Looking Back At WWE's Ten Best Episodes of Raw Ever

Raw is Ratings (May 10, 1999)

There is no objective measure to this, but one Raw that should be rewatched by fans and students of professional wrestling alike is the Raw in Orlando in May of 1999. It is still the highest-rated RAW in WWE history, and it will almost certainly never be topped. Just because a lot of people were acting doesn't necessarily mean it was a good show. In fact, a lot of times, the show before determines the excitement for the next one. However, that was not the case here; the episode was peak attitude era, which is still fondly remembered as WWE's pinnacle for programming.

The main event of the show was packed with Attitude Era icons. Both McMahon's Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and The Rock were involved in a six-man tag that the crowd was enthralled by. These rivalries overlapping into a tag team match took what is a pretty common Raw main event trope and made it feel like a pay-off to a blood feud. That Austin managed to attack his teammate to win the match is also notable. The fight was chaotic, but the noise didn't stop. It was a little less than five minutes, but it was all gas from top start to finish.

Even the rest of the episode had a similar feel. Bradshaw and Farooq, tag team partners, were forced to fight in a hostile lumberjack match that saw them get creative with their enforcers. The illustrious Chyna and Ken Shamrock told a great story in just a few minutes, keeping both of their dangerous personas intact as well. Every match on the card was linked to animosity or ambition. Those were the emotions that pulsed through wrestling in the 1990s, and this show delivers it. Fans interested in seeing what Raw and wrestling were really like at that time couldn't find a better example.