The Matches of RAW

RAW 1000th Episode Special - The Matches of RAW

On Monday, July 23rd, World Wrestling Entertainment will air the 1000th episode of Monday Night RAW. Starting on January 11th, 1993 at the Manhattan Center in New York City, World Wrestling Entertainment offered a weekly installment of WWE action every Monday night for over 19 years (sans a couple of Thursday or Friday night specials because of tennis or dog shows on the USA Network). It is an incredible accomplishment and, like or hate what World Wrestling Entertainment has become, is an accomplishment worthy of respect.

The opening match of the very first Monday Night RAW saw WWE Hall of Famer Yokozuna defeat WWE Hall of Famer Koko B. Ware. The last match of the 999th episode of RAW saw CM Punk defeat the Big Show by disqualification. In between those two bouts, thousands of matches have occurred over the 19-year history of Monday Night RAW. The majority were forgettable. Some matches were so terrible that they live on in infamy. However, a select few matches were so incredible that fans still talk about them today. From intense rivalries to spectacular upsets and classic championship encounters to never-ending epics, some matches live on as examples of professional wrestling greatness. On this list, I am going to reveal my picks for the Top 10 Matches in RAW history and the Worst 5 Matches in RAW history. These matches are the gold standards of RAW greatness and the biggest epic fails to occur inside the squared circle on Monday nights.

On with the list…

The Worst 5 Matches in Monday Night RAW History

Dishonorable Mentions: Too many to list

5. Trish Stratus and Bradshaw vs. Jackie Gayda and Christopher Nowinski (July 8th, 2002) - Trish Stratus is one of the greatest women to ever lace a pair of boots. Bradshaw is one of the greatest brawlers of all-time. Before concussions ended his career, Chris Nowinski was showing promise. Jackie Gayda never showed an ounce of promise in her wrestling career. Labeled “the Jackie Gayda match” for years because of her horrible in-ring performance, this match has lost some of its luster thanks to the majority of current WWE Divas performing like Gayda weekly. However, on this night in 2002, there was nothing worse in the WWE.



4. Hornswoggle vs. Chavo Guerrero (Anytime in 2009) - For some ungodly reason, WWE decided to punish Chavo Guerrero by having him job weekly to Hornswoggle in a series of ridiculous matches that did nothing for anybody. Below is footage of the Cow Tipping match between these two. Chavo wrestled as a cow. Don’t you feel Eddie’s tears falling from Heaven for his nephew?



3. John Cena vs. Kevin Federline (January 1st, 2007) - John Cena, the WWE Champion who loses to nobody, lost to Britney Spears’ ex-husband on RAW. That is all you have to say.



2. “Rosie O’Donnell” vs. “Donald Trump” (January 8th, 2007) - For some reason, Vince McMahon thought it would be funny to mock the hot celebrity feud of the moment with a match between Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump. It is great to hear the crowd chant “TNA! TNA! TNA!” during this match at a time when TNA was offering action just as poor. That is how horrible this match was.



1. “Barack Obama” vs. “Hillary Clinton” (April 21st, 2008) - Vince McMahon decided to parody the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination with a match between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Considering McMahon is a card-carrying Republican, I am sure this was great comedy for him. However, it simply wasted a lot of valuable time on RAW for everyone else.





The Top 5 Matches in Monday Night RAW History

Honorable Mentions: Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle (Steel Cage - June 11th, 2001), Intercontinental Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. Rod Van Dam (Intercontinental  Championship Ladder match - May 27th, 2002), Shawn Michaels vs. Shelton Benjamin (May 2nd, 2005), WWE Champion The Rock vs. Mankind (WWE Championship - January 4th, 1999), Women’s Champion Trish Stratus vs. Lita (Women’s Championship - December 6th, 2004)

5. Davey Boy Smith vs. Owen Hart (European Championship - March 3rd, 1997) - In the tournament finals for the European Championship, two heels and brother-in-laws squared off in an epic encounter. Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart were WWE Tag Team Champions at the time yet did not let their partnership stand between themselves and individual glory. Smith and Hart battled for almost 20 minutes before Smith picked up the victory to become the first European Champion.



4. WWE Champion The Undertaker vs. Jeff Hardy (WWE Championship Ladder match - July 1st, 2002) - In one of his first big opportunities for individual glory, Jeff Hardy showed signs of the future world champion he would become in a classic against The Undertaker. The Undertaker was in the midst of his Big Evil era (my favorite time of his) and brought his work shoes into an environment the ring legend was previous unfamiliar with. While The Undertaker retained his gold on that night, Jeff Hardy’s star rose in a big way with the outstanding match.



3. Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair (Loser Leaves RAW - January 25th, 1993) - only in the third week of RAW, Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair saw their brief but bitter feud reach a boiling point as they battled in a Loser Leaves RAW match. For almost 20 minutes, Perfect and Flair wrestled as if their lives depended on the outcome. In the end, Perfect scored one of the biggest victories of his career in a match that is any wrestling purist’s dream.



2. World Tag Team Champions Kane and The Hurricane vs. Bubba Ray Dudley and Spike Dudley vs. Chris Jericho and Christian vs. Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam (World Tag Team Championship TLC match - October 7th, 2002) - In one of the finest TLC matches of all-time, Kane overcame the early obstacle of losing his partner to an attack by Evolution and withstood the best of three teams well-versed in ladder matches to retain the World Tag Team Championships. The match was pure insanity was beginning to end with Kane scoring one of the biggest wins of his career. It is best to ignore the aftermath of this match when Triple H came out and called Kane a “mur-diddly-erer.”



1. WWE Champion John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels (Non-title match - April 23rd, 2007) - In London, England on April 23rd, 2007, Shawn Michaels and John Cena squared off for almost an hour in what I believe is the greatest match in the history of Monday Night RAW. With their epic at WrestleMania only weeks behind them, Michaels and Cena battled again in a tremendous match. The seesaw action near the end epitomized the greatness in both men as Michaels brought the best out of Cena while Cena came to perform and earned his spot on that night. While Cena left with the championship because of the non-title stipulation, Michaels looked like the best wrestler in the world on that night in London. John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels is the greatest match in Monday Night RAW history.