Greatest RAW Moments

15th
One cold night at New York City’s Grand Ballroom at Manhattan Center on Jan. 11, 1993, started it all for Monday Night Raw. It was a night that forever changed sports-entertainment.

Premiering on USA Network and originally hosted by Mr. McMahon, Randy “Macho Man” Savage and actor-comedian Rob Bartlett, Raw broke new ground as it aired live and was not taped with voiceover commentary like previous shows.

In the first episode’s one hour of action (not two with today’s shows), Superstars such as Yokozuna, Mr. Fuji, Koko B. Ware, Shawn Michaels, Max Moon, Razor Ramon and The Steiner Brothers provided our fans with non-stop action. The first Raw main event featured Undertaker overcoming the challenge of Damien Demento.

Of the Superstars who competed on the first Raw, only The Deadman and HBK remain on the WWE roster. They are cornerstones, anchors in the ever-changing world of WWE, just like Raw has become a mainstay on Monday nights. But greatness has to start somewhere, and that’s why the first episode is WWE.com’s No. 15 Greatest Raw moment.

14th
The Windy City held its collective breath for WWE.com’s No. 14 Greatest Moment in Raw History, when the “Countdown to the Millennium” clock ticked down to zero on Aug. 9, 1999.

Colored lights flooded the United Center, and then went dark. The Rock, who was in the ring at the time, was transfixed along with the rest of the arena, partly because he was annoyed that someone would dare interrupt his address to our fans.

An explosion of pyro revealed one name in 20-foot-high letters across the TitanTron that brought the arena to its feet.

Loyal fans knew of Chris Jericho from his exploits in WCW. The charismatic, world-renowned newcomer stood on stage, soaking in the roars of the Chi-Town crowd as an unimpressed Rock fumed.

“Welcome to Raw … is … Jericho,” the brash new Superstar boasted. “For those who don’t know me, I am Chris Jericho, your new hero, your party host, and most importantly, the most charismatic showman to ever enter your living rooms via a television screen.”

The cocky, yet confident Jericho vowed he would save WWE from the boring and mundane, touting himself as the “Y2J problem” – a play on the “Y2K” computer bug that struck fear in programmers as the year 2000 approached.

Raw’s millennium man would, in fact, change WWE, as Y2J would go on to become the first-ever Undisputed Champion in history when he defeated both The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in one night in December 2001.

But he set the tone for his WWE career in one of the greatest moments in Raw’s history.

Also see

 * Monday Night Raw