the fight is GOAT shit. She is def in the convo thanks to this moment and it gave us The Man, 1 of my fav wrestling characters and runs.

14) “His name is Eric Bischoff”

• I was working at a call center and when this happened there was a huge crowd of people around the TV and as I walked up, I heard someone walking away saying ‘Oh my God its just wrestling I thought it was another 9/11’ lol that’show big the moment was. After the Monday Night War and all that had transpired, no chance in hell Eric Bischoff ever gets within 50 feet of WWE…or not. Booker T’s ‘Tell me I didn’t just see that’ set the table perfectly and to actually see Bischoff on WWE TV sharing a hug with Vince McMahon was legit one of the most shocking moments of all time.

15) The Shield is broken

• After classic matches vs the Wyatt and Evolution, the Shield had lots of gas in the tank so to see Rollins betray Ambrose and Reigns was legit shocking. Made you hate Rollins bc of all the bangers we missed out on butit led to a legendary run for Seth Rollins with Ambrose and Reigns both eventually becoming WWE Champion so you can’t really argue with the decision.

16) DX invades WCW

• -This moment has kind of a weird place in history now. WWE and the wrestlers involved significantly overstate the impact of this moment but on the other, bc of that a lot of fans act like it was just no big deal when it was actually one of the craziest things to happen at that time. They barely mentioned the other companies on TV nevermind wrestlers from one company showing up at the others TV where they had Meng on the roster lol it was crazy at the time to see DX actually bang on the doors. This wasn’t some momentum changing moment that turned the tide in the war, it was just a crazy moment that at best showed the WWF was coming to fire everything they had at WCW. But it can’t be written off as nothing, it was fn exciting as a WWF fan. Made WCW look weak and WWF look strong.

17) CM Punk pipebomb

• There were promos with 1 or 2 shoot comments thrown in but to hear an entire promo of them was def surreal. The pipebomb ignited the excitement in the fanbase that fueled the 2010’s and NXT with the fans renewed passion. It gave us Punk’s record breaking run as WWE Champion and is still relevant to this day. It was crazy to watch the impact of this promo spread that night after it aired.

18) Hart Foundation vs USA

• This is for the whole storyline bc it was my fav time in wrestling but if I have to pick 1 it’s the reception the Hart Foundation got in Halifax. I was 14 when this all went down and I’m so grateful bc it made my childhood awesome. I was so excited to watch every week to see what was next.

19) Jericho “wins” WWF Title

• Interesting to think about where Jericho’s career might have gone if this was legit bc even if the reign was short I think it makes Jericho a bigger star. But this was still awesome, 1 of the only moments that me and my friends ever called each other about as it was happening. Heartbreaking to see him give the title back but we were buzzing about this moment for weeks. Crowd going nuts putsit over the top.

20) Owen & The Bulldog vs Austin & HBK

• My vote for best RAW match ever, I hated that Owen/Bulldog lost but I knew at the time I just witnessed an all timer.

21) Jericho & Benoit vs Austin & HHH

• Just as good as Owen/Bulldog/Austin/HBK and prob ends up better if HHH doesn’t tear his quad but it’s crazy to see him gut out the fn Walls of Jericho to end the match.

22) Bret Hart is frustrated

• I was just as frustrated as Bret so while it was shocking to hear Bret talking like this, I was just like ‘Fck yeah brother’ and became an even bigger fan. Def 1 of the foundational moments for the Attitude Era.

23) Trish vs Lita in the Main Event

• Trish fought to go from green rookie to the top female star in the business at one point and Lita grinded from manager to 1 of the top female stars in the business so I remember being really excited that they were getting to main event and what a great match they gave us and the moment.

24) Hogan ovation in Montreal

• The response to Hogan at WM 18 was exciting enough but then Montreal screams at the top of their lungs for over 5 straight minutes as Hogan tries to talk and you’relike holy shit is Hulkamania back lol the support calmed down a bit but it was still awesome to get a little bit of that 80’s craziness for Hogan back.

25) Pillman’s got a gun

• Incredible intensity to this one esp in 1996 when the line between real/fake was so much closer, I remember pacing and phoning wrestling hotlines desperate for any update that night lol such a shame Pillman could never have a proper feud/match with Austin bc of his ankle. So funny now to watch Austin beat the hell out of Pillman’s friends. This moment had people talking that’s for sure.

26) Festival of Friendship

• We all knew the KO/Jericho partnership was gonna end but not like this man, not like this lol ‘But why’s my name on it’ just perfect delivery from Jericho you can hear the innocence in his voice. Sucks that the WM 33 match was disappointing but this was a masterpiece

27) Mark Henry still got some left in the tank

• Show me someone that says they knew he wasn’t gonna retire and i’ll show you a liar lol we all got suckered by this amazing performance, truly one of the great swerves of all time. Seemed perfectly feasible that Mark Henry would retire at that point and then BAM haha so so good and if there was any doubt, this cemented Mark Henry’s HOF status.

28) Milk o mania

• Just like the beer truck was the perfect moment for the Stone Cold character, there is no more perfect moment for Kurt Angle than driving a milk tanker truck into the arena and spraying down Austin and the Alliance. The Invasion angle sucked hard but this was one of the precious few legendary moments.

29) Austin saves the WWF

• This is one of the other precious few legendary moments man nobody wanted heel Stone Cold so to see ass kicker Stone Cold back was fn exciting. Dropping the Alliance with 150 stunners as the crowd loses its fcking mind never gets old. ‘Oh he’s talkin!’

30) Dumpster ride

• This is super tame by today’s standards lol but at the time it was one of the craziest things I had ever seen and was sure Cactus and Chainsaw were seriously hurt. Sunny’s reaction in particular made it seem real. This was the moment where the New Age Outlaws leveled up for good.

31) Tyson joins DX

• Such a cool swerve and it was great to see how much joy this gave Mike Tyson.

32) Taker vs Jeff Hardy Ladder Match

• You knew Taker was winning but there was def a moment where they had you thinking that this might be Jeff’s night. Fn awesome match.

33) Stephanie revealed as HHH’s wife

• Such a shocking twist that made you want to see Test beat HHH’s as but it never happened. Made the career of Stephanie and HHH but killed Test’s.

34) RAW IS Owen

• Put this at 34 for Owen’s age when he died. Cried hard this night but it really helped with my grief. ‘One last toast, to our friend Owen Hart’

35) 10 Bell salute to Brian Pillman

• Put this at 35 for the age Brian was when he died. This was the first time I experienced a 10 bell salute and it hit me hard but I thought it was such a great way to honour a wrestler that died. From this day on I always want wrestlers to get it so it hurt to see Jay Briscoe not get 1 on Dynamite.

36) Nexus

• This was so shocking bc it came out of nowhere. Didn’t hear any talk of a group of wrestlers being called up or anything like that so this was pretty exciting to see Cena get a serious beat down like this. The way they tore everything up and chased the announcers away so way the scene played out to silence was very nWo-esque. Obviously Nexus as a group didn’t come close to an nWo impact but doesn’t take away from this incredible debut.

37) Austin vs Kane

• Personal fav match of mine bc it was another great night growing up. Just after exams finished so all my friends were sleeping over and we had 2 groups watching upstairs and downstairs. Man when Austin won we went fcking nuts lol running up an down to both levels, great memories. As a Bret Hart/Hart Foundation fan I hated Austin’s guts to this point but he was starting to win me over esp after Bret left and this was the moment that he got me as a fan. Great match and the crowd is fn HOT! Also a great time to mention that Glen Jacobs is a piece of trash human. Carry on.

38) RAW IS Eddie

• Put this at 38 for the age Eddie was when he died. First time living away from home and our house became a party house so there was always people there but I knew I was gonna cry so I watched it alone in my room. This loss really hurt, Eddie felt like family and the love for him was genuine. The shot from Eddie’s 10 bell salute when a young boy is crying hard so his father pulls him close but is also crying himself is what wrestling is all about and perfectly shows what an impact Eddie made.

39) Mae Young goes for a ride

• Mae is one tough daughter of a bitch lol this was insane at the time and 1 of the moments that made you not want to miss a second of RAW ever bc you never know what crazy shit is gonna happen next

40) Radicalz are here

• This was the moment for me where I knew WCW had lost the War for good bc to lose 4 guys with that level of talent all at once while you were already getting your ass kicked was gonna be almost impossible to recover from. But as a WWF fan I was fn pumped to get all the new matchups.

41) TLC 4

• You know things are getting out of hand when they book a TLC match on a random RAW lol amazing match for sure but it was def pushing the limits of asking too much from the wrestlers

42) Dark Wedding

• JR’s commentary helped make this one, they way his voice goes up on ‘saAKE!’ when Austin’s music hits, ‘Down goes Viscera!’, but the best is the way he says ‘What a shot!’ when Austin absolutely crushes Mideon with a chair shot. Hated this version of Taker so I was def hoping Austin would come and stop it. The mystery of whether or not he would actually help Vince was well done.

43) HBK as Taker

• Me and my friends fn loved this moment and talked about it consistently for years. Just a perfect shit heel move and there was no better shit heel than HBK at that time.

44) Ziggler cashes in

• Always the fear that Ziggler would be the one to jump on the grenade and be the first to lose his cash in so the kickout of the first Zig Zag has you on edge but thankfully he got his moment and it was a big one. All timer of a pop and 1 of the best cash in’s.

45) Here comes the pain

• The hype of Brock Lesnar was building leading up to this but to actually see him on screen was surreal. His physique was instantly impressive and seeing him man handle literally anyone and everyone was awesome. Def lived up to the hype and more.

46) Miz cashes in

• Miz had established himself as a great heel but would Vince actually put the Title on him or would he be the first to lose. Randy Orton being champion made it much less likely to me so it was an intense moment when his music hit to cash in. I knew Miz how hard Miz had worked and how he was a life long fan so I was happy for him. Angry Miz Girl was exaclty what a Miz title win needed lol

47) Batista says thumbs down

• Fans were so ready for Batista to break away from HHH so there was a lot of excitement when it finally happened. Pefectly with the tumbs down to not only let the crowd react but for HHH and Flair to put it over the top with their reactions. Couldn’t ask for a better launch pad for Batista.

48) HHH picks up the ball

• The rumors had HBK leaving after WM 14 so I was super bummed about it heading into HHH’s promo but bringing out X-Pac changed that in a hurry bc that was really the first shot back to WCW in terms of taking one of their stars. It was pretty one sided up to that point and HHH cut a great promo so while I loved the HBK/HHH/Chyna version of DX and didn’t want it to end, I was excited about the future of DX after this.

49) JR interviews Mankind

• These interviews were incredible at the time and almost come off better now. Beginning to end they are captivating and the build up to Mankind turning to violence at the end is masterful. Absolutely integral to Mick Foley reaching the heights that he did.

50) Eddie vs RVD Ladder Match

• Dream match up for sure and they did not disappoint despite some loser trying to push the fn Ladder over, thank God they didn’t get hurt. Was rooting hard for Eddie to have a good performance since it was his first match back after being fired.

51) Occupy RAW

• Really cool moment for DB that helped seperate him from the pack. I wasn’t enjoying it bc I was sure it was just leading to a HHH match but man what an exciting moment when DB made sure the winner got into the Main Event of WM 30 and HHH’s reaction was gold lol the hope that the YES! Movement would pay off was still alive after this so it’s def special.

52) HBK vs HHH

• Amazing match to finish the year that might have been in the convo for best ever if HBK won but he didn’t want to be World Champion. I def understand why but it hurt the product at times.

53) KANE is here

• Kane’s debut at Hell in a Cell was crazy enough but then he started randomly showing up and destroying whoever was in the ring and it was stuff like that helped the WWF eventually winthe ratings again. RAW was layered from top to bottom with great content, you literally did not want to miss a second. Stone Cold didn’t have to carry the show by himself, he had the entire lineup hitting home runs too.

54) Jannetty wins the IC Title

• I know people joke about ‘the Jannetty of the team’ but the guy was a great wrestler and really over for most of his career but esp around this time. Crowd went crazy for this win and the match was awesome. If Jannetty could have got focused on being great instead of partying things would have played out much differently.

55) Cena’s US Open Challenge

• Def the best US title run of the WWE era for sure man this was an awesome time for WWE fans bc it was just great matches with hot crowds every week. Gave us so many bangers just sucked that it ended with such a dud.

56) Bayley wins the title

• Such a shocking win , not that she actually won but that it came on a random RAW. Great match that lived up to the main event spot and it was awesome to see Bayley get the respect she had earned.

57) Last Woman Standing

• Such a buzzkill for Sasha to lose in Hell in a Cell so I doubt many thought she would win it back here so quick but what a nice surprise it was. Fn awesome match with the legendary finish of Sasha putting the Banks Statement on Charlotte through the steel handrail.

58) Musical Chairs

• This has a special place for me bc this was the first RAW I ever attended live but you can’t say it wasn’t an entertaining segment. Crowd was off the hook for Y2J and Flair was fn hilarious strutting around the circle lol

59) Cactus Jack is here

• I knew Mankind used to be Cactus Jack but I had never seen Cactus wrestle before this match, just saw him in magazines so when it happened I was so excited. HHH sold the reveal perfectly bc if he doesn’t then the whole thing falls flat. Awesome match.

60) John Cena #1 pick

• This was a shock bc it meant a huge shake up of the brands but def exciting to have the biggest rising star on the flagship show.

61) Edge & Christian do a run-in

• Me and my buddy laughed about this moment for years, Edge and Christian join commentary and JR asks them why they are out there, “Edge: Well JR, we’re here to do a run-in. Christian: Yeah run-ins rule! Jerry Lawler: A run-in JR! What do you think of that!? JR: Well, I’m somewhat shocked by their bluntness” LOL fn gold right there.

62) Rock, This is your life

• I know that this is 1 of the highest rated RAW segments but i’m not sure why. It was def funny and entertaining but no where close to the best. My theory was that the mystery of who was under the blanket fueled the rating bc at that time, it felt like anything could happen so a surprise like that was def must see.

63) Patterson & Briscoe vs the Mean Street Posse

• I guess this is actually the highest rating segment which is insane if it’s legitimately true bc I can’t think of one single solitary reason why lol def a fun spectacle tho and the peak for the Stooges.

64) The real hijack RAW

• People crap on the fans role in this show but it’s a fact, Daniel Bryan fans actually made WWE change the show to have fan friendly matchups so fans would have no reason to hijack the show with chants and negative reactions. In someways we’re still paying for supporting Daniel Bryan like we did so I really appreciate this win.

65) Choppy choppy your pee pee

• I don’t care what anyone says this was an awesome mid-card angle lol everyone involved was so talented and it was so funny I couldn’t help but love it.

66) Dude Love lives!

• I always see Dude Love showing up as the start of the WWF getting really fun with the rise of Austin/McMahon and Mick Foley hitting another level of popularity as fans got a glimpse into the real guy and loved what they say. The video of Dude Love he made showed that he was as much a hardcore wrestling fan as we all were. Great debut and the moment later where he turns on Austin and is dancing on the stage with Vince and the girls is iconic.

67) Vince has had enough of “You screwed Bret”

• Forget the year or where exactly they were but Vince is trying to cut a promo and trying to ignore the ‘You Screwed Bret!’ chants that are getting louder. They won’t stop so he finally gets pissed off and yells, ‘YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT I DID AND I’D DO IT AGAIN!!’ LOL fck I laughed so hard and it was another moment me n my buddy laughed about for years.

68) Loser Leaves Town

• I remember at the time being beyond shocked and a little bummed that they even had this match nevermind that Flair lost and was actually leaving. Great match with a hot crowd.

69) DX Election speech

• Still crazy to me that this actually exists lol TSN obviously did not show it so I had no clue about it until I got Kazaa 1 of the old file sharing services and downloaded a bunch of wrestling videos. Had to watch it a few times bc I was so shocked and couldn’t believe what they were saying lol pushed the limits as far as they possibly could but man it was funny and added to the legend of original DX.

And that brings us to the end, was def fun going back through the moments. WWE and RAW have been a big part of my life for the last 30 years so while I’m very disillusioned with today’s WWE, I had to to do something to commemorate this monumental anniversary. I’m sure I missed some big moments but I think i got pretty much all the ones that mean the most to me and hopefully anyone reading this see’s most of their favourite moments. With all the sale talk and Jay Briscoe’s sudden death, we can’t take anything for granted and there might not be a 35th Anniversary so I want to appreciate it while I can. Call me a sucker but I’ll be watching tomorrow and hoping they put on a banger of a show. Thanks for reading, enjoy the show tomorrow and God Bless!