The best "Canadian RAW" moments...

[Guest bravesfan]

Straight from TSN.ca.

 

You may e-mail your choices to [email protected].

 

Moment #1: Flag match in Halifax

 

 

July 21, 1997: Hated in the United States but loved in Canada, Bret “The Hitman” Hart put his country’s pride on the line and teamed up with brother Owen and brother in-law Davey Boy Smith to face Stone Cold Steve Austin and Dude Love in a flag match. Shawn Michaels was supposed to team up with Austin and Love, but suffered a knee injury and could not participate in the match. Austin and Dude Love were then forced to go it alone, but were joined by the Undertaker during the match.

 

 

The culmination of the bout had Bret and Undertaker climbing their respective corners in attempt to reach their country's flag. Brian Pillman, who was hiding under the ring, came out and knocked Undertaker down, allowing Bret to grab his beloved flag and win the match.

 

 

Moment #2: RAW hits SkyDome

 

 

February 3, 1999: Though not seen live in the USA Network’s Monday night time slot ( a dog show pushed the showing to Saturday night) Toronto’s SkyDome hosted the biggest RAW to date, filling the building with over 43,000 screaming fans. The broadcast was exclusively seen on TSN with just six days to go before the WWF’s Valentine’s Day Massacre pay-per-view.

 

 

For a crowd of this magnitude, the main event was Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestling in a gauntlet match against Vince McMahon’s corporation of Test, Kane and Chyna. The Rattlesnake got the win by DQ, but did not escape SkyDome without an attack by The Corporation. The gang tore his shirt off and allowed Vince to get right in Austin’s face for a good old fashioned taunting. The moment became poster-boy material for ‘Attitude,’ and set the stage for McMahon’s battle with Austin the following Sunday on pay-per-view.

 

 

Moment #3: Angle pulls a fast one on Austin

 

 

September 3, 2001: At the height of the WWF/Alliance feud, an irate Kurt Angle was on the hunt for Stone Cold Steve Austin after the Rattlesnake tossed his gold medal into a river the week before. After abducting Austin from the Air Canada Centre, he drove him to a nearby bridge. A blindfolded Austin started crying and saying he was sorry.

 

 

Angle’s demands were simple: he wanted a return match for the WWF title or the Rattlesnake would be going for a swim. Austin said he got it and all Angle had to do was name the time and place. The Olympic Hero told him at Unforgiven in Pittsburgh, and Austin granted it to him. Kurt says he was still going to push him over the bridge, but eneded up pushing him in a little kiddie pool that was placed on the road. Kurt then got into the truck and drove off with satisfaction.

 

 

Moment #4: Crippling the Rattlesnake

 

 

May 28, 2001: The main event at the Saddledome in Calgary saw Edmonton’s Chris Benoit face Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF title. The match got terrific pop from the partisan crowd, especially when Benoit was able to slap on Bret Hart’s Sharpshooter early.

 

 

The match culminated with a Crippler Crossface on Austin, but the Rattlesnake’s new ally Vince McMahon pulled the ref out before a tap out. As the ref got back in, Austin slapped his won Crossface on Benoit and McMahon ordered the timekeeper to ring the bell (a la screw job). Howard Finkel announced that Austin won by submission, but Winnipeg’s Chris Jericho evened things out by beating on Austin and giving him the Walls of Jericho. Benoit then put the Crossface on McMahon to end a memorable show.

 

 

Moment #5: The Crippler returns

 

 

May 27, 2002: After sitting out almost a year with a neck injury, Benoit came out to open RAW in Edmonton despite being a Smackdown! talent. The home crowd gave a thunderous pop for The Crippler, and an ecstatic Benoit said it felt good to be back.

 

 

Though he was only a few weeks away from returning, he quickly turned on the crowd with an assault on fan favourite Stone Cold Steve Austin.

 

 

Moment #5: My name is KIIIIDDDD!

 

 

May 29, 2000: The memorable show marked the return of The Undertaker, complete with a new biker motif and an entrance theme – American Badass - performed by Kid Rock. The Kid absolutely rocked Vancouver’s GM Place with his performance, complete with an accompanying video and pyrotechnics. The late Joe C. even got in on the plot, falling victim to a humorous attack by Edge and Christian.

 

 

Moment #6: Hulkamania lives!

 

 

March 18, 2002: Hollywood Hulk Hogan had been beaten by The Rock the night before at WrestleMania, but the fans had already swung back his way. Having divorced himself from the New World Order, Hogan entered the ring at the Molson Centre alone – except for the sell out crowd that gave him one of the biggest and longest ovations in company history. The 30-year veteran was visibly moved and rendered speechless by the outpouring of emotion from the fans. The Rock then entered the ring and encouraged Hogan to tear away his nWo shirt, much to the delight of the Montreal faithful. Hulkamania was running wild again.

 

 

Moment #7: The Day after the Screw job

 

 

November 12, 1997: So was Shawn Michaels aware of the Survivor Series screw job finish? The answer is crystal clear now, but was still up in the air as RAW aired live from the nation’s capital. Michaels had told an angry Bret Hart the night before that he was not going to carry the WWF World Title belt with him in Ottawa and was not even going to address the situation.

 

 

That changed quickly as Michaels executed one of the most memorable ‘shoots’ in the history of the show. He came out to a chorus of boos and told the crowd at the Corel Centre that he finally got Bret out of the company. "I drove Bret out of the WWF to wrestle those old dinosaurs (at WCW),” he explained that night. “And the only two that are not dinosaurs (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) over there are my buddies and they're going to kick your ass down there."

 

Thoughts?

[Guest bravesfan]

The flag match in Halifax was HOT. One of the top moments during my super-markdom of the WWF. I loved the match, the ending...hell, I loved that whole Raw.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

They mention the Calgary Benoit/Austin match and forget that the superior match was in Edmonton. Kinda strange.

[Guest bob_barron]

That was on Smackdown

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Oops. I misread the title. My mistake. I was there for that match in Calgary and it was good stuff with Austin at his heel best.

[Guest LatinoHeat]

Moment #5: The Crippler returns

May 27, 2002: After sitting out almost a year with a neck injury, Benoit came out to open RAW in Edmonton despite being a Smackdown! talent. The home crowd gave a thunderous pop for The Crippler, and an ecstatic Benoit said it felt good to be back.

Though he was only a few weeks away from returning, he quickly turned on the crowd with an assault on fan favourite Stone Cold Steve Austin.

 

 

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First and only time I marked out all of 2002.