Post by #Classic Hi-Definition X on Oct 1, 2005 8:38:56 GMT -5
I got this from PWTorch.
TOP 100 RAW MOMENTS ON USA NETWORK
By Octavio Fierros
100. Jim Ross Slaps Bart Gunn Weeks Before WrestleMania XV
March 15, 1999 – Jim Ross went to the middle of the ring and slapped Bart Gunn. JR did his heel antics, just like he did in 1996 when he talked about getting fired by Vince McMahon. Bart Gunn was getting ready for a push that time as a legit fighter with a pretty good left hand. He won the Brawl for All and scored an upset over JR’s boy, Steve Williams. Gunn was later KO’d by Butterbean at WrestleMania XV and we never heard from him again.
99. Marc Mero Threatened to Retire if He Loses to Dwayne Gill
November 30, 1998 – Most retirements are not taken seriously in wrestling. But for Marc Mero, it was. Mero went to the ring and challenged then-WWE Light Heavyweight Champion Duane Gill. “If I lose to this jobber, I will retire from professional wrestling.” Mero didn’t take Gill seriously and ended up retiring from the WWE. Mero never returned and his wife Sable was still employed by WWE.
98. Mark Henry Kisses a Transvestite
January 18, 1999 – Mark Henry paid the price for cheating on Chyna. Henry met a girl named Sammie while he was going out with Chyna. Henry did his usual “Sexual Chocolate” gimmick and kissed Sammie. Henry started grabbing “her” butt and freaked out when he touched “her” member. “That’s a member!” – said Henry as he was completely embarrassed. Later, Henry’s mom came out and started hitting her son for his actions. Chyna ended her relationship with Henry with a low-blow.
97. Duane Gill Debuts as Gillberg
1998 – Dwayne Gill made quite an impact on this edition of Raw. Yes, he is the light heavyweight champion, but he made his presence felt when he came out as Gillberg, imitating WCW monster Goldberg. It was hilarious and his entrance was one of the best. His first match was against Luna and was squashed. He was the total opposite of Goldberg. His theme song was almost like Goldberg from WCW. “It’s not who’s next, it’s who’s first!” – said Gillberg during his opening promo.
96. Bob Backlund Puts the Chicken Wing on WWF Magazine Writer
September 19, 1994 – Vince McMahon interviewed Bob Backlund in the middle of the ring. Vince reminded Backlund about his glory days. Backlund said society has changed since he won the WWF Title back in the 70s. At the time, Backlund was using his deadly submission move called the chicken wing. He said he would retire for good if anyone breaks the hold. WWF Magazine writer Lou Gianfriddo volunteered to attempt to break the hold. Backlund applied the move, but completely snapped. The highlight was also Vince acting like it was a big deal by cursing at Backlund after the incident.
95. The Rock “rock-bottoms” British Bulldog on Dog Poop
October 11, 1999 – It was a memorable moment, but I also see it as a “WrestleCrap” moment. That night, The Rock teamed with Mankind against Val Venis and British Bulldog. The Rock “rock-bottom” Bulldog on dog poop and the match ended just like that. Enough said.
94. Val Venis Gets His member Cut Off by Kaientai
August 3, 1998 – Speaking of WrestleCrap moment, this was one as well. At the time, Venis was feuding with Kaientai, including Taka Michinoku. Kaientai vowed to chop Val’s “pee pee”. Venis’ bare ass was shown and as soon as Kaientai was going to cut off his member, the show ended.
93. Rob Van Dam Debuts on Raw Against Jeff Hardy
May 12, 1997 – A few weeks after ECW invaded Raw, Jerry Lawler brought in Rob Van Dam as anti-ECW wrestler. Van Dam was pro-WWE and vowed to make an impact in the company. The storyline was quickly scrapped after ECW and WWE ended their deal to have their wrestlers wrestle on USA Network. RVD got his nickname as “Mr. Monday Night”.
92. Mankind Debuts on Raw and Attacks The Undertaker
April 1, 1996 – Mankind filmed vignettes for two months prior to his TV debut on the April 1st edition of Raw. While Taker was finishing off Bradshaw in the main event, Mankind ran in and attacked the phenom. Mankind went for a top rope elbow from the apron to the outside. Then, he applied his dangerous submission move called the mandible claw. This was the beginning of a very long feud between Taker and Mankind.
91. Eddie Guerrero and Chyna Start Dating Each Other
April 3, 2000 – Chris Jericho lost the European Title the night after he won it from Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 2000. Chyna turned on Jericho and joined Guerrero. This was the beginning of a relationship between Eddie and Chyna, who was now known as Mamacita. I know this was on UPN, but on Smackdown four days later, Chyna said, “I couldn’t resist your Latino Heat.”
90. The Beginning of the Whodunit Angle
2000 – A very good storyline that was stalling a bit due to the hype towards the first edition of Raw on TNN. There were some hints leading to the revealing of the culprit.
89. Lex Luger Wins Coin Toss, To Fight Yokozuna First at Mania X
January 31, 1994 – For the first and only time in WWE history, the Royal Rumble ended with two winners. Both deserved a title shot at the best pay-per-view of the year. The question was: Who is fighting the champion first? A coin toss determined who was going to wrestle Yokozuna at WrestleMania X first. In interest of fairness, both wrestlers had to wrestle two matches that night. If Bret wins the toss, Luger would have to face Crush. If Luger wins the toss, Bret is going to face his brother Owen. Luger won the coin toss, so he would face the champion first. Bret had to face his brother in the opener of WrestleMania X.
88. Kane Forms Alliance with Undertaker Week Before Rumble '98
January 12, 1998 – The Undertaker made a mistake trusting his evil brother Kane the week before the Royal Rumble. It was a big mistake because he trusted him when he was ready to receive a title shot against WWE Champion Shawn Michaels. Taker and Kane greeted each other in the middle of the ring.
87. Mark Henry Dates Chyna
November 30, 1998 – Mark Henry’s new gimmick was going strong at the time, but not enough to get over for a long period of time. Like him or hate him, Henry was entertaining in his skits with Chyna. Chyna also did her part well, despite being the amazon that she was just about a year before this moment. Chyna and Henry had a great time during their date, but Henry wanted more than just a date.
86. Bam Bam Bigelow Forced To Apologize To Lawrence Taylor
January 23, 1995 – At the Royal Rumble, NFL legend Lawrence Taylor laughed at Bam Bam Bigelow because he lost to two underdogs in the finals of the tag team title tournament. Bigelow got offended and shoved the former football star. The WWE suspended Bigelow for 30 days, but had to make a formal apology on Raw. Bigelow believed that LT should apologize for laughing at him. Instead of the apology, Bigelow challenged LT to a match at WrestleMania XI.
85. Big Bossman Reads a Poem About Big Show's Dad
December 1999 – Many called this moment “tasteless” since Big Show’s dad really died years ago. The moment when Big Bossman came out to read a poem about Show’s dad was pretty funny. If you know the exact words of this poem, send them in.
84. The Godfather Brings Out the Ho's Almost Every Raw in 1998
1998-1999 – Hop on the “Hooooooo” Train! That’s right, folks. After lame gimmicks like Papa Shango and Kama, finally the WWE found a way to make Charles Wright entertaining. The Las Vegas native used to come out almost every Monday on Raw with the sexiest ladies of the area to entertain you. His opening promo was just great and the fans used to just eat that up.
83. British Bulldog Turns on Diesel During Tag Team Match
August 21, 1995 – The British Bulldog decided to team with Diesel against Men on a Mission after Lex Luger was not present that night. Bulldog turned on Diesel just minutes within the match, turning heel for the first time in his WWE tenure. Bulldog teamed with MOM and attacked the WWE Champion. Very few had cable TV at the time and most were still watching WWF Superstars at the time. Bulldog’s turn was shocking to say at least.
82. Steve Austin Gives Series of Stunners To Slaughter, Lawler
September 1997 – We all knew that Steve Austin was injured at the time, but he did the best he can to entertain us. He knew his popularity was at a all-time high, so he came out during every Raw, giving stunners to guys like Jim Ross, Sgt. Slaughter, and Jerry Lawler. The streak of stunners would end against Vince McMahon. That’s a moment to come later.
81. Jim Ross in a Sit-Down Interview with Dustin Runnels
May 5, 1997 – One of the most creative interviews ever on Raw was during Jim Ross’ series of talks with wrestlers. Unfortunately, JR got a chance to talk to two wrestlers during that time. Goldust revealed himself and talked about his gimmick and his family. It was a shoot-style interview that came in the right time for wrestling. At the time, the WWE was slowly changing to the “attitude” era.
80. Steve Austin Stuns Santa Claus on Christmas Edition of Raw
December 1997 – Steve Austin closed the year by stunning Santa Claus on a special edition of Raw. But what was also memorable that time was when Vince said, “You haven’t seen nothing yet!” He was right. The attitude era had just begun.
79. Shane McMahon Hires Austin Back to the WWE
October 26, 1998 – After Austin was fired at Judgment Day, Shane McMahon returned as a babyface to hire Austin back to WWE. That was the beginning of a one-month feud between Shane and his father Vince. Shane joined Vince at the Survivor Series when he screwed Austin in the second round of the WWE Title tournament.
78. Degeneration X Reformation, Circa 1999
October 25, 1999 – The New Age Outlaws and X-Pac reunited with Triple H to reform Degeneration X. Triple H was the WWE Champion at the time and he needed protection. DX reformed, but was never the same from their glory days back in 1998.
77. Roddy Piper Announces One-Hour Iron Man Match for Mania XII
March 11, 1996 – Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels shook hands possibly for the last time in their lifetime. Both men were hyping their main event for WrestleMania XII. Interim president of the WWE, Roddy Piper, came out and announced that this match would be an Iron Man match. Piper probably planted the seeds for this rivalry when he said, “You might as well shake hands now because after this you are going to hate each other!”
76. Shawn Michaels Brings Out a Bret Hart Midget on Raw
November 24, 1997 – Michaels came out during the beginning of Raw and announced that Bret will return. Viewers were shocked because Bret left the WWE in bad terms. When Michaels announced Bret’s entrance, a Hitman midget came out. Michaels and Hunter laughed their ass off. They even pasted a WCW bumper sticker on his ass. Even Jim Neidhart was on the receiving end of Michaels’ antics.
75. Triple H Defeats Mankind for the WWE Title
August 23, 1999 – Triple H won the WWE Title from Mankind the night after SummerSlam ’99.
74. Shawn Michaels and Hunter Attack Taker; Officially Forms DX
August 11, 1997 – Finally Michaels and Hunter formed on-air alliance to form Degeneration X. Michaels had just turned heel the night after SummerSlam ’97 when he cost Undertaker the WWE Title. Michaels nailed Taker with a chair twice, but he realized he just woke up the phenom.
73. The Rock Creates a Funeral for Steve Austin
April 19, 1999 – Coming from their WrestleMania XV rematch, Steve Austin and The Rock were still feuding with some entertaining promos and storylines. Prior to Backlash, The Rock presented an obituary of Steve Austin as he set up a funeral for the rattlesnake.
72. Jerry Lawler and Paul Heyman Shoot on Raw
February 10, 1997 – Paul Heyman called in on Raw to remind fans that he and his ECW wrestlers will invade Raw the following week. Jerry Lawler was strongly against the idea of having “Extremely Crappy Wrestling” on a WWE show. Lawler and Heyman start exchanging comments about their own product. Not only did this take place on February 10th, but their feud lasted until June when Lawler invaded ECW.
71. ECW Wrestlers Invade Raw Without Permission (Circa 1996)
September 23, 1996 – ECW wrestlers continued to invade Raw after also appearing at the PPV the night before. This was the first time that ECW appears on Raw, but it was without permission of the WWE.
70. Degeneration X Moons the Crowd
August 10, 1998 – DX teased a split, but not the type of split we were thinking about. Chyna and DX mooned the crowd as the fans got a good laugh, thinking that the popular faction was going to disintegrate.
69. Bart Gunn KO's Dr. Death Steve Williams
July 27, 1998 – The first and only Brawl for All tournament started very slow with some lame action involved. At the July 27, 1998 edition of Raw, the Brawl for All became important because Bart Gunn, who was known as simply a tag team wrestler, scored an upset of heavily favorite Steve “Dr. Death” Williams. Williams was expected to win the tournament, but Gunn ended up winning the tourney about two weeks later.
68. Psycho Sid Turns on Shawn Michaels the Night After Mania XI
April 3, 1995 – Shawn Michaels decided to give his bodyguard Sid the night off after he blamed him for costing HBK the WWF Title. Sid didn’t like the decision one bit and ended up powerbombing Michaels three times. Diesel came to the rescue and it looked like Michaels turned face, despite Sid getting cheers for the turn.
67. Degeneration X-Team Corporate Parody
December 14, 1998 – One of the funniest segments on Raw took place when Degeneration X came out to imitate Team Corporate. Along with Jason Sensation (who imitated Shawn Michaels), DX did a 15-minute skit on their rivals. Triple H did The Rock’s part. Billy Gunn did a great job making fun of Shane. This was one of the last funny skits aired on Raw from Degeneration X because Triple H was ready to break out as a singles star.
66. Right to Censor Take Over WWE
2000 – Stevie Richards’ heyday actually took place in 2000 when he became the leader of Right to Censor. A controversial faction that made a mockery of the PTC when they were feuding with WWE. RTC brainwashed The Godfather and turned him into the Goodfather. He was now against half naked girls parading around the ring. They also had Ivory and Bull Buchanan in their stable. Val Venis was brought later and dropped his porn star gimmick.
65. Goldust Gives Ahmed Johnson Mouth-to-Mouth
1996 – Ahmed Johnson was knocked out cold and Goldust came to the save the day when he gave CPR to Ahmed. Ahmed woke up, noticed that he had golden lips, and went wild in the locker room area.
64. Jesse Ventura Appears on Raw
August 9, 1999 – Jesse Ventura comes out on WWE TV for the first time in nine years when he announced that will be special guest referee at SummerSlam ’99. Ventura reminded fans that he was the official for the first ever SummerSlam as well. Triple H confronted Ventura in one of the most memorable segments on Raw that year.
63. The Big Show Destroys the Titan Tron
1999 – The Big Show destroyed the Titan Tron set on Raw. It was just an amazing display of power from Paul Wight.
62. X-Pac Returns to WWE and Joins Degeneration X
March 30, 1998 – One of the best moments ever on Raw was when X-Pac (who wrestled as Syxx in WCW) returned to the WWE to join forces with Degeneration X. Triple H and X-Pac reunited, since they were members of the Clique.
61. HBK Rips on Bret and WCW the Night After Survivor Series '97
November 10, 1997 – Shawn Michaels promised a lot of things during this show. First, he said that if he wins the WWE Title at Survivor Series, he was going to come out naked to the ring. Then, he also told Bret the night before that he will prove that he was not involved in the screwjob by not appearing on Raw with the WWE Title. Yet, he did. Michaels comes out and completely rips on Bret and Hogan. He also mentions Kevin Nash and Scott Hall.
60. Jim Ross Turns Heel; Rips on McMahon
September 23, 1996 – When Jim Ross announced the return of Diesel and Razor Ramon, he also turned heel in the process. JR blamed Vince for firing him twice. He also acknowledged his Bell’s palsy. Quite a memorable edition of Raw, but it was during the wrong time, since Nitro was kicking ass in the ratings.
59. Rick Rude Appears on Raw and Nitro the Same Night
November 17, 1997 – Rick Rude made history in the making by appearing on both Raw and Nitro the same night. Fans wondered why the former IC Champion appeared on both shows. Raw was taped that night and he came out alongside DX. On Nitro, however, he came out ripping on Vince and Shawn for destroying the “Hitman” image at the Survivor Series just ten days prior to this show.
58. Gorilla Monsoon Kicks Bobby Heenan Out of WWE
1993 – Bobby Heenan went out of the WWE in one of the most embarrassing ways when Gorilla Monsoon kicked him out of the arena. That usually was the last time we saw Heenan in the WWE. WWE officials knew that Heenan was heading to WCW so his exit had to be a major letdown for the Brain.
57. Hawk Falls Off the Titan Tron
1998 – The Legion of Doom was facing too many problems and they were quickly aging. Hawk was really messed up at this point of his career. The WWE decided to put Hawk’s real life persona on television. He used to come out drunk to the ring. In one of the weirdest, yet memorable moments on Raw took place when Hawk attempted to commit suicide by falling off the Titan Tron. Droz tried to help, but he ended up shoving Hawk accidentally.
56. "Die Rocky Die" - The Rock Turns Heel and Joins Nation
August 1997 – Rocky Maivia became The Rock when he joined The Nation and turned heel in the process. It was a classy heel speech from The Rock that will be remembered forever. This also cemented The Rock as a major superstar in the WWE roster.
55. Highway to Hell Video Package Hyping Austin vs. Taker
August 24, 1998 – The Raw before SummerSlam ’98 featured a nice video package focusing on the feud between Steve Austin and The Undertaker. This was one of the first well produced packages of the WWE, which was titled, “Highway to Hell”.
54. Steve Austin Becomes CEO of WWE
1999 – When Vince revealed to be Higher Power, Linda named Steve Austin the CEO of WWE. His tenure as CEO lasted a few days when he lost to Vince and Shane at the King of the Ring.
53. Mae Young Gives Birth to a Hand
1999 – Enough said.
52. Vince McMahon Reveals Himself as the Higher Power
June 7, 1999 – “It was me, Austin! It was me all along, Austin!” Vince aligned with Austin for a short period of time back in 1999. Then, Vince revealed himself as Higher Power, turning heel again.
51. Vince McMahon Interviews Melanie Pillman
October 6, 1997 – Many called this moment a desperate way to spark ratings, but I see it as a moment in which gave fans more details on the death of Brian Pillman, who passed away a day earlier. Melanie comes out on Raw for the second time after the gun angle by Pillman and Austin just a year before this edition of Raw.
TOP 100 RAW MOMENTS ON USA NETWORK
By Octavio Fierros
100. Jim Ross Slaps Bart Gunn Weeks Before WrestleMania XV
March 15, 1999 – Jim Ross went to the middle of the ring and slapped Bart Gunn. JR did his heel antics, just like he did in 1996 when he talked about getting fired by Vince McMahon. Bart Gunn was getting ready for a push that time as a legit fighter with a pretty good left hand. He won the Brawl for All and scored an upset over JR’s boy, Steve Williams. Gunn was later KO’d by Butterbean at WrestleMania XV and we never heard from him again.
99. Marc Mero Threatened to Retire if He Loses to Dwayne Gill
November 30, 1998 – Most retirements are not taken seriously in wrestling. But for Marc Mero, it was. Mero went to the ring and challenged then-WWE Light Heavyweight Champion Duane Gill. “If I lose to this jobber, I will retire from professional wrestling.” Mero didn’t take Gill seriously and ended up retiring from the WWE. Mero never returned and his wife Sable was still employed by WWE.
98. Mark Henry Kisses a Transvestite
January 18, 1999 – Mark Henry paid the price for cheating on Chyna. Henry met a girl named Sammie while he was going out with Chyna. Henry did his usual “Sexual Chocolate” gimmick and kissed Sammie. Henry started grabbing “her” butt and freaked out when he touched “her” member. “That’s a member!” – said Henry as he was completely embarrassed. Later, Henry’s mom came out and started hitting her son for his actions. Chyna ended her relationship with Henry with a low-blow.
97. Duane Gill Debuts as Gillberg
1998 – Dwayne Gill made quite an impact on this edition of Raw. Yes, he is the light heavyweight champion, but he made his presence felt when he came out as Gillberg, imitating WCW monster Goldberg. It was hilarious and his entrance was one of the best. His first match was against Luna and was squashed. He was the total opposite of Goldberg. His theme song was almost like Goldberg from WCW. “It’s not who’s next, it’s who’s first!” – said Gillberg during his opening promo.
96. Bob Backlund Puts the Chicken Wing on WWF Magazine Writer
September 19, 1994 – Vince McMahon interviewed Bob Backlund in the middle of the ring. Vince reminded Backlund about his glory days. Backlund said society has changed since he won the WWF Title back in the 70s. At the time, Backlund was using his deadly submission move called the chicken wing. He said he would retire for good if anyone breaks the hold. WWF Magazine writer Lou Gianfriddo volunteered to attempt to break the hold. Backlund applied the move, but completely snapped. The highlight was also Vince acting like it was a big deal by cursing at Backlund after the incident.
95. The Rock “rock-bottoms” British Bulldog on Dog Poop
October 11, 1999 – It was a memorable moment, but I also see it as a “WrestleCrap” moment. That night, The Rock teamed with Mankind against Val Venis and British Bulldog. The Rock “rock-bottom” Bulldog on dog poop and the match ended just like that. Enough said.
94. Val Venis Gets His member Cut Off by Kaientai
August 3, 1998 – Speaking of WrestleCrap moment, this was one as well. At the time, Venis was feuding with Kaientai, including Taka Michinoku. Kaientai vowed to chop Val’s “pee pee”. Venis’ bare ass was shown and as soon as Kaientai was going to cut off his member, the show ended.
93. Rob Van Dam Debuts on Raw Against Jeff Hardy
May 12, 1997 – A few weeks after ECW invaded Raw, Jerry Lawler brought in Rob Van Dam as anti-ECW wrestler. Van Dam was pro-WWE and vowed to make an impact in the company. The storyline was quickly scrapped after ECW and WWE ended their deal to have their wrestlers wrestle on USA Network. RVD got his nickname as “Mr. Monday Night”.
92. Mankind Debuts on Raw and Attacks The Undertaker
April 1, 1996 – Mankind filmed vignettes for two months prior to his TV debut on the April 1st edition of Raw. While Taker was finishing off Bradshaw in the main event, Mankind ran in and attacked the phenom. Mankind went for a top rope elbow from the apron to the outside. Then, he applied his dangerous submission move called the mandible claw. This was the beginning of a very long feud between Taker and Mankind.
91. Eddie Guerrero and Chyna Start Dating Each Other
April 3, 2000 – Chris Jericho lost the European Title the night after he won it from Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 2000. Chyna turned on Jericho and joined Guerrero. This was the beginning of a relationship between Eddie and Chyna, who was now known as Mamacita. I know this was on UPN, but on Smackdown four days later, Chyna said, “I couldn’t resist your Latino Heat.”
90. The Beginning of the Whodunit Angle
2000 – A very good storyline that was stalling a bit due to the hype towards the first edition of Raw on TNN. There were some hints leading to the revealing of the culprit.
89. Lex Luger Wins Coin Toss, To Fight Yokozuna First at Mania X
January 31, 1994 – For the first and only time in WWE history, the Royal Rumble ended with two winners. Both deserved a title shot at the best pay-per-view of the year. The question was: Who is fighting the champion first? A coin toss determined who was going to wrestle Yokozuna at WrestleMania X first. In interest of fairness, both wrestlers had to wrestle two matches that night. If Bret wins the toss, Luger would have to face Crush. If Luger wins the toss, Bret is going to face his brother Owen. Luger won the coin toss, so he would face the champion first. Bret had to face his brother in the opener of WrestleMania X.
88. Kane Forms Alliance with Undertaker Week Before Rumble '98
January 12, 1998 – The Undertaker made a mistake trusting his evil brother Kane the week before the Royal Rumble. It was a big mistake because he trusted him when he was ready to receive a title shot against WWE Champion Shawn Michaels. Taker and Kane greeted each other in the middle of the ring.
87. Mark Henry Dates Chyna
November 30, 1998 – Mark Henry’s new gimmick was going strong at the time, but not enough to get over for a long period of time. Like him or hate him, Henry was entertaining in his skits with Chyna. Chyna also did her part well, despite being the amazon that she was just about a year before this moment. Chyna and Henry had a great time during their date, but Henry wanted more than just a date.
86. Bam Bam Bigelow Forced To Apologize To Lawrence Taylor
January 23, 1995 – At the Royal Rumble, NFL legend Lawrence Taylor laughed at Bam Bam Bigelow because he lost to two underdogs in the finals of the tag team title tournament. Bigelow got offended and shoved the former football star. The WWE suspended Bigelow for 30 days, but had to make a formal apology on Raw. Bigelow believed that LT should apologize for laughing at him. Instead of the apology, Bigelow challenged LT to a match at WrestleMania XI.
85. Big Bossman Reads a Poem About Big Show's Dad
December 1999 – Many called this moment “tasteless” since Big Show’s dad really died years ago. The moment when Big Bossman came out to read a poem about Show’s dad was pretty funny. If you know the exact words of this poem, send them in.
84. The Godfather Brings Out the Ho's Almost Every Raw in 1998
1998-1999 – Hop on the “Hooooooo” Train! That’s right, folks. After lame gimmicks like Papa Shango and Kama, finally the WWE found a way to make Charles Wright entertaining. The Las Vegas native used to come out almost every Monday on Raw with the sexiest ladies of the area to entertain you. His opening promo was just great and the fans used to just eat that up.
83. British Bulldog Turns on Diesel During Tag Team Match
August 21, 1995 – The British Bulldog decided to team with Diesel against Men on a Mission after Lex Luger was not present that night. Bulldog turned on Diesel just minutes within the match, turning heel for the first time in his WWE tenure. Bulldog teamed with MOM and attacked the WWE Champion. Very few had cable TV at the time and most were still watching WWF Superstars at the time. Bulldog’s turn was shocking to say at least.
82. Steve Austin Gives Series of Stunners To Slaughter, Lawler
September 1997 – We all knew that Steve Austin was injured at the time, but he did the best he can to entertain us. He knew his popularity was at a all-time high, so he came out during every Raw, giving stunners to guys like Jim Ross, Sgt. Slaughter, and Jerry Lawler. The streak of stunners would end against Vince McMahon. That’s a moment to come later.
81. Jim Ross in a Sit-Down Interview with Dustin Runnels
May 5, 1997 – One of the most creative interviews ever on Raw was during Jim Ross’ series of talks with wrestlers. Unfortunately, JR got a chance to talk to two wrestlers during that time. Goldust revealed himself and talked about his gimmick and his family. It was a shoot-style interview that came in the right time for wrestling. At the time, the WWE was slowly changing to the “attitude” era.
80. Steve Austin Stuns Santa Claus on Christmas Edition of Raw
December 1997 – Steve Austin closed the year by stunning Santa Claus on a special edition of Raw. But what was also memorable that time was when Vince said, “You haven’t seen nothing yet!” He was right. The attitude era had just begun.
79. Shane McMahon Hires Austin Back to the WWE
October 26, 1998 – After Austin was fired at Judgment Day, Shane McMahon returned as a babyface to hire Austin back to WWE. That was the beginning of a one-month feud between Shane and his father Vince. Shane joined Vince at the Survivor Series when he screwed Austin in the second round of the WWE Title tournament.
78. Degeneration X Reformation, Circa 1999
October 25, 1999 – The New Age Outlaws and X-Pac reunited with Triple H to reform Degeneration X. Triple H was the WWE Champion at the time and he needed protection. DX reformed, but was never the same from their glory days back in 1998.
77. Roddy Piper Announces One-Hour Iron Man Match for Mania XII
March 11, 1996 – Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels shook hands possibly for the last time in their lifetime. Both men were hyping their main event for WrestleMania XII. Interim president of the WWE, Roddy Piper, came out and announced that this match would be an Iron Man match. Piper probably planted the seeds for this rivalry when he said, “You might as well shake hands now because after this you are going to hate each other!”
76. Shawn Michaels Brings Out a Bret Hart Midget on Raw
November 24, 1997 – Michaels came out during the beginning of Raw and announced that Bret will return. Viewers were shocked because Bret left the WWE in bad terms. When Michaels announced Bret’s entrance, a Hitman midget came out. Michaels and Hunter laughed their ass off. They even pasted a WCW bumper sticker on his ass. Even Jim Neidhart was on the receiving end of Michaels’ antics.
75. Triple H Defeats Mankind for the WWE Title
August 23, 1999 – Triple H won the WWE Title from Mankind the night after SummerSlam ’99.
74. Shawn Michaels and Hunter Attack Taker; Officially Forms DX
August 11, 1997 – Finally Michaels and Hunter formed on-air alliance to form Degeneration X. Michaels had just turned heel the night after SummerSlam ’97 when he cost Undertaker the WWE Title. Michaels nailed Taker with a chair twice, but he realized he just woke up the phenom.
73. The Rock Creates a Funeral for Steve Austin
April 19, 1999 – Coming from their WrestleMania XV rematch, Steve Austin and The Rock were still feuding with some entertaining promos and storylines. Prior to Backlash, The Rock presented an obituary of Steve Austin as he set up a funeral for the rattlesnake.
72. Jerry Lawler and Paul Heyman Shoot on Raw
February 10, 1997 – Paul Heyman called in on Raw to remind fans that he and his ECW wrestlers will invade Raw the following week. Jerry Lawler was strongly against the idea of having “Extremely Crappy Wrestling” on a WWE show. Lawler and Heyman start exchanging comments about their own product. Not only did this take place on February 10th, but their feud lasted until June when Lawler invaded ECW.
71. ECW Wrestlers Invade Raw Without Permission (Circa 1996)
September 23, 1996 – ECW wrestlers continued to invade Raw after also appearing at the PPV the night before. This was the first time that ECW appears on Raw, but it was without permission of the WWE.
70. Degeneration X Moons the Crowd
August 10, 1998 – DX teased a split, but not the type of split we were thinking about. Chyna and DX mooned the crowd as the fans got a good laugh, thinking that the popular faction was going to disintegrate.
69. Bart Gunn KO's Dr. Death Steve Williams
July 27, 1998 – The first and only Brawl for All tournament started very slow with some lame action involved. At the July 27, 1998 edition of Raw, the Brawl for All became important because Bart Gunn, who was known as simply a tag team wrestler, scored an upset of heavily favorite Steve “Dr. Death” Williams. Williams was expected to win the tournament, but Gunn ended up winning the tourney about two weeks later.
68. Psycho Sid Turns on Shawn Michaels the Night After Mania XI
April 3, 1995 – Shawn Michaels decided to give his bodyguard Sid the night off after he blamed him for costing HBK the WWF Title. Sid didn’t like the decision one bit and ended up powerbombing Michaels three times. Diesel came to the rescue and it looked like Michaels turned face, despite Sid getting cheers for the turn.
67. Degeneration X-Team Corporate Parody
December 14, 1998 – One of the funniest segments on Raw took place when Degeneration X came out to imitate Team Corporate. Along with Jason Sensation (who imitated Shawn Michaels), DX did a 15-minute skit on their rivals. Triple H did The Rock’s part. Billy Gunn did a great job making fun of Shane. This was one of the last funny skits aired on Raw from Degeneration X because Triple H was ready to break out as a singles star.
66. Right to Censor Take Over WWE
2000 – Stevie Richards’ heyday actually took place in 2000 when he became the leader of Right to Censor. A controversial faction that made a mockery of the PTC when they were feuding with WWE. RTC brainwashed The Godfather and turned him into the Goodfather. He was now against half naked girls parading around the ring. They also had Ivory and Bull Buchanan in their stable. Val Venis was brought later and dropped his porn star gimmick.
65. Goldust Gives Ahmed Johnson Mouth-to-Mouth
1996 – Ahmed Johnson was knocked out cold and Goldust came to the save the day when he gave CPR to Ahmed. Ahmed woke up, noticed that he had golden lips, and went wild in the locker room area.
64. Jesse Ventura Appears on Raw
August 9, 1999 – Jesse Ventura comes out on WWE TV for the first time in nine years when he announced that will be special guest referee at SummerSlam ’99. Ventura reminded fans that he was the official for the first ever SummerSlam as well. Triple H confronted Ventura in one of the most memorable segments on Raw that year.
63. The Big Show Destroys the Titan Tron
1999 – The Big Show destroyed the Titan Tron set on Raw. It was just an amazing display of power from Paul Wight.
62. X-Pac Returns to WWE and Joins Degeneration X
March 30, 1998 – One of the best moments ever on Raw was when X-Pac (who wrestled as Syxx in WCW) returned to the WWE to join forces with Degeneration X. Triple H and X-Pac reunited, since they were members of the Clique.
61. HBK Rips on Bret and WCW the Night After Survivor Series '97
November 10, 1997 – Shawn Michaels promised a lot of things during this show. First, he said that if he wins the WWE Title at Survivor Series, he was going to come out naked to the ring. Then, he also told Bret the night before that he will prove that he was not involved in the screwjob by not appearing on Raw with the WWE Title. Yet, he did. Michaels comes out and completely rips on Bret and Hogan. He also mentions Kevin Nash and Scott Hall.
60. Jim Ross Turns Heel; Rips on McMahon
September 23, 1996 – When Jim Ross announced the return of Diesel and Razor Ramon, he also turned heel in the process. JR blamed Vince for firing him twice. He also acknowledged his Bell’s palsy. Quite a memorable edition of Raw, but it was during the wrong time, since Nitro was kicking ass in the ratings.
59. Rick Rude Appears on Raw and Nitro the Same Night
November 17, 1997 – Rick Rude made history in the making by appearing on both Raw and Nitro the same night. Fans wondered why the former IC Champion appeared on both shows. Raw was taped that night and he came out alongside DX. On Nitro, however, he came out ripping on Vince and Shawn for destroying the “Hitman” image at the Survivor Series just ten days prior to this show.
58. Gorilla Monsoon Kicks Bobby Heenan Out of WWE
1993 – Bobby Heenan went out of the WWE in one of the most embarrassing ways when Gorilla Monsoon kicked him out of the arena. That usually was the last time we saw Heenan in the WWE. WWE officials knew that Heenan was heading to WCW so his exit had to be a major letdown for the Brain.
57. Hawk Falls Off the Titan Tron
1998 – The Legion of Doom was facing too many problems and they were quickly aging. Hawk was really messed up at this point of his career. The WWE decided to put Hawk’s real life persona on television. He used to come out drunk to the ring. In one of the weirdest, yet memorable moments on Raw took place when Hawk attempted to commit suicide by falling off the Titan Tron. Droz tried to help, but he ended up shoving Hawk accidentally.
56. "Die Rocky Die" - The Rock Turns Heel and Joins Nation
August 1997 – Rocky Maivia became The Rock when he joined The Nation and turned heel in the process. It was a classy heel speech from The Rock that will be remembered forever. This also cemented The Rock as a major superstar in the WWE roster.
55. Highway to Hell Video Package Hyping Austin vs. Taker
August 24, 1998 – The Raw before SummerSlam ’98 featured a nice video package focusing on the feud between Steve Austin and The Undertaker. This was one of the first well produced packages of the WWE, which was titled, “Highway to Hell”.
54. Steve Austin Becomes CEO of WWE
1999 – When Vince revealed to be Higher Power, Linda named Steve Austin the CEO of WWE. His tenure as CEO lasted a few days when he lost to Vince and Shane at the King of the Ring.
53. Mae Young Gives Birth to a Hand
1999 – Enough said.
52. Vince McMahon Reveals Himself as the Higher Power
June 7, 1999 – “It was me, Austin! It was me all along, Austin!” Vince aligned with Austin for a short period of time back in 1999. Then, Vince revealed himself as Higher Power, turning heel again.
51. Vince McMahon Interviews Melanie Pillman
October 6, 1997 – Many called this moment a desperate way to spark ratings, but I see it as a moment in which gave fans more details on the death of Brian Pillman, who passed away a day earlier. Melanie comes out on Raw for the second time after the gun angle by Pillman and Austin just a year before this edition of Raw.
