Greatest WWE Raw Moments Ever #FollowUs

Wrestling Ups & Downs

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00:00:00So Monday Night Raw is arguably the most popular wrestling show in the world.

00:00:04It's been on air for over 30 years, and man, we have seen the good and the bad.

00:00:08If you really want to, you can find periods that may be described as unwatchable.

00:00:12It's also been undeniably awesome, and that is where we are at today.

00:00:15And here's a small spoiler.

00:00:16This is meant to be more of a modern look at the program,

00:00:18so your personal favorites from yesteryear may have vanished.

00:00:21That doesn't mean they don't rule.

00:00:23It just means we're trying to spread the love.

00:00:25Not a euphemism.

00:00:26So let's get comfortable, my friends, and sit down and have a chat,

00:00:29because my name is Simon Miller, and on behalf of WhatCultureWrestling,

00:00:32it's the 50 greatest raw moments of all time through a somewhat modern lens.

00:00:37Number 50, CM Punk lashes out March 3rd, 2025.

00:00:40See, right off the bat, let's get some new moments in there.

00:00:44Feels like it's only fair.

00:00:45It was days removed from the John Cena heel turn, and the world was in shock.

00:00:49We all know how it turned out, but the intrigue was huge right afterwards,

00:00:52so who better to send to the ring to discuss this than one CM Punk?

00:00:55Many said this was Triple H sending one of his soldiers to try and make sense of it all,

00:00:59because do not forget, Punk had been in the ring with Cena mere hours before this switch.

00:01:03It was the Elimination Chamber where Cena tapped out CM to win.

00:01:07Therefore, Punk went after The Rock and even called him a bored fraud,

00:01:10which, as a bald guy, I wasn't totally on board with,

00:01:12and he accused John Cena of selling out.

00:01:1520 years of being the good guy, and you just went and nuked it.

00:01:18Even the commentators were lost for words, and the real joy for CM Punk fans is that this was CM

00:01:23Punk.

00:01:23No matter what you thought of his WWE comeback, we'd been waiting to see this part of the individual

00:01:27who could just eviscerate people on the microphone, even if you were a typically top star.

00:01:32That's exactly what this was too.

00:01:34He's one of a kind.

00:01:35I don't want to go as far as to call it a pipe bomb too, but he was heading in

00:01:38that direction.

00:01:39Number 49, Edge's birthday, October 30th, 2000.

00:01:42Now let us go the other way, because this is more niche, but it's a man that deserves some love.

00:01:46Because throughout 2000, Edge, Christian and Kurt Angle were having the time of their lives,

00:01:50as they were sort of in a position where they could do whatever the flub they wanted.

00:01:53That's why on this night, as they celebrated the day of birth for Edge,

00:01:56Angle went after Stephanie McMahon, whereas Edge and Christian decided to introduce the kazoo

00:02:01as part of their promo arsenal.

00:02:02It was all so stupid, especially when they started playing wrestlers' entrance music on these instruments,

00:02:07and Triple H was beside himself.

00:02:09It was just good comedy, which WWE could not keep consistent throughout the Attitude Era,

00:02:13and it made these guys beloved, even though they were massive jerks.

00:02:17Don't forget either, Edge and Christian were barely a tag team in terms of length,

00:02:21but it did not matter, because they made the most of their time together.

00:02:24Sooner after this, their good work would see them get elevated, which came with more creative red tape.

00:02:28This episode of Raw was the zenith of their goofiness.

00:02:31Let's just put it simply, it was great.

00:02:33Number 48, Ron Breaker sees the vision, 21st of April 2025.

00:02:37I mean, just go and listen to the crowd response.

00:02:39I think there were a lot of questions after Seth Rollins had sided with Paul Heyman at WrestleMania 1,

00:02:43and after Bron Breaker had lost his Intercontinental title match.

00:02:47The big question was, what's next?

00:02:49Well, it was simple.

00:02:50Let's take Breaker, and not only make him a Paul Heyman guy, which we'd all been on about since NXT,

00:02:54but why don't we have him take out Roman Reigns and CM Punk 2, not for dinner?

00:02:58We'll forget about that now.

00:02:59You can't beat up two people higher than that.

00:03:02They didn't see the attack coming either, so it's not like they look dumb,

00:03:04whereas Seth revealing Bron as his secret weapon just served both guys, and it served the story.

00:03:09You always want the roar after WrestleMania to feel unpredictable and exciting.

00:03:12Bingo.

00:03:13It sort of fell off after this, as was discussed, but as a way to kickstart news stories for the

00:03:17year,

00:03:17WWE hit a home run with this.

00:03:19It was awesome.

00:03:20And actually, aside from a few injuries, Bron Breaker has never looked back.

00:03:23He was born to do it.

00:03:24Number 47, The Shield Reunites, October 9th, 2017.

00:03:28Really, this one should have been impossible.

00:03:30The core birth of Roman Reigns' Tribal Chief character was due to Seth Rollins betraying him back in the day,

00:03:35but hey, seeing The Shield reunite was great, and sometimes that wins out in wrestling.

00:03:39WWE had actually been patient about this too.

00:03:42Well, no, but at least for them.

00:03:43It had been three years since the group broke up before they found each other again,

00:03:46and in that time they'd also fought each other.

00:03:48It just showed that while WWE could be lacking in ideas throughout the 2010s,

00:03:52this was not one of them.

00:03:53In fact, this one was brilliant.

00:03:55You also had Rollins being a good guy, but Jon Moxie refusing to forgive him because, yeah,

00:03:59this guy had been a right dick, when they found common ground because they had to fight the bar,

00:04:03and then they went on to win the tag team titles.

00:04:05That kind of made the whole thing worse for them,

00:04:06because now the whole roster was out to get them,

00:04:08and given the same thing was happening with Roman Reigns,

00:04:11and him constantly finding himself against three other wrestlers,

00:04:13well, there was only one thing to do.

00:04:15It's why when he was at his lowest, he needed somebody's help,

00:04:18and yep, on the Raw before this one,

00:04:19just as he was about to get booted again,

00:04:21Seth and Dean were by his side,

00:04:23and then you got to the next week, boom, we stuck the landing.

00:04:26It all started when the Miz and his cronies refused to believe this was true,

00:04:29so the new S.H.I.E.L.D. went out there and murdered him.

00:04:31He was the first guy to succumb to the S.H.I.E.L.D. powerbomb 2,

00:04:34and go look at the fans.

00:04:36They loved this, because of course they did.

00:04:37It was very well executed.

00:04:39Number 46, Sid Snaps, April 3rd, 1995.

00:04:42Raw was two years old when essentially WWF came up with the WrestleMania concepts,

00:04:47or the fact that after the night of WrestleMania,

00:04:49maybe we could use Raw to really send a message.

00:04:521993 and 1994 hadn't really done that with pre-recorded footage,

00:04:56when comes 1995, and everything just clicked.

00:04:58Earlier in the night, Diesel had said some very nice words about Shawn Michaels,

00:05:02and even offered up a rematch following their last fight,

00:05:04because he felt like he'd earned it.

00:05:05This clearly struck a chord with HBK,

00:05:07as when he finally arrived, he told new bodyguard Sid to take some time off.

00:05:11Given that Sid also felt around this time that he'd also been taking some unnecessary blame

00:05:14for Shawn being defeated,

00:05:16well, he lost his mind, and he turned on his would-be boss.

00:05:19Michaels got pummeled.

00:05:20The WWF also decided to have Sid powerbomb HBK over and over again during the commercial,

00:05:25which somehow made it even more unnerving.

00:05:27It's like when you don't see the monster in a movie,

00:05:29the fallout somehow makes it worse.

00:05:31Diesel eventually emerged to help his former friend,

00:05:33and even though this was meant to make Sid a heel,

00:05:35he got jeered because the man was just so cool.

00:05:38I mean, big man goes bonkers.

00:05:39It's exactly what fans wanted to see,

00:05:41although actually, it would be two more years before the WWF figured that out.

00:05:45So if you want to call it the very early season of the Adjutant area,

00:05:47you probably could, but it's also a waste of time.

00:05:49But this is proof of how over-Sid could be.

00:05:51That man just had something.

00:05:53Number 45, Cody vs. Punk 2, January 27th, 2025.

00:05:57Good grief, does WWE love teasing this match.

00:06:00Even after WrestleMania 42, Cody Rhodes and CM Punk were at it again.

00:06:04But this exchange back in 2025?

00:06:06I believe we would dub it the best so far.

00:06:08It was 12 months on from the first time they'd gone at it verbally and things had changed.

00:06:12Cody had now finished his story and was the WWE Champion,

00:06:15whereas Punk was battling back from an unexpected tricep injury.

00:06:18Given the success of AJ Styles and Kevin Owens who had jumped Rhodes to get a title shot,

00:06:22maybe CM Punk was going to do the same.

00:06:24He was also coming off that feud with Drew McIntyre, so Punk thought better of it,

00:06:28but the dynamic nature of this was obvious.

00:06:30The fans have always been desperate to see these guys go to war,

00:06:33and as of me speaking to you, well, it hasn't happened yet.

00:06:36That somehow makes it more compelling, though,

00:06:38because when we do pull the trigger, which could be WrestleMania 43,

00:06:41you just know the chat on this night is going to tie in.

00:06:43It always feels huge, so when we do get to the program,

00:06:46it's probably going to explode.

00:06:48Number 44, Mark Henry retires June 17th, 2013.

00:06:51Mark Henry's WWE career is totally wild.

00:06:54Early on, there was definitely a disconnect between management and Mark,

00:06:57because he was put in some of the most offensive storylines you could think of.

00:07:00Not sure that's very fitting of a man who could tear the phone book.

00:07:02A decade on, we had definitely figured it out,

00:07:05as Henry started entering people into the hall of pain,

00:07:07and he was a damn decent world heavyweight champion,

00:07:10mostly because he felt terrifying.

00:07:12This was 2011, and such was the success.

00:07:14He decided he was going to hang up his boots,

00:07:16but he did do that, it felt real.

00:07:18This was also a man who'd been around since 1997,

00:07:20so yeah, he had conquered the planet,

00:07:22so maybe there was just nothing else to do.

00:07:24Mark Henry eventually came to the ring in his salmon jacket,

00:07:26and described he was done.

00:07:28I genuinely do think it was the best promo of his career.

00:07:30He'd also used social media before this to really whip people up into a frenzy,

00:07:34and it was so effective.

00:07:35Even when WWE champion John Cena came out to congratulate him,

00:07:39we all cheered.

00:07:39It just felt nice.

00:07:41Nope.

00:07:41Because from nowhere, Mark dropped Cena,

00:07:43and the crowd reaction was brilliant.

00:07:45You could see that nobody saw this coming,

00:07:47and Henry was so effective at it,

00:07:48he did a 180 instantly,

00:07:50and now he came across like an insane loser.

00:07:52It also took any doubt there was about Mark Henry,

00:07:54and threw it out the window.

00:07:55So, as long as you put him in a decent position,

00:07:57the man was very good at his job.

00:07:58Number 43, Roman's Five Words, April 3rd, 2017.

00:08:02Oh, what could have been?

00:08:03It's not like Roman Reigns didn't have the Tribal Chief character inside him for years,

00:08:07and of course he knew this was the time to bust it out.

00:08:09No, the WWE was going to wait another three years.

00:08:12But after Roman had defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33,

00:08:15he walked out to Raw to insane boos,

00:08:17and you have to go and watch it today to understand it,

00:08:19because it was like nothing else.

00:08:21Reigns was literally able to just stand there,

00:08:22and I guess soak it in.

00:08:24You have to assume that WWE knew this was coming too,

00:08:26because they only booked Roman to say five words,

00:08:29this is my yard now.

00:08:30He then threw the mic on the floor,

00:08:32and man, the fans were so damn riled up,

00:08:34it was excellent.

00:08:35It went 10 minutes in total as well,

00:08:37which sums up what a sight this was,

00:08:38and yes, why we didn't use this to further Roman Reigns,

00:08:40I will never know.

00:08:41I mean, a week later, it was basically forgotten about.

00:08:43Given this was only the second time Taker had lost at WrestleMania 2,

00:08:47and we did not take advantage,

00:08:48to this day, it just feels like such a missed opportunity.

00:08:51Number 42, Seth Gets Tsunamied, August 4th, 2024.

00:08:55Let us get another one in there, because it is brilliant.

00:08:57Sort of mad it took this long before WWE went,

00:09:00oh yeah, Bronson Reed is massive,

00:09:02but hey, we got there in the end.

00:09:03That is why in the summer of 2024,

00:09:05he tsunamied Seth Rollins over and over again,

00:09:08as we sold it like Seth may be dead.

00:09:10It was even better because Rollins had been sucked into the CM Punk Drew McIntyre mess,

00:09:13when bam, Reed did turn up and wreck this guy,

00:09:15and it kind of felt like he made the cool on the spot.

00:09:17Felt totally unhinged and unplanned,

00:09:19and it instantly made Bronson the dude.

00:09:21Nobody else ever got to do this.

00:09:23WWE even made short attire in the following year,

00:09:25when Rollins recruited Reed,

00:09:26because yes, I can buy that.

00:09:28If you get squished over and over again,

00:09:30maybe it's a good idea to team up with your squisher.

00:09:32It is a massive shame that's got ruined,

00:09:33when Logan Paul was flattened by the same move,

00:09:35and didn't even sell it on the same episode of Raw.

00:09:38I mean, Seth Rollins was gone for ages.

00:09:39But hey, at least on that line, it was perfect.

00:09:41As for Logan Paul, you tell me.

00:09:43Number 41, Jim Ross' OG Pipe Bomb, September 23rd, 1996.

00:09:47For whatever reason, Vince McMahon loved messing with Jim Ross.

00:09:50It was weird.

00:09:51Despite being a GOAT commentator,

00:09:52he would find other roles for him, including in 1996,

00:09:55because Vince decided,

00:09:57let's make JR a heel manager of sorts.

00:09:59Because JR is such a professional, though,

00:10:00he threw himself into this,

00:10:01and I tell you,

00:10:02he basically did his own version of the pipe bomb.

00:10:05He'd been wrong by the office,

00:10:06Vince himself had screwed him over,

00:10:07which is why now he had taken matters into his own hands.

00:10:10Now, bizarrely, his plan was to bring back a fake Razor Ramona fake Diesel,

00:10:14and yes, this was awful.

00:10:15The man had decided that humans didn't matter,

00:10:17and as long as the characters are on the screen, they'd be fine.

00:10:20Wasn't fine, fans hated this.

00:10:21It doesn't mean you should look over JR's words here, though,

00:10:24because that man went off.

00:10:25It's a genuinely great bad guy rant,

00:10:27and given this was 1996,

00:10:29I guess you could say in many ways he set the template.

00:10:31It is how a promo should be,

00:10:33it was real, it was grounded,

00:10:34and it's a genuinely underrated and untalked about moment.

00:10:37Somehow, Jim Ross always made it work.

00:10:39Number 40, The Miz cashes in November 22, 2010.

00:10:42Context is important, as is legacy.

00:10:45I would say WWE in 2010 wasn't particularly good,

00:10:48especially as the bright new hope known as the Nexus got stung almost instantly,

00:10:51and the excitement about new stars got extinguished,

00:10:53and we were sad again.

00:10:54It also just felt like nothing matters,

00:10:56as we went from blocks of stories to blocks of stories,

00:10:58and we had all those guest hosts.

00:11:00I mean, some were good,

00:11:01but the majority felt like they didn't want to be there,

00:11:03and throughout all of this,

00:11:04The Miz saw his opportunity,

00:11:06and that man went and took it.

00:11:07Because he had promised us that he was going to win the Money in the Bank briefcase,

00:11:10and did so before cashing in on Randy Orton,

00:11:12after Randy had tangled with Wade Barrett during a match.

00:11:14It felt like a roll of the dice,

00:11:16that's what WWE needed.

00:11:17It was all a little bit too pedestrian,

00:11:19and when The Miz did one,

00:11:20my gosh,

00:11:21he sold it awesomely,

00:11:22and he acted like he'd seen a ghost.

00:11:24You also got the desired response from the fans,

00:11:26because one,

00:11:26you were furious he had done this,

00:11:28given he was a heel,

00:11:29or two,

00:11:29you were just furious because he was The Miz.

00:11:31He did ride this all the way through to WrestleMania,

00:11:33but seeing him do it,

00:11:35and that angry Miz girl meme,

00:11:36is another one.

00:11:37Go and watch it today,

00:11:38it reminds you of what the impact The Miz really had was,

00:11:41and how most likely,

00:11:42we do not put enough respect on that man's name.

00:11:44Number 39,

00:11:45The Undertaker and Triple H go silent,

00:11:47February 21st, 2011.

00:11:49So you can argue this is WWE nonsense,

00:11:51but sometimes nonsense is good.

00:11:53When Triple H returned after a long absence in 2011,

00:11:56he should have gone after Sheamus.

00:11:57It was the Irishman that took him out of wrestling,

00:11:59so that's logic.

00:12:00Go and get him,

00:12:01but no,

00:12:02it really didn't matter,

00:12:02because all of this was planned out,

00:12:04as around the same time WWE was advertising the return of The Undertaker,

00:12:07and of course we'd got some spooky wookie vignettes.

00:12:10It was really only when it happened,

00:12:11we realized that the Dead Men of the Game were on a collision course for the same Raw,

00:12:15and maybe that could be a little bit of a coincidence.

00:12:17And yes,

00:12:17on this night,

00:12:18they both decided to walk to the ring at the same time.

00:12:20You know what they did?

00:12:21They looked at each other.

00:12:22That sounds awful,

00:12:23but it wasn't,

00:12:24because you just told the audience what was going to happen at WrestleMania,

00:12:27and even though they didn't say a word,

00:12:28they did look at the WrestleMania sign,

00:12:30which is way better than pointing at it.

00:12:32Instantly as well,

00:12:32everyone realized,

00:12:33oh my gosh,

00:12:34one year prior,

00:12:35The Undertaker had retired Triple H's best friend Shawn Michaels too,

00:12:38so sometimes wrestling just needs to lean into its over-the-topness.

00:12:41That's what this was,

00:12:43and let's face it,

00:12:43people got super pumped for The Undertaker vs. Triple H

00:12:46at that year's WrestleMania,

00:12:47and they went and delivered too.

00:12:49This was so long ago.

00:12:50You know what?

00:12:51Probably do it again for the modern day.

00:12:52Number 38,

00:12:53Jeff Hardy is the nearly man,

00:12:55July 1st,

00:12:552002.

00:12:56It sounds mad these days,

00:12:57but in the summer of 2002,

00:12:59The Undertaker had a ladder match on Raw against Jeff Hardy.

00:13:02WWE title was on the line as well,

00:13:04and this is why we gotta underline it hard.

00:13:07This wasn't to see how Jeff was going to do,

00:13:09that man was crazy over.

00:13:10The company would have been mad not to have seen if they could cement him as the top guy.

00:13:14Sadly,

00:13:14it actually turned out to be closer to the end of Hardy's first WWE run,

00:13:18as personal issues were around the corner,

00:13:19but on this night,

00:13:20he came across like the dude.

00:13:22The Undertaker needed it too,

00:13:23because he had just won the belt from Hulk Hogan of all people.

00:13:26Let's just say,

00:13:27we needed to inject some modern day into this pit.

00:13:29Obviously,

00:13:29you have the sheer size difference as well,

00:13:31and the pair told that story wonderfully,

00:13:33to the point fans started to lose their mind,

00:13:35because oh my gosh,

00:13:36maybe he's gonna do it.

00:13:37Every time he climbed that damn ladder,

00:13:39they were desperate,

00:13:40and he got so close,

00:13:41people believed.

00:13:42Now maybe that's different in 2026,

00:13:44but in 2002,

00:13:45nobody thinking Jeff Hardy gonna win.

00:13:47It's such an underrated gem,

00:13:48and proof you can lose to a megastar,

00:13:50and actually be more over in the process.

00:13:52Jim Ross is also fantastic on the call,

00:13:54and oh,

00:13:54what could have been,

00:13:56WWE must have been ready to get all the way with Jeff after this.

00:13:59Well,

00:13:59it was just a little bit of a shame.

00:14:00Number 37,

00:14:01Marty Jannetty returns May 17th,

00:14:031993.

00:14:04The summer of 1993,

00:14:06is when we got the proper payoff to the Rockers falling out.

00:14:08It's kind of mad,

00:14:09because Shawn Michaels had thrown Marty Jannetty through the barbershop window 18 months earlier,

00:14:13but still,

00:14:14at least we got there.

00:14:15It was such a wild ride,

00:14:16as their Raw Rumble match did not set the world on fire,

00:14:18as expected,

00:14:19and then soon after that,

00:14:20Marty lost his job.

00:14:21He was struggling with personal issues,

00:14:23and most fans assumed that his moment had passed.

00:14:26This brought in the 17th of May Raw,

00:14:28when HBK decided he was so great,

00:14:30he was gonna offer up an open challenge,

00:14:31when WWF went super silly.

00:14:33Because in disguise,

00:14:34Marty Jannetty answered the call,

00:14:36and of course,

00:14:36Shawn sold this like death.

00:14:38It was great.

00:14:39The match was what everybody had been hoping for the first time around,

00:14:41and when Jannetty got the win,

00:14:42and the IC title to boot,

00:14:44well,

00:14:44it was just wonderful.

00:14:45He also sort of told the crowd that this new generation tag was real.

00:14:49Sort of.

00:14:50Kinda.

00:14:50Sadly,

00:14:50Marty in the WWF was always going to be a bit difficult,

00:14:53but on this night,

00:14:54take that flipping baseball bat,

00:14:56and go ahead home run.

00:14:57Number 36,

00:14:58Shawn Michaels' best superkick ever,

00:15:00May 2nd,

00:15:002005.

00:15:0112 years after this,

00:15:02Shawn Michaels was flipping at it again.

00:15:04Seems odd to put a move in the best Raw moments,

00:15:06but people still talk about this today,

00:15:08and that is not an accident.

00:15:10HBK was taking on Shelton Benjamin too,

00:15:12and that in itself was exciting.

00:15:14Shelton was incredibly underrated,

00:15:15and of course,

00:15:16Michaels was the GOAT by this time.

00:15:18This had to be good,

00:15:19and thankfully it was.

00:15:20The highlight was the finish of the damn thing,

00:15:22when Benjamin went for a flying nothing,

00:15:23and yet,

00:15:24after springboarding off the rope,

00:15:25Shawn wrecked him with a seat to music right in the air.

00:15:28It was cool then,

00:15:28it's awesome now.

00:15:29I'm not sure anybody could have pulled this off better,

00:15:32even if they tried an extra 100 times.

00:15:34WWE knew what they had with this clip too,

00:15:36because almost instantly it went into the opening credits,

00:15:38and anytime they could slip it into a video,

00:15:40well that's exactly what they did.

00:15:42I mean just go watch it even right now,

00:15:43it is the best,

00:15:45it is night on perfect.

00:15:46Number 35,

00:15:47Bubba Ray powerbombs Mae Young,

00:15:48March 13, 2000.

00:15:50So it's kind of weird to include this one,

00:15:52Mae Young was an elderly lady,

00:15:54and Bubba Ray was a big old rough dude in his 30s.

00:15:56Him powerbombing her through a table

00:15:58shouldn't have garnered this response,

00:15:59but hey ho it did.

00:16:00It tied into a story for Dudley at the time,

00:16:03because he seemed to get off hurling unexpected people through wood,

00:16:06but really,

00:16:07Mae Young is the hero here.

00:16:08Because of her age and the happiness to do whatever the flub anybody wanted,

00:16:11this felt massive.

00:16:12I mean go and watch the fans as they realise what's about to happen,

00:16:15they lose their minds,

00:16:16they make noises like this.

00:16:18I suppose it was a moment that could only happen in wrestling,

00:16:20which is why it stood out.

00:16:21You're not going to grab an old woman in real life and throw her through a table,

00:16:24but the way it was shot too,

00:16:26WWE got this spot on,

00:16:27and Bubba would use it going forward.

00:16:29He just sat in the wreckage and kind of glazed off into the distance,

00:16:32and look,

00:16:33nobody would dare do this today.

00:16:34But at the time,

00:16:35well,

00:16:35we've talked about it,

00:16:36somehow it worked.

00:16:37Number 34,

00:16:38Brett and Sean men fences,

00:16:39January 4th,

00:16:402010.

00:16:41To this day,

00:16:42I cannot believe it happened.

00:16:43I remember when the news broke that Brett Hart was returning to WWE,

00:16:47and yeah,

00:16:47how,

00:16:48the 13 years the hitman's hate towards the company had been on show.

00:16:51We all did need to see this though,

00:16:53and I bet Brett needed to do it,

00:16:54because part of his opening promo was to ask Sean Michaels to come to the ring,

00:16:57and they shook hands,

00:16:58and put all the controversy behind them.

00:17:00Talk about hell freezing over.

00:17:02And that is the main reason it does get in here,

00:17:04because it was just so insane to see.

00:17:06Even the most positive fan ever never thought this would happen behind the scenes,

00:17:09let alone camera.

00:17:10It was a moment in time.

00:17:11It still sucks that WWE refused to use Bret Hart's classic theme and went for the updated

00:17:15Hart legacy version instead.

00:17:17Makes me mad.

00:17:18Because if you are setting up something for nostalgia,

00:17:20you have to go all the way.

00:17:21So that was stupid.

00:17:22But I kind of like the fact that Bret Hart did get some closure in his life,

00:17:25and admittedly,

00:17:26a few years after this,

00:17:27it seemed to unravel again.

00:17:28But hey,

00:17:29you can only live day to day,

00:17:30but Bret Hart is the flipping goat.

00:17:31Number 33,

00:17:32Ric Flair retires,

00:17:33March 31st,

00:17:342008.

00:17:35Now sadly,

00:17:35we do have to put retires in inverted commas,

00:17:38because sure,

00:17:39Ric Flair would return to professional wrestling over and over again.

00:17:42And more power to him.

00:17:43It's his life,

00:17:43he can do whatever he wants.

00:17:44Nobody knew that on this night though,

00:17:46so after losing to Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 24,

00:17:49the Nature Boy came to the ring on Raw,

00:17:51and my gosh,

00:17:52did he get the most wonderful send-off.

00:17:53Friends and legendary figures all surprised Flair to say goodbye,

00:17:56and you could tell Ric had no clue who was coming next.

00:17:59The man was a blubbering mess by the end of this,

00:18:00but that just made it more real.

00:18:02It's one of the best ceremonies WWE has ever done.

00:18:05If Flair had actually decided to call it quits here as well,

00:18:07good grief,

00:18:08this would be the template.

00:18:09But as above,

00:18:10he's allowed to do whatever he wants.

00:18:12In terms of the evening itself though,

00:18:13on March 31st,

00:18:142008,

00:18:15yeah,

00:18:16you've got to classify it as all-time.

00:18:18Number 32,

00:18:18J makes his choice,

00:18:19March 6th,

00:18:202023.

00:18:21Poor J Uso gets dragged by a few people these days,

00:18:24but I think you've just forgotten how great J Uso was in 2023.

00:18:28Weeks before this,

00:18:28the close to the Royal Rumble had seen the bloodline end,

00:18:31and what was going down with Sami Zayn was serious stuff.

00:18:34Fans went crazy when Sami finally smacked Roman with a steel chair to save Kevin Owens.

00:18:38Problem being,

00:18:39Sami didn't have any friends to help him,

00:18:40that left J in a very difficult position.

00:18:42Cause it'd have been teased for months that maybe he'd finally seen through the tribal sheet of nonsense,

00:18:46but this guy,

00:18:47he just couldn't go through with it,

00:18:48which is why this moment does get in here.

00:18:50On this night that we are referring to,

00:18:52even though everybody was so damn desperate to see J break free,

00:18:56he just couldn't do it.

00:18:57We certainly teased it as Uso barged past brother Jimmy,

00:19:00but when push came to shove,

00:19:01the siblings beat up Sami Zayn,

00:19:03because that's what the head of the table wanted.

00:19:05It was Cody who had to come to the ring to make the save,

00:19:07as J Uso screamed at Sami that he had to choose his family,

00:19:10and this is the real reason the bloodline angles were so great.

00:19:13We took our time with it,

00:19:14and when J did decide to go,

00:19:16now,

00:19:16you know the word that everybody use,

00:19:18cinema,

00:19:19number 31,

00:19:19and dumps the ride to hell,

00:19:20February 2nd,

00:19:211998.

00:19:22The New Age Outlaw's assault on Chainsaw Charlie and Cactus Jack

00:19:25to this day is totally insane.

00:19:27Of course,

00:19:27this was Terry Funk and Mick Foley,

00:19:29in case you don't know,

00:19:30but you do know the deal there,

00:19:31they were bonkers,

00:19:32and therefore they did bonkers stuff.

00:19:33It helped Billy Gunn and the Road Dog no end as well,

00:19:35because in 1998 they needed this heat.

00:19:38So during a wild brawl,

00:19:39they threw Charles and Jack into a dumpster,

00:19:41and pushed it off the raw stage to the floor.

00:19:43You gotta see it to really understand the impact,

00:19:45because it genuinely comes across like our heroes are dead.

00:19:48The WWE leant into that as well,

00:19:50because they were shipped off to hospital,

00:19:51before of course making their heroic return at the end of the show.

00:19:54I mean that is very attitude era,

00:19:56but go watch it,

00:19:56it worked.

00:19:57We also sold this like it was a little too real,

00:19:59and that maybe this wasn't meant to happen.

00:20:01Even Billy and Dog acted this way,

00:20:03they had a look on their face that was like,

00:20:04well,

00:20:05maybe we shouldn't have done that.

00:20:06It really is why people like this period though,

00:20:08because we always tease this kind of a stuff.

00:20:10And yeah,

00:20:10even when you do check it out in 2026,

00:20:13I can't believe that Terry Funk and Mick Foley did agree,

00:20:16that landing must have sucked.

00:20:17Number 30,

00:20:17Batista brutalizes Ric Flair,

00:20:19February 25,

00:20:202019.

00:20:21This is one of those forgotten moments,

00:20:23so let's go the other way and give it some love.

00:20:25I think 2019 was an awful year for WWE,

00:20:28because they had so many terrible stories,

00:20:30but the Batista return worked.

00:20:31And sure,

00:20:32Big Dave's promo after this,

00:20:33when he just shouted,

00:20:34give me what I want is bizarre,

00:20:35but do not forget what happened beforehand.

00:20:38The animal decided to interrupt Ric Flair's 70th birthday celebrations,

00:20:41who of course used to be his friend.

00:20:43Basically though,

00:20:43Batista felt like he was being ducked,

00:20:45so he grabbed a cameraman,

00:20:46and forced him to watch the destruction of the Nature Boy.

00:20:49He burst into Flair's locker room,

00:20:51before literally dragging him around,

00:20:53Dave came across like a loon.

00:20:55He also screamed into the camera,

00:20:56which sort of did help that mad interview later too,

00:20:59it just got fans all worked up,

00:21:01and when we realized it was for Triple H and Batista at WrestleMania,

00:21:04well that was the whole point,

00:21:05it did tick the box,

00:21:06and really,

00:21:06mostly thanks to Big Dave,

00:21:08it actually ruled.

00:21:08Number 29,

00:21:09Dolph Ziggler cashes in,

00:21:10April 8th, 2013.

00:21:12So should WWE have done more with Dolph Ziggler?

00:21:15Yes.

00:21:15Yes they should.

00:21:16That doesn't mean he doesn't get his moments though,

00:21:18and this one could be the best of the bunch.

00:21:20It all started when Dolph Ziggler did find himself in position of the Money in the Bank briefcase,

00:21:24and I think people wanted him to cash it in on Alberto Del Rio come WrestleMania 29,

00:21:28when he did not.

00:21:29It said that WWE decided to wait until the Raw after WrestleMania,

00:21:32and you have to go and watch this today,

00:21:35which is slowly becoming my catchphrase,

00:21:36but when Dolph Ziggler's music hits and this crowd realizes what's going on,

00:21:40well you've never heard a pop like it.

00:21:42I mean if you want to argue that it's the level of some Steve Austin ovations,

00:21:44I don't think I would argue you,

00:21:46and it's just a sustained noise because he gets in the ring,

00:21:48he hits his finish onto Alberto when he gets the three,

00:21:51meaning finally,

00:21:52finally,

00:21:52he was the world heavyweight champion,

00:21:55and every single damn person in that building wanted to see it.

00:21:57Now very sadly,

00:21:58I'm not sure they ever booked Dolph Ziggler as a proper world champion,

00:22:00but at least this was fan service on this evening,

00:22:03and it truly is a sight to behold.

00:22:05Felt very much like the office giving the fans one,

00:22:07but at least we did get to see it,

00:22:09and sure,

00:22:09I think we expected many world title reigns after this,

00:22:12and we didn't get any,

00:22:13but some people don't even get one,

00:22:14so as stupid as it sounds,

00:22:15I'll take it.

00:22:16Number 28,

00:22:17Diesel Changes the Rules,

00:22:18November 20th, 1995

00:22:19Having brutalized Bret Hart and what first scanned as a heel-tailed at the Survivor Series 24 hours earlier,

00:22:25Diesel was expected to apologize for his actions on the next episode of Raw.

00:22:28He decided not to do this,

00:22:30and instead he doubled down.

00:22:32If he wants to beat somebody up,

00:22:33he will,

00:22:34and if you want to thank anybody,

00:22:35well you can go talk to Vince McMahon.

00:22:37Basically,

00:22:37Kevin Nash had decided he was no longer content being a corporate puppet,

00:22:40and how many times we heard that in the modern day,

00:22:42and this really was a Nash speciality,

00:22:44because he took the work and the shoot aspects of professional wrestling,

00:22:47and he overlapped them in a captivating fashion.

00:22:49There's also a new spin on the Diesel gimmick,

00:22:51which actually was rooted in truth,

00:22:52and something he did need,

00:22:53because yeah,

00:22:54the way he was booked at world champion,

00:22:56but it was absolutely ridiculous.

00:22:57Kevin Nash was a badass,

00:22:59so we wanted to see him do badass things,

00:23:01and as soon as he got the title,

00:23:02well basically Vince McMahon tried to make him like Hulk Hogan,

00:23:05it was never going to work.

00:23:06What's really cool about this,

00:23:07and a nod to what was going to go down in 1996 WCW,

00:23:10is that Kevin decided to deliver all this during a match.

00:23:13He just walked out and said his piece,

00:23:14so once again it felt like he got off script.

00:23:17Hilariousy too,

00:23:17he even found a way to sell some of his merchandise,

00:23:19because Kevin Nash does like making a buck or two.

00:23:21But really this was the WWE and Nash himself allowing fans to decide if they liked him or not,

00:23:26and depending on what kind of audience response they were going to get,

00:23:29that's the direction they were going to head in.

00:23:31We kind of followed up on this too,

00:23:32until he decided to go to WCW,

00:23:35but that's more about money man.

00:23:36But on this night,

00:23:37well,

00:23:38if you want to talk about Kevin Nash becoming Kevin Nash,

00:23:40you saw it happen in front of your eyes.

00:23:41Number 27,

00:23:42The Upset Kid,

00:23:43May 17th,

00:23:441993.

00:23:44So there are certain moments when a television show established itself as an important fixture

00:23:49on a network,

00:23:50usually with a story that is met by the audience with a big old thumbs up.

00:23:53In terms of Raw,

00:23:54you do have to go to May 17th,

00:23:551993,

00:23:56when Razor Ramon lost to The 1-2-3 Kid,

00:23:59and I tell you,

00:24:00nobody could believe it.

00:24:01It's little wonder why after this,

00:24:03the click felt like they could book the business better than some other people who were actually in

00:24:06the big chair,

00:24:06because you just did not see victories like this on weekly television shows.

00:24:10I mean,

00:24:11Razor Ramon losing to some random small dude?

00:24:13Nobody could believe it.

00:24:14Now,

00:24:14as it turned out,

00:24:15Sean Waltman was going to go on to become one of the best in-ring workers ever,

00:24:18and I presume that Scott Hall knew that,

00:24:20but when you are just a fan tuning into your favourite television show,

00:24:23well,

00:24:23of course,

00:24:24the big established star is going to win,

00:24:25and then he flippin' didn't.

00:24:26It also starts out like a squash match too,

00:24:28which makes it even more surprising.

00:24:30And fair play to Razor Ramon,

00:24:32because good grief does he keep this New York crowd heated.

00:24:34The twist ending was surprising as well,

00:24:36but not totally unbelievable,

00:24:37because the 1-2-3 Kid is so good in this match,

00:24:40and it basically created two brand new stars in the process.

00:24:43The Kid was a made man for obvious reasons,

00:24:45while somehow Razor Ramon used this to turn babyface as well,

00:24:48and then he too would lose in a few years,

00:24:50but really that's because he wanted more,

00:24:52and Vincent Mann would never give it to him.

00:24:53This is another one you do have to go out and see.

00:24:55It's a moment in time.

00:24:57Number 26,

00:24:57That Crazy Wedding,

00:24:58November 29th, 1999.

00:25:00So this one sounds absolutely terrible when you say it out loud,

00:25:03and thank goodness it soon turned out that Stephanie McMahon was involved,

00:25:06because before you do have that caveat of information,

00:25:09well, I'm pretty sure what Triple H did on this night was illegal.

00:25:12But of course,

00:25:12the game came out to interrupt the wedding between Stephanie McMahon and Tess,

00:25:16which is very WWE,

00:25:17to reveal that he had actually basically drugged Stephanie,

00:25:20driven to Las Vegas,

00:25:21and gone through a wedding chapel,

00:25:23and somehow got the wedding sorted.

00:25:24I mean,

00:25:25you would imagine the person doing this would have gone,

00:25:26uh, excuse me sir,

00:25:27your wife looks totally unconscious,

00:25:29but yes,

00:25:29the twist would come weeks after this,

00:25:31Stephanie McMahon was awake,

00:25:32this was a ruse,

00:25:33she hated Tess,

00:25:34she definitely hated her dad,

00:25:35a good grief she'd fallen in love with Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

00:25:37It really was an awesome twist though,

00:25:38but it made the November 29th,

00:25:401990 Raw even better,

00:25:42because you could go back and watch this skit again,

00:25:44and go,

00:25:44damn it,

00:25:44they fooled me,

00:25:45they pulled the wool over my eyes.

00:25:46It really probably worked as well,

00:25:48even though it was over the top Vince Russo booking,

00:25:50but having a storyline that just had so many twists and turns,

00:25:53I guess the only issue is that Tess eventually should have beaten Triple H,

00:25:56but we all know why that didn't happen.

00:25:58Now once again,

00:25:59I don't think anybody should be doing this today,

00:26:00but when you do go through the whole episode,

00:26:02and just how much effort WW puts into bigging this up,

00:26:05and then giving you a swerve,

00:26:07I actually think they deliver it quite well,

00:26:09but yes,

00:26:10next time,

00:26:10let's make sure we explain all of the rules,

00:26:12otherwise your eyebrow will raise up through the roof.

00:26:15Number 25,

00:26:16Daniel Bryan leaves the White family,

00:26:17January 13th,

00:26:182014.

00:26:19So how the hell this is over 10 years ago,

00:26:21I will never know,

00:26:22but it also means some people watching this video may not know about the rise of Daniel Bryan in WWE,

00:26:27so I will just tell you this,

00:26:28in 2013,

00:26:30WWE should have made him the guy,

00:26:31they didn't,

00:26:32the fans realised the company weren't going to get behind him,

00:26:34so they decided,

00:26:35you know what,

00:26:35screw it,

00:26:36we're just going to do it ourselves.

00:26:38I mean even when Bryan finally won the world championship,

00:26:40before getting screwed by the authority,

00:26:41and losing his WWE title,

00:26:43it worked.

00:26:44The issue being,

00:26:45that once again,

00:26:45deep down on our tootsie toes,

00:26:47you could just see that WWE was trying to do anything but push Daniel Bryan,

00:26:50hence why eventually,

00:26:52he ended up in the Whites.

00:26:53This was only a few months before WrestleMania as well,

00:26:56what are we doing,

00:26:56he should be headed towards the main event.

00:26:58It all began when really Randy Orton got one over him,

00:27:01meaning Bryan was going to have to go somewhere else on the card,

00:27:03when sure,

00:27:03he fell into a tag team feud with the Wyatt family.

00:27:06The story going was that Wyatt had brainwashed Daniel Bryan,

00:27:09meaning he kind of forgot what he was meant to do in a wrestling ring,

00:27:11but it got such a bad reception from the fans,

00:27:14even management eventually went,

00:27:15yeah,

00:27:16we got to change this,

00:27:17which is what they did in the January 13th,

00:27:182014 episode of Raw.

00:27:20It's such a cool payoff as well,

00:27:21because Bryan had been playing a comatose version of himself alongside the family,

00:27:25when all of a sudden inside a steel cage,

00:27:27he went,

00:27:27ha ha,

00:27:28not really,

00:27:28I hate you guys.

00:27:29He took off his boiler suit,

00:27:31and he climbed the cage,

00:27:32and this is yet another clip you need to check out for yourself.

00:27:34He did the yes moment,

00:27:35and I swear literally every single person in that building was playing along,

00:27:39but I've never seen anything like it.

00:27:41It was just an incredible conclusion though,

00:27:43and surely just sent a message backstage going,

00:27:45yeah,

00:27:45once again,

00:27:46you may be planning Randy Orton versus Batista for the main event of WrestleMania 30,

00:27:50but if you do not fit Daniel Bryan in,

00:27:52well,

00:27:53you probably got a ride on your hands.

00:27:54Number 24,

00:27:55the New Day Turn Heal,

00:27:56December 2nd,

00:27:572024.

00:27:58So given that very recently,

00:27:59as I am recording this,

00:28:00Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston have left the WWE,

00:28:03which I never thought was going to happen,

00:28:04let's go back to one of the best heel turns in history,

00:28:07when yep,

00:28:08they looked at their old partner Big E and said,

00:28:10we think you're a dramatic waste of space.

00:28:12Of course,

00:28:12everybody was shocked by this,

00:28:14because the only reason Big E wasn't in the team anymore,

00:28:16is because he'd been dropped on his head,

00:28:18he broke his neck,

00:28:18and been told by doctors,

00:28:20oh yeah,

00:28:20you're probably never going to wrestle again.

00:28:22They were so tight throughout their years in the company too,

00:28:24nobody thought they'd do anything like this,

00:28:26and the way that Woods and Kofi delivered the news,

00:28:29well,

00:28:29it got you right in the tum tum.

00:28:31It really is something you need to go and watch today,

00:28:32after you learn the lore of the New Day,

00:28:34and the only thing that would drive you nuts,

00:28:36is that WWE did not follow up on this at all.

00:28:38Every single video I did after the fact,

00:28:40I was screaming for the New Day to become the tag team champions,

00:28:42in the worst way ever,

00:28:44and instead we wait until WrestleMania the following year,

00:28:46that doesn't make any sense.

00:28:48Big E sold this wonderfully as well,

00:28:49and really,

00:28:50the reason why this worked to the level it did,

00:28:52is because everybody loved the New Day.

00:28:54So if you could actually come up with a story,

00:28:56where you tell that same crowd,

00:28:57where you shouldn't love them anymore,

00:28:58of course they're going to boo.

00:29:00I mean,

00:29:00it looked like we'd ripped into Big E's chest,

00:29:02and torn his heart out.

00:29:03Even thinking about it now,

00:29:04brings a tear to my eye.

00:29:06The best way I've ever heard it put,

00:29:07is that Big E was hurt by the New Day,

00:29:08more than he ever was with his neck,

00:29:10because he had been betrayed.

00:29:12Still irks me a bit,

00:29:13that we didn't follow this up in the right way.

00:29:14It could have been an all time classic,

00:29:16but in terms of going back to that evening,

00:29:18well,

00:29:18it is right up there.

00:29:19Number 23,

00:29:20Batista gives the thumbs down,

00:29:21February 21st,

00:29:222005.

00:29:22So my favorite story about Triple H vs Batista from 2005,

00:29:26is that Vince McMahon wanted to get it wrapped up,

00:29:28in a matter of weeks.

00:29:30This is when Triple H looked at his boss,

00:29:31and said,

00:29:32that's a terrible idea,

00:29:33we have to eke it out to WrestleMania,

00:29:35and thank goodness they did.

00:29:36It was doubly important,

00:29:37because just before this,

00:29:38Randy Orton had been booted out of Evolution,

00:29:40way too quickly,

00:29:40and turn faced.

00:29:42Now all of a sudden,

00:29:42we needed a brand new person,

00:29:44to rise up to the occasion.

00:29:45Given how massive,

00:29:46and how good he was,

00:29:46we did choose Big Dave,

00:29:48and some of the teasing we did,

00:29:49throughout all of this.

00:29:50For example,

00:29:51he would catch Triple H saying,

00:29:52horrible words about him,

00:29:53but he wasn't going to confront the man with three H's,

00:29:56he was going to take his time.

00:29:57This is what brought us,

00:29:58to the February 21st,

00:29:592005 episode of Raw,

00:30:01and you'll remember this.

00:30:02Given that Batista had won the Raw Rumble,

00:30:03he had a contract to sign,

00:30:05and it looked like,

00:30:05he was going to head over to Smackdown,

00:30:07because of course,

00:30:08who was the champion on Monday Night Raw?

00:30:09It was Triple H.

00:30:10At the very last moment though,

00:30:12much like Evolution had done to Randy Orton,

00:30:14he took his thumbs up,

00:30:14and he switched it to a thumbs down,

00:30:16and the way that Triple H and Rick Fair sell this,

00:30:18you would have thought that the animal,

00:30:20was about to murder them.

00:30:20They just looked like such dumbasses

00:30:22in the way they were meant to,

00:30:23because they were convinced

00:30:24they had manipulated Batista,

00:30:25and when he signed that deal,

00:30:27and threw Triple H through a table,

00:30:29well,

00:30:29everybody went flipping crazy.

00:30:30Their match at WrestleMania is great too,

00:30:32so this is yet another angle we can go back to.

00:30:35You just take your time,

00:30:36you just break the fourth wall in the right way,

00:30:38and who knows,

00:30:39you may just make a new star.

00:30:40Number 22,

00:30:41Shawn Michaels collapses,

00:30:42November 20th,

00:30:431995.

00:30:44So doing this today feels a little bit off,

00:30:46but when you do go back and watch it in real time,

00:30:48it's one of the first edgy storylines

00:30:49WWE ever did on Raw.

00:30:51Not Adam Copeland,

00:30:52he went to AEW.

00:30:53It did all go down 24 hours

00:30:55after Shawn Michaels had returned to the company

00:30:56after a very real bar fight,

00:30:58and sure,

00:30:59HBK was back in the ring,

00:31:00because that's what he did.

00:31:01He was also in the main event against Owen Hart,

00:31:03as the WWE have started to think about the Raw Rumble,

00:31:06when something went down

00:31:06that would shock the world.

00:31:07Because after a brilliant contest between these two

00:31:10who were well ahead of the game,

00:31:11all of a sudden,

00:31:12Michaels started to suddenly sell his head,

00:31:14as he took more shots from Owen too,

00:31:15that spread across his body.

00:31:17And as soon as Owen had blasted him in the head

00:31:18with an insecurity,

00:31:20well,

00:31:20Michaels went down,

00:31:21he stopped moving,

00:31:22and he didn't move again,

00:31:23as the commentator started to get worried.

00:31:25Soon the commentator stopped speaking as well,

00:31:26as if to sell this moment like it wasn't planned,

00:31:28and you can even go and look at the faces

00:31:30of the ringside fans in the front row,

00:31:32they have a look on shock too,

00:31:33as what the flub is wrong with Shawn Michaels.

00:31:35Owen Hart,

00:31:35Jim Cornette,

00:31:36and Mr. Fuji,

00:31:36who were all out there to also walk away,

00:31:39meaning the last four minutes of the broadcast

00:31:41are just people tending on Shawn Michaels.

00:31:43Now listen,

00:31:44in 1995,

00:31:45you would not say the WW felt real,

00:31:47but this absolutely felt real.

00:31:49Vince McMahon even dropped his headset

00:31:50and headed into the ring

00:31:51as the show faded to commercial,

00:31:53and when we do return,

00:31:54the ring is just filled with medical professionals

00:31:56and officials,

00:31:56as everybody is speculating what has happened.

00:31:58You then get one last commercial break,

00:32:00and on our return,

00:32:01not only are fans in tears,

00:32:02but flippin' Shawn Michaels

00:32:03is now wearing an oxygen mask.

00:32:05Doctors do at least confirm that he is conscious

00:32:07before Raw goes off air,

00:32:09but it's so damn unflinching,

00:32:10even when you do watch it today,

00:32:12and actually remarkable that it did play out so well back then,

00:32:15and everybody knew that the WW was total nonsense,

00:32:17and I guess this wasn't,

00:32:19so people were damn scared.

00:32:20Number 21,

00:32:21Bedpan McMahon,

00:32:22October 5th,

00:32:221998.

00:32:23So all you need to do is look at this screenshot,

00:32:25and instantly you know what we are talking about,

00:32:27and yes,

00:32:28even in 2026,

00:32:29if you want to talk about some of the best views

00:32:31the WW ever put on,

00:32:33you have to talk about Stone Cold Steve Austin

00:32:34versus Vince McMahon.

00:32:36Now in 1998,

00:32:36it was par for the course for Austin to go after McMahon,

00:32:39and usually send him to the hospital.

00:32:41On this evening,

00:32:42however,

00:32:42it got so bad that McMahon stayed there,

00:32:44when Stone Cold,

00:32:45the rattlesnake,

00:32:46the badass,

00:32:46the by-night redneck,

00:32:47dressed up like a nurse,

00:32:48and attacked Vince McMahon with a bedpan

00:32:50that made a noise like this.

00:32:52Even though it's almost 30 years old,

00:32:53somehow it's still laugh out loud funny,

00:32:55mostly because Steve Austin is super intense but comical,

00:32:58and Vince McMahon sells this like he's been attacked by a clown.

00:33:01That ties in as well,

00:33:02because of course before Austin does arrive,

00:33:03Mick Foley had been trying to cheer up his fake dad,

00:33:06and he had brought in Bozo the Clown,

00:33:07whatever the flub that thing's name was,

00:33:09so to see Austin running around like it was some sort of party,

00:33:12well everybody just played their role here,

00:33:14and of course Vince was the bad guy,

00:33:16so I had to get his comeuppance,

00:33:17and he got it and then something.

00:33:18As stupid as it sounds as well,

00:33:20the selection of props in the wrong hands would not have worked,

00:33:22but somehow from Steve Austin to Vince McMahon to Mick Foley,

00:33:25they just understood what to do,

00:33:27don't overplay the comedy,

00:33:29let's just keep it sublime.

00:33:30It wasn't tone deaf either,

00:33:32even though on paper it sounds terrible,

00:33:33man attacks other man in the hospital,

00:33:35so it's another one you've just got to go and check out.

00:33:37But given that it was October of 1998,

00:33:39if you weren't on the bandwagon when it came to this program,

00:33:43well shortly after this there was no looking back,

00:33:45it was just too damn funny.

00:33:46Number 20,

00:33:47The Birth of the Nexus,

00:33:48June 7th, 2010.

00:33:49And do not forget that we are talking about moments here,

00:33:51because if you sit down with the whole episode from June 10th, 2010,

00:33:54you'll probably walk away going,

00:33:56huh,

00:33:56that felt like the most formulaic thing ever.

00:33:59I think WWE knew this too,

00:34:00which is why we got to our main event segment,

00:34:03we decided to give birth to the Nexus.

00:34:05Now most people do forget that the main event was John Cena vs CM Punk,

00:34:08which was always going to feel seismic,

00:34:10but why did we not get it finished?

00:34:12Because the Nexus,

00:34:13a bunch of dudes from NXT had come together,

00:34:15and they went and caused the unexpected stoppage.

00:34:17And do not forget as well,

00:34:18that we knew they were called the Nexus there,

00:34:19but nobody else did.

00:34:20It just felt like everybody was being attacked,

00:34:23and the way they went after John Cena,

00:34:25man,

00:34:25I mean,

00:34:25he was the symbol of WWE,

00:34:27and that guy was getting torn to shreds.

00:34:29It also worked as well,

00:34:30because NXT from this era was not what you know it as today,

00:34:33and was some weird game show,

00:34:34so Wade Barrett and the rest of them were totally pissed off,

00:34:37and they weren't going to take it anymore.

00:34:38They were told to make it look as real and aggressive as possible as well,

00:34:41which is why Daniel Bryan choked ring announcer Justin Roberts,

00:34:45which he then got fired for.

00:34:46That's right,

00:34:47Bryan took it too far,

00:34:48but once again it was brilliant.

00:34:49More important than all of that though,

00:34:50you did have a bunch of people that were brand new to the main roster,

00:34:53so do you know how you get them over?

00:34:55You do this.

00:34:56But look at the shot of the ring from that evening,

00:34:58it gets totally ripped up,

00:35:00because these guys didn't care,

00:35:01and maybe they weren't even a part officially of the company.

00:35:03So it was absolutely brilliant,

00:35:05and every single person on the Nexus should have gone on to become big stars,

00:35:08but that's a different story to a different day,

00:35:11but in terms of debuts,

00:35:12one of the best.

00:35:13Number 19,

00:35:14The Zamboni Attack on September 28th, 1999.

00:35:17So there is just an intangible magic to so much of what Steve Austin does from 1997 to 1999.

00:35:22I mean,

00:35:23it's a body of work that's almost unfair to put against anybody else's.

00:35:26Some of the most infamous attacks he did as well were just so over the top,

00:35:29much like this one,

00:35:30when he decided to go after Vince McMahon in a flipping Zamboni.

00:35:33I mean,

00:35:34that thing was just ludicrous to begin with,

00:35:35and I can tell you firsthand,

00:35:37nobody in the UK knew what a Zamboni was,

00:35:39and that was about to change.

00:35:40The Rattlesnake also crashed that into the ring before he climbed on the front

00:35:43and just threw himself at Vince McMahon.

00:35:46And once again,

00:35:46I don't know how he did this,

00:35:48because Steve was a pretty logical guy,

00:35:49but he saw through the air like a bird.

00:35:51It just reminded you that during this time,

00:35:53he was irreplaceable as the top star,

00:35:55and even when The Undertaker and Kane tried to stop him,

00:35:57well,

00:35:57they couldn't,

00:35:58Steve Austin wanted to kill Vince McMahon.

00:36:00Just to make it even more absurd,

00:36:01a fan was able to launch an inflatable stone cold toy

00:36:04that did make it to the squared circle,

00:36:05and if you were watching this live,

00:36:07you were probably having kittens.

00:36:08I mean,

00:36:08few segments have this much energy.

00:36:10It really does feel real as well,

00:36:11because even when Austin is driving the Zamboni to the ring,

00:36:14he runs over some wires so you hear the sound crackle,

00:36:17and it's just quite the turnaround for a show that a couple of years before this,

00:36:20or dare I say,

00:36:21it was a bit boring.

00:36:22That is why the WWF needed Steve Austin to blow up though,

00:36:25because he was able to pull off things like this.

00:36:26Number 18,

00:36:27Pillman's Got a Gun,

00:36:28November 4th,

00:36:291996.

00:36:30So this is absolutely a key point of the rise of Monday Night Raw,

00:36:33even if at the time,

00:36:34good grief,

00:36:35it created controversy,

00:36:36and Vince McMahon had to apologize for it.

00:36:38Now these days,

00:36:38home invasions seem to happen all of the time,

00:36:40but this was one of the most famous ones in the mid-90s,

00:36:43because while Brian Pillman was sat at home worried about Steve Austin attacking him,

00:36:47he showed everyone,

00:36:48that's right,

00:36:48I'm sat here in my lounge with my wife,

00:36:50and for goodness sake,

00:36:51I've got a gun.

00:36:52This was seeped in history as well,

00:36:54because the two used to be tag team partners in WCW,

00:36:56and even though the WWF was never going to reference that,

00:36:59they still had Brian Pillman,

00:37:00who was doing his loose cannon persona,

00:37:02and everybody bought that,

00:37:03including the boys in the back,

00:37:05he just came across like a crazy person,

00:37:06and you never knew what he was going to do.

00:37:08It's kind of shot like a horror movie as well,

00:37:09because the cameras were inside the house,

00:37:11so when all of a sudden you could hear this glass breaking,

00:37:13and maybe people being beaten up,

00:37:15as Austin made his way to the door,

00:37:16but you were kind of intrigued as to what was going to happen.

00:37:18Raw also made sure this was a show-long story too,

00:37:21and Good Grief was the ending absolutely nuts,

00:37:23because it went to black,

00:37:24and you heard a gunshot,

00:37:25meaning they wanted you to tune in next week,

00:37:28to see if somebody had been killed.

00:37:29Now look,

00:37:30this was probably way too much for 1996,

00:37:31given the reaction,

00:37:33but when you do go back now,

00:37:34and you sort of have it in your head,

00:37:35that you want pro wrestling to be more adult,

00:37:37that's exactly what Brian Pillman and Steve Austin did.

00:37:40They were also credible enough to pull this off,

00:37:42because if you did it with The Undertaker and Giant Gonzalez,

00:37:44well I don't think anybody's going to bite.

00:37:45So maybe this one is more innovation than it is proper home run,

00:37:48but it is captivating I tell you,

00:37:50and actually,

00:37:51what they were going for,

00:37:52they do a pretty good job.

00:37:53Number 17,

00:37:54Seth Baizinn,

00:37:55June 2nd 2014.

00:37:56So if you ever want to know where the Tribal Chief character was born,

00:37:59well you should go and watch the June 2nd 2014 episode of Raw.

00:38:02It kind of goes into some of the debuts we have talked about today,

00:38:05because nobody had done better than The Shield when they came up.

00:38:08Dean Ambrose,

00:38:09Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins made themselves megastars in a matter of years,

00:38:12and look where they are today in the industry.

00:38:14The whole point was to change the game,

00:38:16and WWE actually got it right.

00:38:18To this day as well,

00:38:19people feel like WWE pulled the trigger too quickly on The Shield,

00:38:22but now when you go through the story,

00:38:24that's kind of what made this so damn impactful.

00:38:26Because just as they did start to feud with The Authority,

00:38:28which was Triple H's group,

00:38:29and therefore make the main event,

00:38:31it turned out that the game had a plan B,

00:38:33and the plan B was getting in Seth Rollins' ear and telling him,

00:38:36if you do portray your teammates,

00:38:37I'll make sure you become the WWE Champion,

00:38:39and that's exactly what went down.

00:38:41The footage today is absolutely iconic of him grabbing that weapon,

00:38:44and just smashing Roman Reigns in the back,

00:38:45and yes, Roman has talked about this in promos.

00:38:47The reason he doesn't trust anybody anymore and has a chip on his shoulder

00:38:50is because of what happened in 2014.

00:38:53I still remember to this day, though,

00:38:54people thinking it was crazy we were going to make The Shield up this early

00:38:57because there was so much money on the table.

00:38:58And yes, I agree with that too,

00:39:00but you'd be hard-pressed to argue this wasn't a moment in time

00:39:03because nobody could flabbing believe it.

00:39:05There's also conversations constantly about who should turn heel,

00:39:08with most people saying it would be Dean Ambrose.

00:39:10So when Seth Rollins decided to step up and actually change the game,

00:39:13well, it just went to show that we had thought about this intrinsically.

00:39:16The time they spent away from each other too

00:39:17also kind of underlined how beneficial it was for WWE to pull the trigger when they did.

00:39:22They actually had bigger plans than keeping them as a trio.

00:39:25And yeah, now we're talking about world champions,

00:39:27WWE champions, AEW champions.

00:39:29So it's like they did know.

00:39:30They were stars.

00:39:31They were going to be fine on their own.

00:39:33But still, Seth, how could you flip and do it?

00:39:35Number 16, The Trial of Sami Zayn, January 23rd, 2023.

00:39:39It won't prove to be the penultimate epic segment

00:39:41for this era of WWE's rampaging bloodline story.

00:39:45The trial of Sami Zayn was set up to decide once and for all

00:39:47if somebody outside the family could actually reside within it.

00:39:50Roman Reigns especially seemed like he didn't know

00:39:52which direction it was going to go.

00:39:54But in the magnificent subversion of the group's old dynamic,

00:39:57it was Jey Uso that saved Sami from a Sola Sekoua spike attack

00:40:00using his own evidence to get Zayn off the hook.

00:40:02And he went and made a nice video and he showed it to the Tribal Chief

00:40:05how all the times that Sami Zayn had helped out the bloodline.

00:40:08So he's Usoy, damn it, and he should be allowed in.

00:40:10There's also the opening portion of a Raw is 30 anniversary special.

00:40:14But even if this had been the go-home segment for the Raw Rumble,

00:40:16well, I tell you, it would have worked.

00:40:18It was also followed immediately by an Uso tag team title defense

00:40:21against the rapidly rising Judgment Day.

00:40:23It just kind of felt like it got rubber-stamped with elite status.

00:40:26And the reason for that is because Jimmy got injured in a pre-match melee.

00:40:29So who had to step into team with Jey Uso?

00:40:32If you're not saying Sami Zayn, I think you're crazy.

00:40:34And yes, it was a bit nuts that Adam Pearce would be totally fine with this,

00:40:37even though in other situations he said no.

00:40:39But when you do watch it in terms of story, emotions,

00:40:41and Sami Zayn slowly sort of bedding into the bloodline,

00:40:44well, there is a reason why WWE business went crazy at this time.

00:40:47And this was the center of it all.

00:40:49It was just best-in-class booking with the tightest plotting

00:40:51that WWE hadn't experienced in two decades.

00:40:54And it reminds you, even to this day,

00:40:56when they want to do it, they absolutely can.

00:40:59Number 15, Cody vs. Punk 1, January 22nd, 2024.

00:41:02So we talked about this earlier,

00:41:04and you can kind of make up your own mind about which ones you do prefer.

00:41:07But the first meeting of two legends like this

00:41:09is always going to get you going,

00:41:10mostly because you can't believe they're in the same ring together.

00:41:13Given where they've come from as well,

00:41:14both ex-AEW talents,

00:41:16everybody was wide-eyed when they finally did look each other in the face.

00:41:19And while everybody else would use Dusty Rhodes in a certain way

00:41:21to get to Cody, Punk decided to go in a different direction

00:41:24because he wasn't going to nitpick about this,

00:41:26but instead he shared his own tale with the dream.

00:41:29It was kind of poetic too,

00:41:30because in short,

00:41:31it was a father asking Punk if he could watch his son.

00:41:34Cody was not happy with this either,

00:41:35and basically almost snapped at the possible condescension of the whole thing,

00:41:38because he wanted to remind CM Punk that these days he is his own man,

00:41:42and you may call yourself the best in the world,

00:41:44but that's going to suck come the Royal Rumble,

00:41:45because you ain't going to win.

00:41:46Of course, CM Punk disagreed,

00:41:48even though he could see how much fight and determination Rose had,

00:41:51but that was the big difference between them.

00:41:53Rhodes was never going to be able to understand CM Punk's journey,

00:41:56because one of them had been born into the business.

00:41:58Cody was ready for that one as well though,

00:41:59and he did bring up 2011's pipe bomb to say,

00:42:02well that's great you said those words, Punk,

00:42:03but you never actually did anything about it.

00:42:05But do you know who followed that template?

00:42:07It was me, CM Punk Cody Rhodes,

00:42:09and that's why I'm stood here today.

00:42:11Or, as Cody said it,

00:42:12he was more CM Punk than CM Punk.

00:42:14It was just so great because Cody had not finished his story at this time,

00:42:17but much like he was going to do over the next couple of years,

00:42:20he backed himself, he didn't flinch,

00:42:21and ultimately he went and proved his words.

00:42:24So it was just dream promo work for a dream match,

00:42:26and what's mad is I'm recording this in May 2026,

00:42:29and we've still not seen it.

00:42:30It means when WWE does get down and dirty,

00:42:33we need some old time stuff here,

00:42:34but it's CM Punk and Cody Rhodes, man.

00:42:37Of course they're going to deliver.

00:42:38Number 14,

00:42:39Icon vs Icon,

00:42:40February 18th, 2002.

00:42:41So even when the NWO did first appear in the WWE at the No Way Out 2002 pay-per-view,

00:42:46you can't ignore the cheers.

00:42:48I mean, I'm sure a few were aimed at Scott Hall and Kevin Nash,

00:42:51but there was one guy the WWF fanbase was so happy to see back,

00:42:54his name was Hulk Hogan.

00:42:56That carried on on February 18th, 2002 as well,

00:42:58when The Rock finally confronted Hulk Hogan,

00:43:00because even though this was the great one in his pomp,

00:43:03people once again still wanted to cheer for Hulkamania.

00:43:06They also got into it as well,

00:43:07as they argued about the legacy of the business,

00:43:09and the relevance that each had towards it.

00:43:11And honestly,

00:43:11both performers timed their looks and comebacks to perfection,

00:43:14as the audience gleefully ate from their hands.

00:43:17Jim Ross was well aware of this as well,

00:43:18as he just uttered,

00:43:19this is a moment.

00:43:20And you can't just say that sometimes,

00:43:21everybody needs to feel it,

00:43:23but I think that's why it did work.

00:43:24It was pretty obvious what was going on.

00:43:26It was so strong as well,

00:43:27that WWE did not need to do what they did afterwards,

00:43:29which was the NWO beating up The Rock,

00:43:31putting him in an ambulance,

00:43:33and smashing it with a truck.

00:43:34Now listen,

00:43:35if this happened in the real world,

00:43:36the person inside that vehicle would be dead,

00:43:38but it kind of ties into what we did see here,

00:43:40that WWE was so damn desperate for Hulk Hogan to get booed,

00:43:43that was never going to happen.

00:43:45But you can kind of just ignore that part.

00:43:46Given that we are talking about two individuals

00:43:48that are all-time talkers,

00:43:49and this is the first time they talked at each other,

00:43:51well of course it's going to get in here,

00:43:53because they didn't back down once.

00:43:55Number 13,

00:43:55Hell freezes over July 15th, 2002.

00:43:58So if you were a fan of the Monday Night Wars,

00:44:00you will remember a very specific piece of information.

00:44:02Eric Bischoff hated Vince McMahon,

00:44:04and Vince McMahon hated Eric Bischoff.

00:44:06It got so bad,

00:44:07Eric Bischoff would actually reveal

00:44:08what was going to be happening on pre-recorded Roars,

00:44:10and at one point,

00:44:11to try and pop a pay-per-view buy rate,

00:44:13Eric even said,

00:44:13Vince McMahon,

00:44:14I have taken 15 minutes of my pay-per-view.

00:44:16If you want to come on my show,

00:44:18we can have a fight.

00:44:19Now of course,

00:44:20this was just done to get attention,

00:44:21but Bischoff did walk into the ring,

00:44:23and of course,

00:44:23McMahon never showed up.

00:44:24Much to the shagrin of Hulk Hogan,

00:44:26he had told Eric,

00:44:27dude,

00:44:27he's probably going to arrive.

00:44:28It just meant that once WCW was dead

00:44:30and owned by the World Wrestling Federation,

00:44:32nobody ever thought we were going to see Eric Bischoff on a raw stage,

00:44:36and even the NW and Goldberg coming in felt like eventualities.

00:44:39So on July 15th,

00:44:402002,

00:44:41just over 15 months removed from when World Championship Wrestling did close its doors,

00:44:45seeing Eric walk out and hug Vince McMahon as he became the new general manager,

00:44:48well even now,

00:44:49in 2026,

00:44:50I'm not entirely sure I can believe it.

00:44:52All you've got to do is go and research interviews from the time,

00:44:55and these two guys were always at each other's throats,

00:44:57but it comes down to what a lot of people have said about Vince McMahon.

00:45:00If he thinks it's good for business,

00:45:01well he's going to go out there and get it done.

00:45:03It's not like it didn't cause commotion in the back either,

00:45:05because wrestlers like Ric Flair were livid this had gone down.

00:45:07And let's not forget that Eric Bischoff lasted in the WWE for years.

00:45:11To truly understand this,

00:45:12you probably do need to go back to 1998,

00:45:15but in terms of a moment,

00:45:16oh my gosh,

00:45:17it was crazy.

00:45:18Nobody thought this was going to happen,

00:45:20and even today,

00:45:21it kind of feels a bit like a fever dream.

00:45:23Number 12,

00:45:23Paul Bearer reveals the secret July 7th,

00:45:251997.

00:45:26So at SummerSlam 1996,

00:45:28Paul Bearer turned heel on The Undertaker to join forces with Mankind.

00:45:32Tell you my friends at the time,

00:45:33that was unthinkable.

00:45:34The Undertaker Mankind Program 2 was absolutely excellent,

00:45:37because it was exactly what the dead man needed.

00:45:39While he was walking around as an undead zombie,

00:45:41and that did work,

00:45:42we have to humanise him somehow,

00:45:44and that's exactly what we did here.

00:45:45It all tied into the story as well,

00:45:47because Bearer saw that as weak,

00:45:48which is why he did go and betray him,

00:45:50however,

00:45:50he didn't see it as him turning,

00:45:52he felt like The Undertaker had already gone off in the wrong direction.

00:45:55And that is because he had travelled back into The Undertaker's past,

00:45:58to find out a deep dark secret,

00:45:59that the real life Mark Calloway wanted to stay hidden.

00:46:02It's actually how The Undertaker and Paul Bearer rekindled their relationship,

00:46:05because Paul did use this as a blackmail tactic,

00:46:08but when he felt like he ran out of rope,

00:46:10well you get to this episode of Raw,

00:46:11and that mother flubber was going to spill off.

00:46:13It meant that soon we would learn,

00:46:14that the phenom may or may have not set fire to his family's funeral parlour,

00:46:18killing his mother, killing his father, and killing his brother.

00:46:21But that's where you're wrong, Mr. Undertaker,

00:46:23because Kane, he is still alive.

00:46:25The Undertaker's face when you finally saw him as well was one of utter shock,

00:46:29and this goes back to what we just talked about.

00:46:31No longer was he some kind of magical man.

00:46:33He had a story, he had a history, he had a past,

00:46:35and a lot of it sounded completely disturbing.

00:46:37Paul Bearer's performance here is absolutely awesome too,

00:46:39and given the story it was about to launch,

00:46:41well it really is absolutely terrific.

00:46:43I've told you this before, but I'll tell you again.

00:46:45This was in an era when in the UK, if you wanted to watch the WWF,

00:46:48you had to use Sky, and in order to get Sky,

00:46:50you had to have a card that was still in date.

00:46:52Well my nan had Sky, but the card was out of date,

00:46:55but if you stuck it in, you still got the sound.

00:46:57So how did I watch Raw?

00:46:58Just by listening to the words,

00:46:59and even when Paul Bearer was telling the story,

00:47:01oh my gosh, I couldn't believe it.

00:47:03Jump forward a few months, we do get Kane.

00:47:05This is all time.

00:47:06Number 11, Austin Stunswick Man, September 22nd, 1997.

00:47:09The Stone Cold Steve Austin in 1997 just went out there

00:47:12and made the best of a very bad situation.

00:47:14We all know that he got dropped on his head at SummerSlam that year

00:47:16by Owen Hart and broke his neck when he had to go away for a while.

00:47:20The issue there is that the WWF still wanted him on TV,

00:47:23because they could tell that Steve Austin was about to become their cash cow.

00:47:26So that pay-per-view went down in August,

00:47:28and even by late September we were reaching breaking point,

00:47:30because Steve was so damn mad that he had been injured,

00:47:33he broke a restraining order to try and kill one Owen Hart.

00:47:36On the weeks leading up to this too,

00:47:37Austin had also dropped Jim Ross,

00:47:39Sergeant Slaughter,

00:47:39and Jerry Lawler on their necks in differing capacities,

00:47:42but nobody actually believed he would do it to Vince McMahon,

00:47:45because even though it wasn't said out loud,

00:47:46everybody secretly knew that Vince McMahon was the boss.

00:47:49This is why he would leave the commentary desk to tell Steve he must calm down,

00:47:52because this was too much,

00:47:54and if we just work together,

00:47:55we can find out a plan,

00:47:56we'll get you back in the ring,

00:47:57and I promise we will do right by you.

00:47:59Well, he shouldn't have said that to the rattlesnake,

00:48:01because in Madison Square Garden,

00:48:02he did stun Vince McMahon.

00:48:04If you want to talk about when all of a sudden the WWF ratings

00:48:07are going to start matching WCWs,

00:48:09well, you could probably start on this night.

00:48:10It was just sowing the seeds,

00:48:11so one of the biggest rivalries we were ever going to see,

00:48:14and if you want to say that in 1997,

00:48:16the WWF still had a problem with no Hulk Hogan,

00:48:18well, you can forget about it from here,

00:48:20that Steve Austin was about to become the guy.

00:48:22It was also awesome as well,

00:48:23because he did feel like his own individual,

00:48:25nothing like Hulkamania,

00:48:26and from here for the next five years,

00:48:28it was just up and up and up.

00:48:29Go and watch the fans react to this too,

00:48:31they totally love it.

00:48:32The hero had arrived.

00:48:34Number 10,

00:48:34Roman Reigns is in remission,

00:48:35February 25th, 2019.

00:48:37So given that WWE in 2019 is one of the worst years ever,

00:48:41it does mean this piece of news goes under the radar,

00:48:44and it shouldn't,

00:48:45because screw storylines and screw promos.

00:48:46When somebody comes out and tells a tale like this,

00:48:49we all should sit up and listen.

00:48:50Now it all started six months before this,

00:48:52when Roman did walk to the ring and told us

00:48:53that he had been dealing with leukemia for most of his life,

00:48:56and that's why he had to walk away from a WWE ring.

00:48:59It was kind of crazy to hear,

00:49:00because this came in the middle of the big dog experiment

00:49:02that was not working,

00:49:03and all of a sudden we weren't looking at Roman Reigns,

00:49:05we were looking at Joe Anawaii,

00:49:07a human being that was dealing with some serious problems.

00:49:09It did mean, however,

00:49:10when he returned six months later

00:49:11to share the incredible news

00:49:13that he was in remission, Yael,

00:49:14to use his own words,

00:49:15well, it was just one of those moments

00:49:17that is going to smack you right in the heart,

00:49:18and dare I say it,

00:49:19the tum-tum.

00:49:20It should have been a reality check too,

00:49:21to tell you it doesn't actually matter

00:49:23what's going on in Bizarro Land,

00:49:24focus on the human beings,

00:49:26and yes, very sadly,

00:49:27by the end of the year,

00:49:28Roman Reigns is getting booed again.

00:49:29We do not need to worry about that though,

00:49:30because it does not matter,

00:49:32that's just wrestling silliness,

00:49:33but seeing somebody reach this kind of a level,

00:49:35actually getting to tell you

00:49:36that he is coming out the other side of leukemia,

00:49:38well, how the flub can you not put it in the top 10?

00:49:41You could even have it as number one.

00:49:43I think sometimes we have to remember

00:49:44that could be why Roman Reigns

00:49:45takes these breaks all the time,

00:49:47and has a part-time schedule,

00:49:48I mean, whatever the flub he's got to do.

00:49:49Number nine,

00:49:50smashing the TV screens,

00:49:51from June 9th, 2008,

00:49:53and February 13th, 2017.

00:49:55So we have snuck in a sly double-header here,

00:49:57but they are worthy of June inclusion,

00:49:58because of how one fed into another,

00:50:00and how both were born of a segment

00:50:02that would come to epitomise

00:50:03the enhanced violence of the flagship.

00:50:05Because when Shawn Michaels threw Marty Jannetty

00:50:07through the barbershop window

00:50:08to influence me break up the rockers,

00:50:09he set the standard

00:50:10for how you should split up friends.

00:50:12It's why when Chris Jericho,

00:50:14a decade and a half later,

00:50:15wanted to start a feud with Shawn Michaels,

00:50:16what did he do?

00:50:17He grabbed this guy,

00:50:18and he threw him into the Jerrytron,

00:50:20which was essentially a television screen.

00:50:21He knew what he was doing,

00:50:23he was trying to evoke your emotions.

00:50:25It also kick-started

00:50:26WWE's best storyline of that year in 2008.

00:50:29But as all things go in the world of wrestling,

00:50:31Y2J should have realised down the line,

00:50:33he was probably going to get smacked with some karma.

00:50:35Because almost after another 10 years after that,

00:50:37when he was trying to be friends with Kevin Owens,

00:50:39well, that went terribly wrong

00:50:40at the end of the Festival of Friendship,

00:50:41because what did KO do to Jericho?

00:50:43He grabbed him,

00:50:44and he threw him into a television set.

00:50:46This also came at a time when the rest of the creative was not very good,

00:50:49so having this kind of synergy between three major moments,

00:50:52well, it just made you feel proud of being a fan,

00:50:54or maybe a little bit like being a nerd,

00:50:56but at least you knew.

00:50:57What was even more great about this segment

00:50:58is that you knew that Kevin Owens was about to turn,

00:51:01so you were just waiting for it,

00:51:02so it's like watching an action movie

00:51:03and what's going to happen at the end of the fight scene.

00:51:05And to think that you can actually trilogy these,

00:51:08well, that's why it got on the list.

00:51:09Number 8,

00:51:10The Rock Bloody's Cody Rhodes in the Rain,

00:51:12March 25th, 2024.

00:51:13So this is one of the reasons you want to focus on the modern day,

00:51:16because I think if you did start watching wrestling at the start of 2024,

00:51:19you'd put this at number 1,

00:51:21because good grief, it was brilliant.

00:51:22It also ties into such a crazy story behind the scenes,

00:51:25where we were going to get Roman Reigns vs The Rock at WrestleMania 40,

00:51:28and Cody Rhodes won the Rumble,

00:51:29and then people lost their minds on social media.

00:51:31And as the news got back to Dwayne Johnson,

00:51:33he decided,

00:51:34well, you know what,

00:51:34I will go back to being that heeled character.

00:51:36I make myself the final boss,

00:51:37and it could be one of the very best decisions of his wrestling career.

00:51:40I mean, he could not have played the character better,

00:51:42and some of the promos he cut from his gym were absolutely hilarious.

00:51:45And given that Cody and The Rock were now set to clash as part of Night 1's main event,

00:51:49things had to come to a head between them on Raw.

00:51:51If you believe it,

00:51:52it also went down on Chicago,

00:51:53when The Rock hadn't even been announced for the show.

00:51:55It led to them having a fight outside the arena,

00:51:57when good grief,

00:51:58Rocky beat Cody Bloody in the car park,

00:52:00in the rain,

00:52:01and swearing up a storm as he went.

00:52:03All of this spoke to a megastar in total control of his own destiny,

00:52:06which itself became perfect fodder for the build in the post-kayfabe world.

00:52:10I mean, he did work on the board,

00:52:11and he was going to use that to his advantage too.

00:52:13You can actually extend this as well,

00:52:15because even when Raw stopped filming,

00:52:16the cameras caught The Rock continually just beating the crap out of Cody Rhodes,

00:52:20and it is one of the best heel beatdowns you'll ever see in your entire life.

00:52:23I mean, he even talked about Mama Rhodes,

00:52:25and he even used a welt belt.

00:52:26The whole thing was just perfectly pitched,

00:52:27and the atmosphere was amazing,

00:52:29and by the end of this,

00:52:30The Rock was covered in Cody's blood,

00:52:32and every single fan was like,

00:52:33oh my gosh,

00:52:34I can't wait for them to clash at WrestleMania.

00:52:36Don't forget,

00:52:37they were meant to fight at WrestleMania 41 too.

00:52:38Different story for a different day.

00:52:40Number seven,

00:52:41Mankind wins the title January 4th, 1999.

00:52:44So one day,

00:52:44if you want to sit down and make a compilation of the biggest pops in WWE history,

00:52:48you'll have to go to what happened on the evening of January 4th, 1999,

00:52:52and when Stone Cold Steve Austin entered to help Mick Foley,

00:52:55because oh my gosh,

00:52:56that reaction is deafening.

00:52:58It's also just wonderful all around,

00:52:59because at one point,

00:53:00Foley couldn't even get hired by the World Wrestling Federation,

00:53:03with Vince McMahon telling Jim Ross,

00:53:04listen,

00:53:05I will bring him in,

00:53:06but when it all goes wrong,

00:53:07do you know whose head's going to roll?

00:53:08It's going to be yours.

00:53:09Turned out JR was right.

00:53:10Everything else is just so damn good as well,

00:53:12because you have the corporation,

00:53:13you have D-Generation X,

00:53:14as The Rock and Mankind do go at it,

00:53:16and given that we do have total chaos,

00:53:18the Rattleslake decides he's going to inject himself into it,

00:53:21and again,

00:53:21no hyperbole,

00:53:22it may be the loudest recorded reaction ever.

00:53:25It is just the bionic redneck at the peak of his powers,

00:53:27and people are so desperate to see him fight The Rock,

00:53:29and when they realise it may actually be leading to Mankind winning the championship,

00:53:33will they get even louder still?

00:53:35Go watch this footage,

00:53:36look at the crowd,

00:53:37somebody falls over.

00:53:38It even ties into a bigger Monday Night War story,

00:53:40because this was pre-recorded,

00:53:42so what did they do over on WCW?

00:53:43Eric Bischoff told WCW commentator Tony Schiavone to make the quip,

00:53:47well,

00:53:48Mankind's winning the title,

00:53:49I'm sure that will put butts in seats.

00:53:51Well,

00:53:51it did,

00:53:52because this arena was sold out,

00:53:53and as soon as he had said those words,

00:53:55hundreds of thousands of people tuned in to Raw.

00:53:57So as awesome as everyone played their role,

00:53:59and as great as that Steve Austin Popp was,

00:54:00the moment side of this was an all-time performer getting his due,

00:54:04and that person's name was Michael Foley.

00:54:06Number 6,

00:54:07Jericho arrives August 9th,

00:54:081999.

00:54:09So is this one of the best debuts of all time?

00:54:12Yes,

00:54:12it absolutely is,

00:54:13and the reason I know it,

00:54:14is that even today in 2026,

00:54:16I often dive it into YouTube,

00:54:18and I watch it again.

00:54:19Now it does all go crazy after this,

00:54:21because due to WCW,

00:54:22WWF politics,

00:54:23Chris Jericho basically had to start again,

00:54:25but he did arrive in the summer of 1999.

00:54:28Everybody knew he was a big name in World Championship Wrestling,

00:54:31so the fact he had jumped ship,

00:54:33well,

00:54:33I tell you,

00:54:34this was a flubbing big deal.

00:54:35We'd also been teasing somebody arriving for ages with a countdown to the Millennium Clock,

00:54:39and once again,

00:54:39I have a personal story for you.

00:54:41It was only on this episode of Raw,

00:54:42and I went,

00:54:43wait a minute,

00:54:44that clock isn't counting down to the year 2000,

00:54:46oh my gosh,

00:54:47it's counting down to tonight.

00:54:48Now clearly this was the industry's worst kept secret,

00:54:50because today when you watch it,

00:54:52you can see signs in the crowd that say Jericho,

00:54:53and when his name appears on the screen,

00:54:56well,

00:54:56everybody loses their mind.

00:54:57We weren't going big as well,

00:54:58as Christopher interrupted the Rock of all people,

00:55:00which made it sound like he was going to be at the main event level,

00:55:03but what happened after this really doesn't matter.

00:55:05It kind of set up shop for what was going to happen over the next three to four years,

00:55:08and look what Jericho went on to do after this,

00:55:11he became one of the best of all time.

00:55:12If you are going to talk about people arriving in a brand new company though,

00:55:15and wanting to get a certain reaction,

00:55:17surely this is what you have to go to,

00:55:19is what you do desire.

00:55:20It could have gone bad,

00:55:21and people could have booed him because he works for the other company,

00:55:23but it didn't.

00:55:24People were just so happy to see him,

00:55:26and Chris Jericho just embraced all of this.

00:55:29It really is one of those moments you have to see for yourself.

00:55:31Number five,

00:55:32Becky Lynch bleeds,

00:55:33November 12th, 2018.

00:55:35So sometimes the WWE booking was so bad in the 2010s,

00:55:38a lot of success stories came from happy accidents rather than planned pushes.

00:55:41That was never more apparent than when Becky Lynch became the man,

00:55:44after Nia Jax accidentally smacked her right in the face.

00:55:47You can go back and watch all the TV before this,

00:55:49Vince McMahon was desperate for Becky Lynch to be a heel,

00:55:51and every single fan bar none went,

00:55:53no,

00:55:53we agree with what Becky is saying,

00:55:55she never gets her opportunity,

00:55:57so given that we have arrived here,

00:55:58we really would like to see what she could do.

00:56:00It also was leading to Survivor Series 2018,

00:56:02when the WWE was still doing SmackDown vs Raw,

00:56:05so when Team SmackDown decided to invade Monday nights,

00:56:08that's where you got all of this palama.

00:56:10Because when she watched trading shots with Nia Jax,

00:56:12Nia did catch her in the face and broke her nose,

00:56:14and at the time,

00:56:14this felt like the worst thing ever.

00:56:16It meant that Becky was going to have to miss her singles match with Ronda Rousey,

00:56:19which actually never materialised,

00:56:21but somehow within this moment,

00:56:22we did create the man,

00:56:24one of the most popular characters of the last decade.

00:56:26It just kind of goes to show that wrestlers do need luck and timing as much as they need talent.

00:56:30Because go and watch us in November,

00:56:32and then check out the road to the Royal Rumble,

00:56:34everybody is so behind Lynch,

00:56:36and you could already tell she had to win the title at WrestleMania 35,

00:56:39that's how big her stock came.

00:56:40You can't get into any of that though,

00:56:42if you do not watch the moment where it was born,

00:56:44that is the November 12th, 2018 episode of Raw.

00:56:46I mean, at the time,

00:56:47Becky Lynch is cool,

00:56:48because she's got a bunch of blood rolling down her face,

00:56:50but nobody knew where it was going to go.

00:56:52As it turns out,

00:56:53if you want to talk about the most popular female superstars in WWE history,

00:56:57well, Becky is probably number one.

00:56:59Number four,

00:56:59The Pipe Bomb,

00:57:00June 27th, 2011.

00:57:02So I'm not entirely sure what else we can say about this,

00:57:04given that everything has been said,

00:57:05but if you were alive for this moment,

00:57:07and you saw it firsthand,

00:57:08you knew how game-changing it was.

00:57:10CM Punk had already gathered momentum by June 2011,

00:57:13because everybody had bought into this story,

00:57:14that he was going to leave the company when his contract ended,

00:57:17and just to add some salt in the wound,

00:57:19he was going to take on John Cena at Money in the Bank,

00:57:21he was going to become the WWE Champion,

00:57:23and then we would never see him again,

00:57:25so what the flub is the company going to do then?

00:57:27Now obviously this had been agreed beforehand,

00:57:29Vince McMahon said that CM Punk could go on TV to air his grievances,

00:57:32but even then,

00:57:33I don't think in a million different realities,

00:57:35we thought he was going to do this.

00:57:37Because not only did he talk about other promotions like New Japan and Ring of Honor,

00:57:40but he brought in Colt Cabana,

00:57:41he talked about how crappy the WWE was,

00:57:43he said that Triple H couldn't book this company to save his life,

00:57:46and do you know who else can't?

00:57:47His stupid wife.

00:57:48It really did feel like a Reddit thread come to life,

00:57:50and because CM Punk is one of the best talkers in the game,

00:57:52everybody stood still for a moment and thought to themselves,

00:57:55is he doing this off his own back,

00:57:57and is he going to get fired?

00:57:58When his microphone was cut,

00:58:00which kind of gave the game away,

00:58:01but good grief did this get everybody interested,

00:58:03is one of the best things WWE had done in years.

00:58:06I mean, if nothing else,

00:58:07it was a powerful monologue that was utterly gripping,

00:58:09and it made CM Punk feel real.

00:58:11So when he did walk into Money in the Bank,

00:58:13that just so happened to be located in Chicago,

00:58:15this was ride or die, man,

00:58:16and fans were ready to fall over for him.

00:58:18It also eventually changed the perception of Punk,

00:58:20which he absolutely needed,

00:58:21and while during his round one in the WWE,

00:58:24his lofty ambitions weren't met,

00:58:25it does actually also tie in to everything he did in round two.

00:58:29I mean, if you want to talk about the best promos of all time,

00:58:31you have to include the pipe bomb,

00:58:32so how the flub would it not be in this list?

00:58:35Number three, Mike Tyson and Steve Austin from January 19th, 1998.

00:58:38So I was basically a fetus in 1998,

00:58:40and yet I still remember where I was,

00:58:42what I saw, and how this made me feel.

00:58:44It was one of the coolest things that ever happened to me in my stupid child brain.

00:58:47Even Eric Bischoff has gone on record,

00:58:49and said that when he tuned in to the January 19th, 1998 Raw,

00:58:52and saw that Mike Tyson was going to get into it in Steve Austin,

00:58:55well, he almost conceded a little bit,

00:58:56but that's some good television, man,

00:58:58and how the hell are we going to top it?

00:59:00Tyson himself also was a massive star at this point,

00:59:02because not only had he been a massive boxer,

00:59:04but he'd also got embroiled in controversy.

00:59:06So even if you weren't into sports,

00:59:08the fact that I and Mike was going to be on a wrestling show,

00:59:10well, maybe we should grab the remote and tune in.

00:59:12We didn't get anywhere in terms of speeches,

00:59:14because Stone Cold Steve Austin does interrupt instantly,

00:59:16and honestly, you just had to be there to understand.

00:59:19The fact he told Tyson that his beady eyes were now locked in the eyes

00:59:22of the world's toughest son of the bitch,

00:59:24and basically stood up to Mike Tyson,

00:59:25well, this was crazy, Steve, he's a former world heavyweight champion,

00:59:28what are you doing?

00:59:29It's already worked, too, because millions of people watched this

00:59:31to see what the Rattlesnake was going to do,

00:59:33and listen, I don't want to be that guy,

00:59:35I don't want to sound like a nerd,

00:59:36but it kind of felt real.

00:59:37It got even better, too, because before this,

00:59:39Vince McMahon said he had a giant announcement,

00:59:40which he wasn't able to get out there,

00:59:42because it got wrecked by Steve Austin,

00:59:44and, of course, all of this was going to flow into WrestleMania 14,

00:59:47and basically making the WWF

00:59:49the biggest wrestling company in the world.

00:59:51What we do have to remember is that this does not work

00:59:53without Steve Austin, who just marched in there with no fear,

00:59:56even though he was looking at Mike Tyson, of all people,

00:59:59and if you want to talk about celebrity involvements,

01:00:01well, is this one the best?

01:00:03In terms of what happened afterwards,

01:00:04well, it likely was.

01:00:05Number two, Bret Hart snaps, March 17th, 1997.

01:00:08So, to truly understand this one,

01:00:10you have to get where the WWF was in 1997.

01:00:12It was basically a kid's TV show.

01:00:15Therefore, when Bret Hart lost his mind

01:00:16after he had been screwed over by The Undertaker

01:00:19in his steel cage match for the WWF title against Sid,

01:00:22well, it was absolutely mind-boggling.

01:00:23Not only did he push Vince McMahon on his ass,

01:00:26who was just meant to be a commentator,

01:00:27but he also dropped an S-bomb,

01:00:29and the whole world went silent.

01:00:30That did not happen on Monday Night Raw,

01:00:32and it definitely did not come out of the mouth of one Bret Hart.

01:00:35He also had Steve Austin sniffing around this,

01:00:37because, of course, we were only a few weeks away from WrestleMania,

01:00:39and this really was the first time

01:00:41everybody started to realise that Vince was in control,

01:00:43because yet Bret Hart went all shooting, to be honest,

01:00:45and he basically told us.

01:00:46This is why it's absolutely crazy as well

01:00:48when people say that Hitman couldn't cut a promo,

01:00:50because he is so damn real here,

01:00:52and it actually feels like he's got a problem with the company,

01:00:55and let's face it, jump forward to the end of 1997,

01:00:57he probably did.

01:00:58You just see all of his frustrations fly out of his body,

01:01:01so it's totally believable that he does feel this way.

01:01:03Once again, we were on the road to WrestleMania,

01:01:06and I can't push this enough,

01:01:07but WrestleMania 13 needed something like this,

01:01:09and surprise, surprise, it came from Bret.

01:01:11It was also the last step he was going to take

01:01:13before he became the year's best heel.

01:01:15Oh yeah, if you want to talk about some of Bret's best work,

01:01:17you go to March 17th, 1997.

01:01:20This was absolutely your time.

01:01:21Number 1, Steve Austin's Rage, April 21st, 1997.

01:01:25So Bret Hart deserves more credit than most

01:01:26for handing over his body, mind, and soul for the greater good,

01:01:29because he saw that Stone Cold Steve Austin

01:01:31was going to be the next big star,

01:01:32and he was going to make it happen.

01:01:33It really was the run that would ultimately save

01:01:35the entire company that was already struggling in 1997,

01:01:38but that's why we needed to do this with Steve Austin on April 21st.

01:01:42We had to tell the audience what direction we were going.

01:01:44Now, we'd already had the double turn at WrestleMania 13

01:01:46with Bret Hart becoming a heel and Steve Austin becoming a face,

01:01:49but if you do not get the follow-up right,

01:01:51well, it all would have been for naught.

01:01:52Of course, the hitman was desperate for events,

01:01:54so he continued to call Austin out on Raw,

01:01:56and the only real shame here is just as we are about to get to it,

01:01:59Bret Hart suffered a very real knee injury,

01:02:01so any part three we were going to do,

01:02:03well, that was now out the window.

01:02:04However, because everybody was creatively energised

01:02:07in the middle of 1997,

01:02:09the company sat down and actually produced

01:02:11perhaps their best ever solution to a problem.

01:02:13We're going to take this Raw and basically make it

01:02:15an episode-long profile on Austin's obsession

01:02:17with ending Bret's career.

01:02:19Therefore, he would try and relentlessly attack

01:02:21Bret Hart throughout the entirety of Raw,

01:02:23and when he finally got him with a chair

01:02:25and totally destroyed his knee,

01:02:26well, people couldn't believe it.

01:02:28You don't see chair shots on Monday Night Raw.

01:02:30What the flub is happening?

01:02:31Austin also plays his role perfectly

01:02:33because he comes across like a man possessed,

01:02:35and the way the hitman sold this too,

01:02:37I mean, they all deserve Oscars,

01:02:38which makes no sense, but give them the trophy anyway.

01:02:40The true joy of this and a window into the Adjudeo

01:02:43that was soon going to follow

01:02:44is what happened when Bret Hart was put into the ambulance,

01:02:47because we then cut to the driver's seat,

01:02:48and very sadly for Bret,

01:02:50there is no doctor or nurse or paramedic sitting there.

01:02:52Instead, Steve Austin had taken over

01:02:54the local medical facility wagon.

01:02:56He gets into the back of the truck,

01:02:57and he beats him up again.

01:02:58It's even better as well,

01:02:59because Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith,

01:03:01and later Brian Pillman all tried to stop him,

01:03:03but he just doesn't care.

01:03:04So if you are looking for a moment

01:03:05that is vital on Austin's path to superstardom,

01:03:08you gotta watch this.

01:03:09He's basically being a heel,

01:03:10but the fans don't care,

01:03:12and he finally has accepted that.

01:03:13That's how we talked about earlier.

01:03:15He took the pool,

01:03:15and he smacked it out of the park.

01:03:17This one is absolutely fantastic.

01:03:19Now, as always, my friends,

01:03:20there is going to be plenty of stuff

01:03:21we have forgotten about,

01:03:22so make sure you drop us a comment below

01:03:24before you like the video,

01:03:25share the video,

01:03:26and damn it, subscribe.

01:03:27You can also click the video on the screen

01:03:28to get even more information

01:03:29about the WWE in your life,

01:03:31but otherwise, my friends,

01:03:32I appreciate you joining me,

01:03:33and I will talk to you again

01:03:35very, very soon.

Greatest WWE Raw Moments Ever #FollowUs

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