10 Best WWE Raw Brand PPVs Ever
Mid-2000s greatness from the red brand.
WWE Monday Night Raw is regarded as the wrestling empire's flagship show. Even when Raw and Smackdown were supposed to be equals in the first brand extension, marquee talents and major storylines seemed to tip the balance in Raw's direction. Over two years into the split, it was abundantly clear that Raw was the "A" show and SmackDown was the accepted "B" show.
During the stretch of split pay-per-views between the companies, Raw and SmackDown each hosted 19 events. In the case of Raw, things began rather slowly. Raw in 2003 was in a major funk, reeling from the losses of Stone Cold and The Rock, while carrying on with a main event loaded with Kliq relics and a misused Goldberg.
A period of reinvention in 2004, a time in which Raw seemingly had one or two awesome matches per week, boosted the pay-per-view quality considerably.
The Raw brand has produced some absolute clunkers in its time (Armageddon 2003, New Year's Revolution 2005), but offsetting them are some absolute gems, re-instilling a level of confidence in the brand to deliver on its designated Sundays.
It took a little time to find its bearings, but when Raw did, it proved capable of delivering on pay-per-view with just one half of the roster.
10. Taboo Tuesday 2005
To be fair, Taboo Tuesday 2005 wasn't exactly a masterpiece. It was a slightly above-average show with a riveting double main event and a decent opener, sandwiching a whole lotta nothing in the middle. Stone Cold taking a walk after being asked to do a job to Jonathan Coachman (yes, really) doesn't hold high hopes for a middling show.
But hey, it was actually a solid card on the whole. With Joey Styles making his full-time debut as Raw announcer, Triple H and Ric Flair warred with emotion inside of a steel cage, and John Cena held off Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels in a top notch triple threat match to retain the WWE Championship.
Also notable from the event was Christian making a non-contracted one-night appearance twelve days before making his TNA debut.