My Top 50 Raw Moments

[Failed Bridge 0]

Mankind's title win at #16? Jesus' return better have been on a Raw that I missed.

I could have gone to that event live since it was in my hometown and all but being the huge nWo mark that I was, well I wanted to see Nash and Hogan collide as it was looking to be a huge point in the nWo civil war. We all know how that turned out.

[Black Lushus 0]

Nope Foleys first title win beats ALL of them.

 

Bret's heel turn gets my nod.

 

#1 Raw moment for me? Maybe not...but his heel turn was one of the best I've ever seen.

[CanadianChris 0]

The Bret/Austin street fight

 

Do you mean the Raw where Austin beat up Bret in the ambulance? That's the only thing along those lines I recall.

That's the one. Bret and Austin met in a street fight earlier that night to set the whole thing up.

[pochorenella 0]

The Rock and Austin singing "Margaritaville" was on the RAW previous to the 2001 Survivor Series, not WMX-7. Although it seems to get no love around these parts it remains a favorite of mine for some reason.

I'd like to see if you deem those Rock and Hurricane confrontations worthy of listing. Some of the funniest ever for my money.

[Black Lushus 0]

While they were very funny, they didn't do Helms any favors

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

The singalong was the Raw before Survivor Series. It was stupid and doesn't even belong on the list. I'm still waiting on the Raw where Vince came back and helped Rock beat Big Show to go to Mania. That brought the house down.

 

Oh god yes. That was probably the last and biggest markout moment I ever had. That and Foley's title win are probably the two biggest pops I've ever heard.

 

And a list without the Foley title win as no. 1 isn't worth much in my book. Dude's return and the Benoit/Jericho-HHH/Austin tag match are also top 10 material in my mind.

[bob_barron 0]

Mankind's title win at #16? Jesus' return better have been on a Raw that I missed.

I could have gone to that event live since it was in my hometown and all but being the huge nWo mark that I was, well I wanted to see Nash and Hogan collide as it was looking to be a huge point in the nWo civil war. We all know how that turned out.

 

The RAW show was not done the same night as Fingerpoke

[Naked Snake 0]

The only thing that hurts Foley's title win was that it was taped and not live, in my opinion. I'm curious to see where Austin stuns McMahon in Madison Square Garden places. That was a tremendous moment in Raw history.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

The only thing that hurts Foley's title win was that it was taped and not live, in my opinion. I'm curious to see where Austin stuns McMahon in Madison Square Garden places. That was a tremendous moment in Raw history.

 

Why does it matter if it was taped or live? I never got why that mattered to people.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

I don't think Austin winning his 2nd title or Kurt and his medals belongs on this list. You said you didn't include the beerbath because you'd then have to take something out, but I think the beerbath is probably in the top 25.

 

Moments that I am still waiting for:

 

Foley wins his first title

Milk-o-Mania (wasn't this voted the greatest RAW moment ever at some point?)

The Invasion

Rock vs Hurricane

HBK returns to join the NWO

Evolution beatdown on Orton

HBK superkicks Hogan

Kane/Lita wedding

 

As someone who's watched Raw from the very beginning, the Foley title win is the only moment from that list that belongs in the top 50. The rest of those were total throwaway moments. I was at Milk-o-mania live and it was a fun moment, but it didn't even get over that well with the crowd. It was just a cute ripoff of the beerbath. As for the rest on that list.... uggh.

 

How you could possibly say the Invasion doesn't belong there?

 

And I think the Kane/Lita wedding is definitely top 50 material.

[muzz 0]

Has anyone found a lot of the great RAW moments on the net anywhere? I didn't get into it until around 2001, and I didn't watch constantly even then.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I don't think Austin winning his 2nd title or Kurt and his medals belongs on this list. You said you didn't include the beerbath because you'd then have to take something out, but I think the beerbath is probably in the top 25.

 

Moments that I am still waiting for:

 

Foley wins his first title

Milk-o-Mania (wasn't this voted the greatest RAW moment ever at some point?)

The Invasion

Rock vs Hurricane

HBK returns to join the NWO

Evolution beatdown on Orton

HBK superkicks Hogan

Kane/Lita wedding

 

As someone who's watched Raw from the very beginning, the Foley title win is the only moment from that list that belongs in the top 50. The rest of those were total throwaway moments. I was at Milk-o-mania live and it was a fun moment, but it didn't even get over that well with the crowd. It was just a cute ripoff of the beerbath. As for the rest on that list.... uggh.

 

How you could possibly say the Invasion doesn't belong there?

 

And I think the Kane/Lita wedding is definitely top 50 material.

 

What part of the Invasion are you referring to? Were talking memorable moments and the start of the Invasion angle was probably the least inspiring beginning to a major angle ever. I don't even remember what happened. Are we talking Lance Storm's superkick to a mild pop?

[daileyxplanet 0]

Check the Youtube thread.

[pochorenella 0]

I don't think Austin winning his 2nd title or Kurt and his medals belongs on this list. You said you didn't include the beerbath because you'd then have to take something out, but I think the beerbath is probably in the top 25.

 

Moments that I am still waiting for:

 

Foley wins his first title

Milk-o-Mania (wasn't this voted the greatest RAW moment ever at some point?)

The Invasion

Rock vs Hurricane

HBK returns to join the NWO

Evolution beatdown on Orton

HBK superkicks Hogan

Kane/Lita wedding

 

As someone who's watched Raw from the very beginning, the Foley title win is the only moment from that list that belongs in the top 50. The rest of those were total throwaway moments. I was at Milk-o-mania live and it was a fun moment, but it didn't even get over that well with the crowd. It was just a cute ripoff of the beerbath. As for the rest on that list.... uggh.

 

How you could possibly say the Invasion doesn't belong there?

 

And I think the Kane/Lita wedding is definitely top 50 material.

 

What part of the Invasion are you referring to? Were talking memorable moments and the start of the Invasion angle was probably the least inspiring beginning to a major angle ever. I don't even remember what happened. Are we talking Lance Storm's superkick to a mild pop?

I'm pretty sure he's referring to the night when ECW appeared on RAW, later to merge with WCW on the same night.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Ok, well I wouldn't call THAT the Invasion, as it took place like a month or so after the angle started. That's a top 10 moment without a doubt.

[slabinskia 0]

For the record, some of these are like choosing between the children I don't have. With so many good moments by this point its tough to put one over the other. The mankind title win was huge but I am happy with where I placed it. As for the rest, I am sure they will stir up controversy. Here are the next 5.

 

15. HULK STILL RULES 2/18/02

 

The nwo returned at no way out. The next night on raw it was time to start the wrestlemania hype machine. Hogan came out and talked about how he wanted to headline another wrestlemania. This brought out The Rock. The Rock challenged Hogan to a match at wrestlemania. Hogan accepted and wished rock luck because he would need it. The Rock responded "not as much as you brother" and gave him the rock bottom.

 

That right there was good enough to warrant a spot high on the list but it didn't end there. The nwo gave rock a heavy duty beat down. Then they ran over the rocks car with a mack truck while the rock was in it. I am not making that last part up. Only in the wwf can someone survive that and come back 3 weeks later. Silly ending aside, this was huge as it was Hogan's first appearance on raw since early 93.It was also imo, one of the last true dream matches that the wwe has had.

 

14. STEVE AUSTIN VS BRET HART 4/21/97

 

Looking back its hard to believe that wcw was winning in the ratings with shows like this. The hatred between Bret and Austin was unreal. This was the night after the in your house ppv where both men had yet another great match. They agreed to a streetfight. The match was short and was stopped after the hart foundation interfeered. Austin refused to let go of the sharpshooter and bret had to be taken in an ambulance. Not so fast. Austin jumped into the ambulance and started pounding on bret who was strapped to the stretcher. This was one of the many great austin moments that we saw over the years.

 

13. AUSTIN 3:16 VS PILMAN 9MM GLOCK 11/4/96

 

It's a shame what happened to pilman because he would have fit right in with the attitude era. Austin broke pilmans ankle on superstars and they were suppose to interview him from his home. Austin threatened to show up to pilmans house . He kept his promise and we even saw him beat up the neighbors pilman had waiting for him. Vince asked pilman if he felt he was a hostage in his own home. Pilman pulled out a gun and replied " Steve is a dead man walking.because when austin 3:16 meets pilman 9mm glock, I'm going to blast his sorry ass straight to hell." Kevin Kelly began screaming. That was when austin broke in through the side door and the live feed went out. The feed came back on at the end of the show with everyone trying to hold back both austin and pilman. Pilman had this to say. "Let him go.That son of a bitch had this coming.I'm going to kill that son of a bitch.Get out of the fucking way." The show went off the air with Lawler yelling for Kevin Kelly or anyone to grab the gun off pilman. This was surreal at the time. Whether it has held up or not is a moot point. This was shock tv at its highest.

[slabinskia 0]

12. OWEN HART VS DAVEY BOY SMITH 3/3/97

 

I always had the theory that neither owen or davey were that great in the ring and that they only looked great when they were in there against bret. This match proves me wrong. This was the finals of the Euro title. These two were the tag champs and were going against each other here. They had been teasing a break up for a while at this point.They delivered imo, one of the best matches the wwf has ever done. I clearly think this is the best match on raw. I also think it is a legit top 20 ever in the wwf/e. An old school technical match. Many will point to the tag title change with benoit/jericho or the eddy/rvd ladder match but I will take this one over those two any day.

 

11. MCMAHAN 3:16 SAYS I JUST PISSED MY PANTS 10/19/98

 

The reason this is out of my top 10 is because this was played up for comedy and I wanted to keep my top 10 with more important moments. This took place the night after the judgement day ppv where vince fired austin for not naming a winner to the ut/kane match.

 

Vince appeared on stage in his wheelchair and addressed the roster. The entire wwf roster was in the ring. Vince gave them a speech that they should NEVER cross the boss. The best line from this was "Those austin 3:16 shirts are going to be selling like hotcakes because austin 3:16 is now a collectors item. Theres going to be a new shirt out saying Mcmahan 3:16. Mcmahan 3:16 says I've got the brass to fire your ass". The announcement was that there would be a tournament at survivor series to name a new wwf champ.

 

Then austin was shown on the titantron and vince decided he better get out of the building. Austin caught him and we got great segments throughout the night with austin holding vince hostage. Then to close the show, austin wheeled vince down to the ring. He played the video from the beginning of the show of vince talking to the roster about him being the boss.Austin pulled out a gun as though he was going to shoot vince on the spot.He even surveyed the crowd. "if you want vince's eyes to pop out of the front of his head give me a hell yea". The crowd went nuts.

 

It was a toy gun of course to reveal bang 3::16. Austin put a letter in vince's pocket which we would find out was a letter of reinstatement for austin. Then he had vince turn to the crowd to reveal that he pissed himself. Austin gave vince the stunner for good measure to close the show.

[Black Lushus 0]

Owen/Davey for the Euro title is absolutely in my WWE top 20 of all time...good call!

 

slab, I like your lists, the only questions are possibly the placements of the moments...but that's okay, it's all your opinions. I think your lists are a great read.

[JST 0]

They are indeed. But would it kill him to spellcheck, capitalize names and get some facts right? This looks like a first-draft high school project.

 

wwf, wwe

Mcmahan

austin

Pilman

[slabinskia 0]

I never said I was educated. Anyway, what will everyone be looking for in the top 10 ? What moments do you wish made the top 10 that didn't ? Also, what should be my next list ?

[foleyfanforever88 0]

I never said I was educated. Anyway, what will everyone be looking for in the top 10 ? What moments do you wish made the top 10 that didn't ? Also, what should be my next list ?

 

Top 50 catchphrases.

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I imagine Raw is Owen and Raw is Eddie will be 1A and 1B

[slabinskia 0]

I said in my original post that Raw is Owen will not be included in the listings.Ditto Raw is Eddie

[Failed Bridge 0]

if you exclude those but keep in shit like The Rock and Austin singing then your list doesn't have much merit.

[slabinskia 0]

My reasoning for not including the owen/eddie shows is this. The lists that I do are for entertainment. I hope everyone enjoys them and its something that creates discussion and it's fun. I did not consider those shows to be fun or entertaining. I found them to be sad and tragic. I don't even really think of them as wrestling shows. They are tribute shows paying respect to two wrestlers who passed away. Those episodes should not be talked about in the same conversation with stuff like austin/vince or the hart foundation or a **** match. I hhope everyone understands what I mean.Anyway, I will post a few more later.

[Darth Vader 0]

The thing about the dead wrestler tribute shows on this list is that if you include them it's a foregone conclusion that they'll be #1. Takes a little away from it.

[slabinskia 0]

10. THE INVASION GETS EXTREME 7/9/01

 

Everything about the invasion angle up to this point was a disaster. This episode of raw was in wcw's backyard of Atlanta in the Georgia Dome. What happened caught everyone by surprise. There was a match with jericho/kane vs lance storm and mike awesome. During the match, Rvd and Tommy Dreamer jumped out of the crowd and attacked jericho and kane. This was the debut of both guys as they were two of the last employees of ecw. The dudleys came to the ring to help kane/y2j. Raven,taz,rhyno and justin credible also came down to help the wwf wrestlers. They stopped,looked at dreamer and rvd and joined in on the attack. Paul Heyman got up from ringside,went in the ring and announced that ecw was back and the invasion was being taken to the extreme.

 

After that, Shane went to Vince and they decided that wcw would team with wwf to knock out ecw for that night. The main event was set with 5 members of both wcw and wwf taking on 10 ecw wrestlers. Not so fast as it was all a swerve and wcw joined up with ecw and took out team wwf. Then Stephanie Mcmahan came to the ring and was announced as the new owner of ecw.

 

This was huge when it happened. ECW was still a big deal in alot of peoples minds and judged by the reaction that night was far more popular than any of the b-level guys from the wcw roster. This was one of the few good memories of the invasion angle and it was a big one.

 

9. ECW TAKES MANHATTAN 2/24/97

 

For how great the previous moment was, it doesn't beat the original. My interest in ecw was at its peak around this time and I think it was at its best from a storyline perspective as well. A few weeks prior to this, Jerry Lawler grabbed a ecw sign from the crowd and challenged them to come to raw. Paul Heyman accepted the challenge. The whole idea was to get ecw publicity for its first ppv barely legal. We got to see Taz,Saby,Sandman,The BWO, Eliminators and more. This was unlike anything seen on wwf at the time. At one point, Paul Heyman was on commentary and said "Boy has this show sucked without ecw". He was right. Ecw was so different than anything else at the time. This is one top 10 moment I didn't have to think twice about.

[Darth Vader 0]

I don't get #9. I guess if you were an ECW fan it'd be huge but I think I watched a lot more Nitro that night.

[Insanity 0]

I lucked out on Mankind's first title win. I didn't read results back then, didn't watch Nitro, and I didn't even know it wasn't live. It has to be my favorite moment.

 

Another one was this time Austin was banned from the building. Vince got almost every heel on Raw to be his security so Austin couldn't get to him. But he did anyway, starting with a beat down of a bunch of guys in the back with (a nightstick I think?) and then running down to ringside and just destroying everyone in the way.

[slabinskia 0]

8. BRET HAS SOME CHOICE WORDS FOR HBK 5/12/97-5/19/97

 

I've never considered Bret Hart to be that good on the mic. However, during his anti american act in 97 he created one of my favorite heel characters. Bret would cut extremely bitter heel promos against america and the crowd ate it up. Bret was also very convincing in his promos and I often wondered at the time if there was any realism to his feuds with austin and especially hbk.

 

On this episode, Bret came to the ring in his wheelchair and told the hart foundation to go back to the lockerroom. He then invited shawn michaels to the ring. Bret cut a bitter semi shoot promo on michaels that remains one of my favorite moments on raw. Bret accused michaels of being a bad role model, faking injury, screwing him out of the belt in the wm12 match and I'm sure there was more. Bret practically begged michaels to hit him. Whether it was on purpose or not we will never know but bret went too long in his promo and the show went off the air before we got the payoff.

 

Michaels would be legit upset with good reason. The next week on raw we got to see the end from the previous week. Shawn superkicked Bret out of the wheelchair and the hart foundation ran down after michaels. Austin came out to make the save. Imo everything with the hart foundation was gold and there isn't much that I liked more than Bret's character in 97.