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.
Since the beginning, Monday Night RAW has built its image on exciting action and memorable moments. Some moments were historic and shaped the course of professional wrestling forever. Some were heartbreaking moments that fans will carry with them forever. Others were downright terrible moments that fan cannot forget because of their atrociousness. On this list, I am going to reveal my picks for the Top 5 Moments in RAW history and the Worst 5 Moments in RAW history. These moments are the 5 that I believe were the biggest moments in the history of the program alongside the five moments that made me question what I was watching the most.
On with the list…
The Worst 5 Moments in Monday Night RAW History
Dishonorable Mentions: The Guest Hosts of RAW, Hornswoggle is Vince McMahon’s illegitimate son, Katie Vick, Mae Young gives birth to a hand, “Rosie O’Donnell vs. Donald Trump”
5. Trish Stratus barks like a dog for Mr. McMahon (March 6th, 2001) - I never enjoy seeing a young woman humiliated and degraded. It is just not my thing. On the March 6th, 2001 episode of Monday Night RAW, Vince McMahon ordered Stratus to strip in the ring for his pleasure. Then, he ordered her to crawl in the ring while barking like a dog for his approval. It made for some of the most disgusting television of the era and is still biting the company in the rear today.
4. Vince McMahon dies in a limousine explosion (June 11th, 2007) - As if Vince McMahon had not already worn out his welcome on WWE television, McMahon himself became the focal point of a “whodunit” when his limousine exploded at the end of the June 11th, 2007 episode of RAW. Two weeks later, McMahon returned from the dead after Chris Benoit murdered his family and committed suicide. This aborted angle turned into the Illegitimate Son storyline because Vince McMahon needed the attention on himself desperately in 2007 apparently.
3. DX goes to Leprechaun Court (December 21st, 2009) - I hate Hornswoggle. I really hate Hornswoggle. In late 2009, WWE was in the midst of shoving the midget up our collective rectum when Shawn Michaels and Triple H ran afoul of the Leprechaun. It resulted in two seemingly endless segments that surely will haunt Michaels and Triple H for the rest of their days.
2. Michael Cole vs. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (2010-current) - This is a continuous string of moments that slowly kill World Wrestling Entertainment’s integrity as a professional wrestling organization with each new addition. There is nothing redeemable about these moments or the rivalry between three commentators. Cole appears more worthless by the night while the legacies of Ross and Lawler become more tarnished. Disgusting is an understatement. The following is one example of their garbage called an angle.
1. Jim Ross’ colon surgery (October 24th, 2005) - Vince McMahon takes great pleasure in humiliating Jim Ross. Ross is an image of old school professional wrestling and Vince hates him for it. While Vince has humiliated Ross on countless times on television, fired him multiple times (storyline-wise and in reality), and disrespected him too many times to mention, no time was more offensive than on the October 24th episode of RAW. A week earlier for no reason, McMahon fired Ross on RAW. Then, McMahon participated in this skit to add further humiliation to Ross. The sad reality is that Ross was actually undergoing real colon surgery at the same time as this skit aired for a very real-life heath scare. For a man who has made a living humiliating those who have made him a millionaire, no one segment sums up why I hate Vince McMahon more than this.
The Top 5 Moments in Monday Night RAW History
Honorable Mentions: CM Punk’s Pipebomb, DX mocks the Nation of Domination, The debut of Chris Jericho, Ric Flair’s retirement ceremony, “This is Your Life” with Mankind and The Rock
5. RAW is Owen / RAW is Eddie (May 24th, 1999 / November 14th, 2005) (TIE) - On May 23rd, 1999, Owen Hart died at the Over the Edge pay-per-view from a tragic accident. On November 13th, 2005, Eddie Guerrero passed away of a massive heart attack in his hotel room before that night’s RAW and SmackDown tapings. In both instances, RAW became moving tributes to these men the night following their demise. Matches, storylines, egos all fell to the wayside as the Superstars and Divas performed out of respect for their fallen comrades while sharing stories with fans that touched everyone to their very core. These two nights are among the most memorable nights I have when thinking of Monday Night RAW. Saying goodbye is never easy but these nights made it a little easier to say goodbye to two wonderful performers.
4. The Final Nitro (March 26th, 2001) - Less than a week before WrestleMania X-Seven, WCW went out of business. World Wrestling Entertainment purchased the company’s assets and aired a portion of the final Monday Nitro on RAW as well. In the end, Shane McMahon purchased WCW and the Invasion angle started. While that angle was unsuccessful, seeing two McMahons on WCW Nitro and WWE RAW made an epic moment in wrestling history.
3. Mankind wins the WWE Championship (January 4th, 1999) - Thanks to the live-taped-live scheduling of RAW at the time, spoilers already revealed that Mick Foley was going to win the WWE Championship from The Rock on the first RAW of 1999. While WCW attempted to counteract this title change with the infamous “Fingerpoke of Doom,” WCW commentator Tony Schiavone sealed WCW’s fate with his now-famous spoiler: “Mick Foley, who used to wrestle here as Cactus Jack, is going to win their world title. That’ll put butts in the seats.” An estimated 600,000 televisions changed to RAW and Nitro never recovered in the Monday Night Wars.
2. “Stone Cold” confronts “Iron” Mike (January 19th, 1998) - Has any other moment in Monday Night RAW history received the attention of this moment? Has any other moment (outside of a tragedy) received the attention that came from the night “Stone Cold” Steve Austin encountered “Iron” Mike Tyson in a ring in San Diego? No. This moment was everywhere! I remember relieving the moment on SportsCenter ten minutes after it aired on RAW. Tom Brokaw covered it on the NBC Nightly News the following day. Newspapers and local news affiliates covered this story. It was a case of wrestling genuinely treated like a sport and made for an excellent building block to the Shawn Michaels-Steve Austin WrestleMania XIV main event.
1. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and the beer truck (March 22nd, 1999) - This is my favorite moment in the history of Monday Night RAW. I don’t care that Michael Cole is announcing. I don’t care that it includes two people I loathe in Dwayne Johnson and Vince McMahon. The night “Stone Cold” Steve Austin drove a Coors Light beer truck into the arena in Albany, New York was one of the coolest moments in professional wrestling history. Austin’s promo to The Rock was one of the greatest displays of trash-talk ever. EVER. The beer bath was hilarious and it was simply a moment that we will never see again on Monday nights. That was greatness in the Attitude Era at its very best. Steve Austin and the beer truck is the greatest moment of all-time on Monday Night RAW.
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