The Top Ten 2.12.08: RAW Episodes

Posted by Julian Williams on 02.12.2008

Guess who's biz-ack! I come back from my sabbatical bearing the gift of the greatest RAW episodes of all-time. BAM! Who loves ya? Jesus does. For the Bible tells me so.

Did ya miss me? Don't lie you bastards, you know you did. Sorry that I've been MIA the last couple of weeks, but I moved to a new apartment with the girlfriend so the past few weeks have been filled with packing, moving and unpacking. It's finally over and I have all my shit set up now so we will resume our regularly scheduled program from now on. BWAHAHA, there's no escape bitches! You're not getting rid of me that easily. This week, we're going to look at The Top Ten RAW Episodes of all-time. This was a difficulty list to come up with because there have been many memorable RAW episodes, but I believe that this is the best of the bunch. Let's get into this bitch, shall we?

Random Thoughts Of A Disturbed Wrestling Fan

-The fact that the New England Patriots lost the SuperBowl to end their perfect season was sweet enough, but the fact that my NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS were the ones to beat them makes it freakin' GLORIOUS! Seeing the looks of shock and disappointment on the faces of all the Pats fans was enough to keep a permanent smile on my face for a LOOOOOONGGGG time.

-Is it just me or do the Super Bowl commercials get worse and worse with each passing year. I remember back in the 90's, there would be at least 5 or 6 great commercials that has everyone talking the next day. Now? I can barely remember one commercial from last night. Except the one where Justin Timberlake gets hit in the nads repeatedly with a mailbox. That'll learn him for making us suffer through "Bye, Bye, Bye."

-A lot of people are pooping all over the alleged Burchill/Lea Cruel Intentions-ish incest angle, but I don't think (or at least am hoping) that the ‘E is going to have a full blown incest angle (because that would be over-the-top creepy). I actually think they could play it for laughs, much like Arrested Development when George Michael was always pining for the affections of his cousin. Creepy? Yes. But funny as hell.

-Speaking of Arrested Development, the news that they might be getting a movie makes me more happy in my pants than ay bit of movie news should make me.

-I'm one of the biggest Cena supporters here at the ‘Mania so obviously I was quite excited when I heard about his return at The Rumble. I didn't have my cable or internet installed at my new place yet so I actually didn't find out about it until the next day at work and my jaw was on the floor for about 5 minutes. Although I love the fact that Cena is back (mainly just to hear the typical Cena-haters moan and cry like little girls), I must say that it took away from some of the intrigue heading into Wrestlemania. I say that because you already know that Cena is going to be in the main event and once I read that Trips and Cena were the final two in the Rumble match, I knew that was the ‘Mania main event right there. Although, if Cena hadn't returned, we would have probably gotten the far less interesting Orton/HHH match as the main event since the ‘E didn't seem ready to give Jeff Hardy that main event spot yet.

-After watching re-runs of Martin this past weekend, I'm convinced that it's the most underrated sitcom of all-time. Every single episode had me laughing so hard, I was gasping for breath. I even drooled once. That's when you KNOW a show is funny.

-Nothing sucks more than moving, but it's rewarding once you're in your new place, unpack all your shit, and sit butt-naked on your new couch with a Corona in your hand.

-I never realized how hot Shelly Martinez (aka Salinas aka Ariel) was until she got into TNA. That vampire shit she wore in ECW really masked how hot she truly is. She's now sitting high atop my list of current wrestling chicks that could get 6 and ½ inches of fury. Right behind Mickie James (who will ALWAYS be #1), Victoria (I loves me a craaaazy chick), Layla, Kelly Kelly, Traci Brooks, Maria, and Awesome Kong. What? Big girls need love too.

-Don't you hate when women at your job with huge breasts wear the lowest cut tops in the history of the world? Now typically I love seeing huge boobs, but when you're trying to talk about something dealing with work and have two huge boobs staring at you, it's kind of hard to focus on what you're doing and you don't want to stare because then you look like a perv. How would they like it if I was trying to talk about expense reports while sporting a banana hammock? I think I'm going to do that on Monday to teach them a lesson.

The Top Ten RAW Episodes

Honorable Mention: RAW from London: The 55-minute classic (4/23/07)
This was basically a one-match show, but when that match is a classic and takes up more than half of the show, it warrants a spot on this list. This match featured such "fantastic" matches as Shane & Vince McMahon and Umaga vs. Robbie Brookside, Melina vs. Maria, and The Great Khali vs. Carlito so it seemed to be just another underwhelming episode of RAW. Then, at about 9:55 Shawn Michaels came out for a match that was suppose to be the main event. Nobody thought anything of it because it is normal for the "main event" to happen around the 10 o'clock hour and end in some sort of screwy fashion to set up the true main event for later in the night. But then a weird thing happened. It was 10:15 and the match was still going on. It was 10:30 and the match was still going on. It was 10:45 and the match was still going on! Soon, the realization set in that these guys were going to close out the show, which has NEVER been done in the history of RAW unless it was pre-announced as an IronMan match. But this was no IronMan match, it was a normal one-on-one match, but each man refused to lose. Finally, a few minutes after 11 PM, HBK was able to connect with Sweet Chin Music to win one of the most legendary matches in the history of RAW. This episode was proof positive that one great match can save what was destined to be a horrible show.

10) RAW from Worchester: Mankind wins the WWE Title (1/4/99)
This wasn't an overall great show from top to bottom, but it featured my personal favorite RAW moment so I had to include this episode on the list. The main storyline on this episode of RAW was Mankind's pursuit of the WWE title. He had been screwed in a match against Triple H earlier in the night and as a result, held Shane McMahon hostage and demanded a title shot against The Rock. He was granted to the match and it was made NO DQ with The Corporation flanking ringside to ensure Mankind didn't win. But Mankind didn't come alone as DX came down with him to ensure the match was contested fairly. The Rock and Mankind had a great back-and-forth brawl that saw them beat each other all over ringside and included a Rock Bottom on the announce table. Mankind was able to lock in The Mandible Claw to Rocky and when it seemed like it was over, Ken Shamrock came in and blasted Mankind with a steel chair. That brought in DX, who began to brawl with The Corporation, and amidst all the chaos, glass shattered and out came Stone Cold Steve Austin to the LOUDEST POP you'll ever hear in your life. Seriously, it was MASSIVE. Stone Cold proceeded to knock out The Rock with a vicious steel chair shot which allowed Mankind to cover for the three count and the WWE Title. The crowd went insane as The Corporation looked in shock, realizing that their Corporate Champion had just been defeated. Mankind then gave a heartfelt speech after the victory and ran along ringside to celebrate with the fans. This was a fantastic moment to cap off a great episode that kept me enthralled all night to see if Mankind could actually win the big one.

9) RAW from Dallas: The 10-Man Tag (2/7/00)
This episode of RAW featured the hottest crowd EVER in the history of RAW. Seriously, these fans were popping for everything all night. Watching a show like this makes me miss the days before cynicism and pessimism ran rampant and fans actually ENJOYED what they watched instead of critiquing every little thing. This episode featured The Radicalz turning on Cactus Jack after Triple H gave them guaranteed contracts. That set up a 5-on-1 match for later in the night featuring Triple H, X-Pac, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn against Cactus. The Rock volunteered to help Cactus so it seemed to be a 5-on-2 match and things looked bleak for The Great One and Jack because since HHH and Stephanie were in control, it seemed unlikely that anyone would help out Rock and Cactus. Once the match was set to begin, though, Too Cool and Rikishi came down to help them out and the 10-man tag match was ON! The result was one of the most exciting multi-man tag team matches that you'll ever see in your life. This match featured non-stop action that is virtually impossible to recap because there was literally no rest period. The ending came when both teams broke out in a brawl which left Grandmaster Sexay alone in the ring with Triple H, who gave him a Pedigree, and then Benoit followed that with the diving headbutt to get the three count. After the match, both teams continued to brawl until Kane made his return after being taken out by DX (specifically X-Pac) and proceeded to kick all of the heels' asses to close the show. A fantastic match + A surprise return + A good angle = A great RAW episode.

8) RAW from New York: ECW invades RAW (2/24/97)
With most of the roster overseas on tour, Vince McMahon could have easily phoned in this episode of RAW but instead he took the opportunity to do something unique. He had wrestlers from ECW "invade" the show and showcase their brand of wrestling to a national audience. This was a HUGE deal at the time because ECW up to that point had received virtually no mainstream exposure and developed their fanbase due to word of mouth. So with their first PPV coming up, they were able to get onto TV to promote it and get some people who may have never heard about ECW into checking out their product. The matches were nothing to write home about and was basically ECW-lite (kind of like the current version of ECW), but just the aura of having ECW in the house made for an electrifying atmosphere. On top of that, The Legion Of Doom made their comeback to the WWE by defeating The Headbangers. So instead of having an episode that could have easily been filled with jobbers sprinkled in with one or two main eventers, the ‘E took the opportunity to showcase an expanding promotion and re-debut one of the most decorated tag teams of all-time. Not bad for a show that could have been a throwaway one.

7) RAW from San Jose: Jericho & Benoit win the tag titles (5/21/01)
This was an entertaining episode of RAW from top to bottom and featured one of the greatest matches in RAW's history in the main event. The evening started off with The Big Show defeating Rhyno in an entertaining hardcore brawl to win the Hardcore Championship. There was also a solid match between Matt Hardy and X-Pac for the European title, a fun tag match between Eddie Guerrero & Jeff Hardy against Edge & Christian, and a good match between Kane and Kurt Angle for the Intercontinental title. But that was all just a warmup to the awesomeness that was the main event. Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit challenged Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin for the tag team titles and it was a hot match from the start. The crowd was VERY loud and cheered ferociously anytime Benoit or Jericho got the upper hand on the Two Man Power Trip. The ending was perfect (except for Trips freak injury) as Jericho locked in The Walls Of Jericho on HHH on the announce table while Austin hit Benoit with a Stunner. Jericho barely made the saved and hit the Lionsault which brought in HHH with a sledgehammer, but instead of hitting Jericho, he hit Austin which allowed Jericho to pin him for the three count. To say the crowd went nuts would be an understatement and this remains to this day one of the greatest matches not only in the history of RAW, but ever. The fact that it was grouped with other entertaining matches make this episode easily recommended viewing.

6) RAW from Atlanta: ECW is reborn (7/9/01)
This was a show full of surprises and the first came in the form of Shane McMahon, who was due to battle Diamond Dallas Page one-on-one. The Undertaker, who had beef with DDP due to Page stalking his wife, came down to take over for Shane in the match. Shane stepped aside and seemed to be allowing ‘Taker to decimate DDP, but it was all a ruse as Shane blasted The Undertaker with a kendo stick and DDP gave ‘Taker's wife a Diamond Cutter for good measure. That proved that Shane's alliance was firmly with WCW and this is really where the Invasion started to take off. After that, The Acolytes were able to win the tag team titles from The Dudley Boyz due to interference from Spike Dudley. Kurt Angle later faced off against Booker T and was screwed out the match by Shane McMahon who cracked Angle over the head with the WCW belt. Tempers were boiling over when Chris Jericho and Kane faced off against Lance Storm and Mike Awesome in another battle in the ongoing Invasion war. They had a good back-and-forth match until, out of nowhere, Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer came into the ring and started beating down Jericho and Kane. Storm and Awesome joined them in the beatdown until The Dudleyz, Raven, Tazz, Justin Credible and Rhyno hit the ring seemingly to help out their WWE brethren, but then turned on them and continued the beatdown on Kane and Jericho. At that point, Paul Heyman got up from the announce table and announced the rebirth of ECW and said that they were going to take on both WCW and WWE. At that point, Vince and Shane agreed to get along for one night only in order to combat ECW. They went to the ring for a 10-on-10 fight, but it was soon revealed that ECW and WCW were in collusion and had formed The Alliance to take over the WWE. And to make matters worse, the new head of ECW was Vince's own daughter, Stephanie McMahon. That was a huge shock to end an already shocking night and is one of the most entertaining two hours I've ever spent in front of a TV.

5) RAW from New York: The Kid upsets Razor (5/17/93)
This episode of Raw featured the biggest upset in RAW history as well as a match that was voted match of the year by PWI magazine. The Kid appeared on RAW for weeks and got soundly defeated each time so when he was matched up against Razor Ramon, everyone expected to see The Kid's shoulders pinned to the mat once again. Razor dominated the match and the end seemed near until The Kid pulled off a moonsault from out of nowhere to upset Razor. This was absolutely SHOCKING at the time as it was unheard of for a jobber to beat a main event star. This helped to catapult The Kid's career as he would soon become known as The 1-2-3 Kid and would go on to have a pretty successful career also as Syxx and X-Pac. The other portion of this show which makes it an all-time great one was the match between former tag team partners, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. This match came about when HBK was in the ring bragging about how great of an Intercontinental Champion he is and said he could defeat anybody at anytime. At the same time, a mysterious man came from the crowd and he soon revealed himself to be Marty Jannetty who challenged Shawn to an IC Title match right there and then. HBK tried to come up with a million and one excuses, but it was too late and the match was set. The match started with Marty being on fire and hitting Shawn with everything he had. Just when it seemed like Marty was ready to dethrone Michaels, HBK took his belt and tried to retreat but was cut off by Mr. Perfect who made sure Shawn had nowhere to go. Once back in the ring, HBK was able to rebound by slingshotting Marty into the ropes and from there he started to gain control of the match. It seemed like Michaels was slowly dissecting Marty to put him away when all of a sudden Marty fought back and catapulted HBK right into the steel post. From there, Jannetty got several near falls but HBK kept on barely escaping at 2. The ending came when Michaels hit Sweet Chin Music and went to taunt Mr. Perfect, who threw his towel at HBK, which allowed Marty to sneak up and small package Michaels for the win and the IC Title. This is one of the most memorable matches in the history of RAW and coupled with the shocking upset victory of The Kid over Razor makes this episode easily one of the best in the annals of RAW's history.

4) RAW from Binghampton: Austin attacks Hart in Ambulance (4/21/97)
This is one of the rare times when a show that has no great or memorable matches is still fondly remembered due to the excellent angle advancement during it. This show was during the height of the Austin/Hart feud and Bret had just recently reformed the Hart Foundation. Austin came out looking for a fight and challenged Bret to a NO DQ match later in the show. Bret accepted, but it was a trap as Owen Hart and The British Bulldog attacked Austin before the match could get underway and a 3-on-1 beatdown commenced. This brought out Shawn Michaels who chased off Owen and Bulldog with a chair, which left Bret and Austin all alone in the ring and Bret proceeded to beat down Stone Cold. He attempted to "Pillmanize" Austin's leg, but Austin moved out of the way and WAILED on Bret's already bum knee with a steel chair. After punishing the leg with the chair, Austin locked in The Sharpshooter for about three minutes until officials were able to pull him off. This was one of the most intense, entertaining beatdowns I'd ever seen and would have been enough to recommend this show. But it got even better from there as Austin ambushed Bret while he was being loaded in an Ambulance (something that would be copied NUMEROUS times in the years to come) to inflict even further damage on Bret's leg. Austin then had an entertaining exchange with Gorilla Monsoon, who told Austin to get his ass out of the arena to which Austin replied, "Don't talk to me like that" while hightailing it out of the arena and insisting that he was cutting Monsoon a break. That didn't last long, though, as Austin was back soon to berate Shawn Michaels for helping him and went to the ring to gloat about putting Bret out of commission. Austin didn't suck up to the fans and told them he did it all by himself and he doesn't care if they boo him because he doesn't give a damn about any of them. This was immensely different at the time because Austin was fighting the top heel in the company, but he wasn't doing it for the fans, he was doing it because he personally didn't like Bret. That's what made Austin such a great character because he never sucked up to the fans, he just did what he wanted to do and if they cheered him, that was fine but if they booed him, that was fine too. As Austin continued to berate Bret, Owen and The Bulldog came down and proceeded to beat down Austin once again until HBK made the save. As Austin tried to get to his feet, Brian Pillman made his shocking return and beatdown Austin as a measure of payback for Austin putting him out of action. It was a great ending to a great episode and is some of the finest piece of storyline writing ever seen in the WWE.

3) RAW is Owen from St. Louis (5/24/99)
This was the RAW the night after the tragic death of Owen Hart and all the WWE superstars gathered to pay respect to one of the greatest ring technicians to ever live. The matches included such rare matches like The Hardyz vs. Kaientai, Triple H vs. Al Snow, and The Rock vs. Val Venis, but the real purpose of the night was to pay tribute to Owen. Their were numerous testimonials and tributes throughout the night with guys like Jeff Jarrett, Edge, and Stone Cold who all talked of how great Owen was and how he would be missed sorely. This was a very somber affair, but the ‘E gave a worthy tribute to a great wrestler and an even better man that is still missed to this day.

2) RAW Eddie Guerrero Tribute from Minneapolis (11/14/05)
This is one of the saddest shows I've ever watched in my life, yet it was a fitting tribute to one of the greatest WWE superstars of all-time. The episode included classic Eddie moments like when he won the WWE Title and his "Lie, Cheat & Steal" montages and also featured emotional testimonials from people like John Cena, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Triple H, and Stephanie McMahon. It also had matches like Rey Mysterio vs. Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle vs. Shelton Benjamin, and John Cena vs. Randy Orton (in their first ever meeting in the WWE, but obviously not in a favorable situation). I remember being overwhelmed with emotion while watching it and not being able to believe that Eddie was gone. I still cant.

1) RAW from New York: Austin stuns McMahon (9/22/97)
This episode, at least to me, signaled the tide beginning to turn in favor of the WWE in The Monday Night Wars. Sure, WCW was still winning the war at the time, but this episode helped to draw in a lot of people and featured the first sign of the feud that would propel the WWE into finally overtaking WCW in the ratings. Austin's first stunner on McMahon would have been enough to garner this episode a spot on this list, but the fact that so many other memorable things happened is what makes it number one. This episode also featured the debut of Cactus Jack in the WWE and that was a HUGE deal at the time because many of Mick's older fans clamored to see him go back to his original persona, but it seemed that it would never happen in the WWE. That changed when right before a scheduled match against Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Foley didn't come out as Mankind, or Dude Love, but rather the psychotic Cactus Jack! The fans went nuts and were soon treated to a highly entertaining hardcore affair which ended with Cactus piledriving Hunter through a table on the stage. This episode also featured some of the first seedlings of DX as Triple H and Chyna helped HBK beat down The Undertaker (for a while until ‘Taker took all of them down). Overall, this is the best RAW episode ever for the simple fact that it featured a great match, a surprise return, one of the most famous segments in RAW history, and the first sign of the one of the most revolutionary stables in the history of the business. It doesn't get much better than that.

Drive-By Pimpin'


Check out all these great columns by my 411 brethren:

-Andy Clark's "Shimmy"
-Ari's "Column Of Honor"
-Sean, Alex and David's "Triple Threat"
-Bayani's "Truth B Told"
-Weyer's "Shining The Spotlight"
-Byers' "Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People"
-Larry and Geoff's "4R's"
-Fact Or Fiction
-Sat and Uncle Trunx's "High Road/Low Road"
-Phill Feltham's "Quick Talkdown"
-Sarnecky's "Piledriver Report"
-Slimmer's News Report
-Hidden Highlights
-Carapola's "That Was Then" and "Friendly Competition"
-The Fink's Payload
-Gamble's "Just 'Spose"
-Cook's "Ask 411"
-Wilcox's "Thoughts From The Top Rope"
-Meehan's "Meethinks"
-Sforcina's "Evolution Schematic"
-Prag's "In Defense Of?."
-Wrestlers of the Week
-Randle's "Wrestling News Experience"
-Linkous' "Why I Love Wrestling"
-Double M's Rasslin Report
-News To Start Your Weekend
-Dunn's Rawtopsy, Smackdown Breakdown, & ECW eXperience
-Your News, Larry's Views
-Zac Calhoun's "The Ripple Effect"
-Joe Estee's "Keys To The Game"
-Halden's "You're An Idiot And Here's Why"
-Buy......OR SELL!!

And don't forget about the new guys:

-Chris Lansdell "The Way I C It"
-Alex Barcham's "Hitting Below The Beltway"
-T.G. Corke's "The Seventh Dimension"
-Magnus Donaldson's "Cut To The Crap"
-Tim Haught's "Pro Wrestling Pundit"
-William Bumgarner's "What Were They Thinking?"
-Jarrod Westerfield's "Viral Dose Of Reality"

The Sign-Off

I'm done guys. But be sure to leave your comments and come here next week when the topic will be The Top Ten Overrated Matches of all-time. Ohh, I'm going to piss A LOT of people off with this one.