10 Best WWE Raw Brand Pay-Per-Views Ever

2. Backlash 2004

randy orton cactus jack backlash 2004
WWE.com

Many would rank Backlash 2004 as the greatest RAW-exclusive pay-per-view in history, and a solid argument can be made for that point of view. The card was a lot of fun from top to bottom, featuring the rise of a new star (Shelton Benjamin), Canadian mixed-gender awesomeness (Jericho vs. Christian and Trish), and a whole lot more.

It was a two-match show though, if we are being honest. The first of those saw Randy Orton truly arrive as a major star, as he overcame Mick Foley in a violent No Holds Barred battle. 13 years later, this may well still be Orton’s best match of his career. Foley well and truly put Orton on the map here.

The main event was a replay of the WrestleMania headliner, as Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H fought over the World Heavyweight Championship. Benoit was the hometown hero here, and the crowd were absolutely rabid from start to finish. Was it as good as the WrestleMania XX main event? Not quite, but this shouldn’t be seen as a knock. Benoit prevailed, tapping HBK out to the Sharpshooter.

Wrestling fans all over the world owe it to themselves to watch those two matches.

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Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.