I wouldn't blame you, live shows are 1010 times better than they come across on TV.
Many of these moments for wrestling fans, with good chance, would have been provided by WWE PPV or TV. These moments maybe in form of backstage interviews or brawls, in ring action or promos, or a formation of new a team. WWE's Monday night, flagship, weekly, episodic, longest running, highest tweeted, most viewed show on TV, 3 hour, RAW could also be responsible for your favorite moments in wrestling.
This is a quick look at my personal favorite Raw moments and little bit on why I like them so much.
10. RAW IS JERICHO - August 9 1999
By this point I had become fully immersed with in WWE and was just so into the whole product. Every week just seemed to deliver more gold than the last and I had been getting hyped by a countdown to the millennium clock on Raw.
I was a complete spoiler free kid watching Raw in a TV lounge of a hotel in Spain with a dozen or so kids all as compelled by wrestling as me.
When the countdown clock interrupted none other than The Rock we knew what ever was about to happen was gonna be big. Then this guy who I didn't recognize appeared and a couple of the other kids in the lounge piped up by telling us he was a WCW wrestler. It was at that point I knew we was in for a treat and what followed just pumped me up more.
This made it to the top 10 not only because of the debut it self but also what that moment gave us WWE fans.
9. BRAND EXTENSION & DRAFT - March 25 2002
OK, OK this may not be included in your top 147 moments of Raw, but to me, this was huge!
As a almost exclusive WWE viewer the idea of two separate rosters and brands under the WWE umbrella was amazing. With McMahon taking The Rock to Smackdown and Ric Flair pinning The Undertaker to Raw as their first respective draft picks I left asking myself if I would ever see these guys in the same ring again. As far as I was concerned, the WWE, Raw and Smackdown would never be the same again.
8. GOLDBERG! GOLDBERG! GOLDBERG! - March 31 2003
Say it again GOLDBERG! Even though I was rarely able to watch WCW on TV I was very, very aware of Goldberg. An encounter between Stone Cold and Goldberg was the true dream match through out the Attitude Era.
Once Vince McMahon purchased WCW and we saw their talent flooding in there was a few noticeable absences from the "Invasion". One of which was the Goldberg.
Skip forward to Wrestlemania XIX and it was announced that after months of speculation, two years in exile, the man everybody wanted to see was appearing live at the following Backlash PPV!
So on to the next night on Raw when The Rock tells us he has nothing left to do and is on his way out, the WCW native comes out to put a spanner in his plans.
As we know now, the Goldberg - Austin battle never took place but the fact Goldberg was now standing in a WWE ring across from The Rock was a sight to remember and gave me all the hope for that dream match with Austin to happen.
7. Full Tribute Shows
I wasn't too sure about going with tribute shows on this list. The fact that tribute shows only happen because a wrestler has been taken away all too soon is obviously a very sad thing to digest. But after talking with any wrestling fan I can say we have all remembered images, stories, matches and speeches from this shows.
That is why I am not only including Tribute Shows, but I am listing them as complete shows.
When I watched the shows made in tribute for legend Owen Hart and Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero, I was full of mixed emotions. Upset, amazed, sad, happy, nostalgic and torn had been ticked off the list while watching these shows.
Seeing guys whose emotional range is normally dictated by their character let loose and let out what they need, is such a eye opener and breaks almost everything that we would expect from these wrestlers.
We get first hand accounts of behind the scenes happenings, road stories, home memories and inside jokes. All things that we as viewers are not often privy to, so no matter how sad the actual loss is, I am always in pure bitter-sweetness going to end up enjoying these shows. They are just so special and thank goodness, so rare that I have to list it.
6. Jeff Hardy VS The Undertaker, Ladder Match for the Undisputed Championship - July 1 2002
5. The end of the Monday Night War - March 26 2001
4. NEXUS - June 7 2010
3. CM Punk's Pipe-bomb Promo - June 27 2011
2. The Raw after Wrestlemania 29 at the IZOD - 8 April 2013
1. The Higher Power is revealed - June 7 1999
Through the Spring and early Summer of 1999 I was pulled into WWE by the truce between McMahon and Austin to fall the Corporate Ministry.
After twists, turns, kidnappings, ceremonious dark rituals and a Summer of Stunners we were finally gonna see the pay off. Who was the evil mastermind behind the rise of the Ministry and Corporation respectively? Who would go to such lengths to keep Austin from being Champion? Who could of put a plan like this together?
I was watching Livewire on a Saturday morning on Sky1 with a few friends from my street who were all anticipating the culmination of pretty much half a year long story. We all had opinions and ideas of what was going to happen, we even mentioned Vince once or twice but we argued with our selves that it couldn't be.
When the Corporate Ministry made their way to ring and the higher power strolled down to follow, my living room was packed with childhood excitement about to explode. When the hood came down and revealed the Higher Power as Mr. McMahon the "master manipulator" we couldn't hate any one more at that point. After months of getting us on his side and even performing a 'Stone Cold Stunner' to solidify himself as a true face McMahon made us all look like fools for buying into it.
"It's me Austin! It's me Austin! It was me all along Austin!" will probably be a quote I will never forget.
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This is a quick look at my personal favorite Raw moments and little bit on why I like them so much.
10. RAW IS JERICHO - August 9 1999
By this point I had become fully immersed with in WWE and was just so into the whole product. Every week just seemed to deliver more gold than the last and I had been getting hyped by a countdown to the millennium clock on Raw.
I was a complete spoiler free kid watching Raw in a TV lounge of a hotel in Spain with a dozen or so kids all as compelled by wrestling as me.
When the countdown clock interrupted none other than The Rock we knew what ever was about to happen was gonna be big. Then this guy who I didn't recognize appeared and a couple of the other kids in the lounge piped up by telling us he was a WCW wrestler. It was at that point I knew we was in for a treat and what followed just pumped me up more.
This made it to the top 10 not only because of the debut it self but also what that moment gave us WWE fans.
OK, OK this may not be included in your top 147 moments of Raw, but to me, this was huge!
As a almost exclusive WWE viewer the idea of two separate rosters and brands under the WWE umbrella was amazing. With McMahon taking The Rock to Smackdown and Ric Flair pinning The Undertaker to Raw as their first respective draft picks I left asking myself if I would ever see these guys in the same ring again. As far as I was concerned, the WWE, Raw and Smackdown would never be the same again.
8. GOLDBERG! GOLDBERG! GOLDBERG! - March 31 2003
Say it again GOLDBERG! Even though I was rarely able to watch WCW on TV I was very, very aware of Goldberg. An encounter between Stone Cold and Goldberg was the true dream match through out the Attitude Era.
Once Vince McMahon purchased WCW and we saw their talent flooding in there was a few noticeable absences from the "Invasion". One of which was the Goldberg.
Skip forward to Wrestlemania XIX and it was announced that after months of speculation, two years in exile, the man everybody wanted to see was appearing live at the following Backlash PPV!
So on to the next night on Raw when The Rock tells us he has nothing left to do and is on his way out, the WCW native comes out to put a spanner in his plans.
As we know now, the Goldberg - Austin battle never took place but the fact Goldberg was now standing in a WWE ring across from The Rock was a sight to remember and gave me all the hope for that dream match with Austin to happen.
7. Full Tribute Shows
That is why I am not only including Tribute Shows, but I am listing them as complete shows.
When I watched the shows made in tribute for legend Owen Hart and Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero, I was full of mixed emotions. Upset, amazed, sad, happy, nostalgic and torn had been ticked off the list while watching these shows.
Seeing guys whose emotional range is normally dictated by their character let loose and let out what they need, is such a eye opener and breaks almost everything that we would expect from these wrestlers.
We get first hand accounts of behind the scenes happenings, road stories, home memories and inside jokes. All things that we as viewers are not often privy to, so no matter how sad the actual loss is, I am always in pure bitter-sweetness going to end up enjoying these shows. They are just so special and thank goodness, so rare that I have to list it.
6. Jeff Hardy VS The Undertaker, Ladder Match for the Undisputed Championship - July 1 2002
After weeks of tormenting The Phenom, Jeff Hardy finally got what he wanted, a shot at the Undisputed Championship in a Ladder Match. Not only was I completely marking out for Jeff getting a title shot but in a Ladder Match! Come on, how could any one not like the idea of this.
Leading up to the match I was questioning could The Undertaker and Hardy gel together in such a match? How ever much like when he touches any thing 'Taker delivered a gold match.
Not only was the battle it self a brilliant bit TV but the after match segment was just amazing to watch.
Admiring and respecting both these guys made the whole thing easy to enjoy but they still went on and gave a little extra.
5. The end of the Monday Night War - March 26 2001
Jaw on the floor episode of Raw! I was still spoiler free and wasn't reading anything like this on the internet so when this episode kicked off and Vince told us he had purchased WCW I could not believe what I was seeing and hearing. I had no idea how this would go on to unfold, I didn't know if he'd keep WCW running, I thought maybe we would see some amazing talent trades.
We all know how the show ended with Shane swooping in and doing a grab'n'run with WCW and going on to invade the WWE, still WWF at this point but at the time of watching this for the first time just made my head combust with excitement and fantasy booking.......Oh what could've been.....
4. NEXUS - June 7 2010
So watching Raw, just kinda zombieing through another episode of 2010 Raw, nothing special.
Then the nights main event of Cena vs CM Punk was just going through Cena's Five Moves of Doom and then that NXT guy shows up on stage. OK, sure he's here to get his quick push. But then all the NXT lot started leaking through the crowd and just started beating on Gallows and Punk, then they circled a lone, prone Cena and fed him a beat down we've rarely seen Cena get. They were not done, the group then rampaged the ringside area. Tearing through announce, timekeeping, road agents and didn't something go down with ring announcer Justin Roberts?
Still they were not done. The NXT rookies ripped apart the ring, something that I have never seen before. They broke the ropes, tore up the canvas and padding, ripped off aprons and again set their sights of Cena, handing him yet another beat down.
I had never seen this, these guys made a scene and a kind of impact that got me so pumped for a summer of quality WWE. After seeing this I was just wanting to talk to anyone who had seen it and hear their thoughts. Most of which were just as excited as to where this may go.
3. CM Punk's Pipe-bomb Promo - June 27 2011
Sadly I didn't manage to watch this episode live. Really a downfall of living in the UK and being a wrestling fan, the hours can be crappy when you have to work the Tuesday after.
But let's get to it. CM Punk was some what on a mission to screw Vince and the WWE by leaving with the WWE Championship because he was frustrated with the way things were within the company.
John Cena was in a Table Match on Raw vs R-Truth and Punk came down to assist Truth and screw Cena into a loss, he then grabbed a mic and sat, cross legged on the ramp.
Then what came out was not to be expected. Punk gave us a major reason to remember why we could all love WWE. Him self. He endorsed him self as the best in the ring, on the mic and even commentary and he wasn't wrong.
The shoot went on to break the fourth wall and gave a shout out to long time pal and future endeavored, Colt Cabana. He took verbal jabs at Hogan, The Rock, Triple H and Stephanie and even said the company might get better when Vince is dead. This promo really done, what WWE loves to do when they can, and that is blur the lines between real life and story-line.
This whole pipe-bomb shoot was so fresh and energetic compared to the copy and paste Cena routine. It really captured me into watching WWE in a way I wasn't able to for a long time.
2. The Raw after Wrestlemania 29 at the IZOD - 8 April 2013
This episode may go down in history for a number of reasons. It may be considered the day that The Rock truly walked away from WWE, Fandango almost becoming a music chart hit or Ziggler cashing his Money In The Bank contract and winning the World Heavyweight Championship. Or, it might of been the absolutely amazing vocal crowd on hand.
This crowd really entertained me in such a way, it really made up for the sub-par Wrestlemania the night before. Through the whole 3 hour Raw there was barely any down time from this buzzing crowd, the quietest parts may be Orton and Sheamus' entrances. Other than that us TV viewers were treated to the most bonkers, random and fun crowd, the likes have which may not of been seen since the wildest nights of the Attitude Era. To put in another way, I would've much rather of been at the Raw than Wrestlemania.
1. The Higher Power is revealed - June 7 1999
Through the Spring and early Summer of 1999 I was pulled into WWE by the truce between McMahon and Austin to fall the Corporate Ministry.
After twists, turns, kidnappings, ceremonious dark rituals and a Summer of Stunners we were finally gonna see the pay off. Who was the evil mastermind behind the rise of the Ministry and Corporation respectively? Who would go to such lengths to keep Austin from being Champion? Who could of put a plan like this together?
I was watching Livewire on a Saturday morning on Sky1 with a few friends from my street who were all anticipating the culmination of pretty much half a year long story. We all had opinions and ideas of what was going to happen, we even mentioned Vince once or twice but we argued with our selves that it couldn't be.
When the Corporate Ministry made their way to ring and the higher power strolled down to follow, my living room was packed with childhood excitement about to explode. When the hood came down and revealed the Higher Power as Mr. McMahon the "master manipulator" we couldn't hate any one more at that point. After months of getting us on his side and even performing a 'Stone Cold Stunner' to solidify himself as a true face McMahon made us all look like fools for buying into it.
"It's me Austin! It's me Austin! It was me all along Austin!" will probably be a quote I will never forget.
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