Looking Back At WWE's Ten Best Episodes of Raw Ever
By Ryan Page
Putting Butts in the Seats (Jan 4, 1999)
People make mistakes; sometimes, they make huge ones. Very few of them are ever that consequential. There is some televised debate as to who killed WCW recently, and it is often said to be open to interpretation. However, the Raw on Jan 4, 1999, is what killed WCW, and a mistake made on Nitro opened the door and changed wrestling forever. For anyone unaware, on WCW Nitro, they would often ridicule Raw as it was being aired. This tactic was possible because the show was still pretaped. On this particular evening, they tried to ruin the main event. It was so compelling, though, that it basically amounted to free advertising on a hostile network.
Before the main event, Shawn Michaels and The McMahon family continued their feud around the Royal Rumble. In the ring, it was typical of the Attitude Era, with big names and hot crowds in quick matches. Kane beat up Pat Patterson and Gerald Briscoe, Test took on The Godfather to a double DQ finish, the hardcore title had a solid feature, and Triple H pinned Mankind to keep him out of the Royal Rumble. It wasn't all sad, though. Triple H gave Foley the boss's son, Shane McMahon, on a platter to leverage for a title match with The Rock that same night. In truth, WCW could have mocked almost anything on this show. Not a ton of it was going to "put butts in the seats," as Tony Schiavone scoffed. They didn't pick almost anything, though. WCW swung for the fences, talking down their opponent's main event.
Upon hearing the news that Mankind and The Rock were closing Raw, hundreds of thousands of WCW viewers turned it off and went to see that match. They were greeted with a No DQ match between two talents who now famously work well together. Mankind took an absolute beating, which is the norm. Then DX and The Corporation started to brawl with one another, setting the stage for Stone Cold Steve Austin to appear finally and even the odds with a steel chair to The Rock. A three count later, Mankind Mick Foley was the champion, just as WCW had promised. The crowd came unglued for Austin and didn't let up as Foley dedicated the win to his kids. It is an almost magical moment, even on a rewatch.