10 Great WWE Raw Matches That Came From Out Of Nowhere

Money left on the table or not? With all of their commercial break requirements fulfilled, WWE were allowed to air this main event without interruption, a welcome rarity in those days. The World's Most Dangerous Man challenged the baddest SOB on the planet for the WWF Championship.

Stone Cold was locked in a feud with Kane and The Undertaker at the time and Shamrock was on the back-burner, so this was just hurridly thrown together in an effort to pop a rating. Adding to that, the last two episodes of Raw had been shown on Saturdays, so perhaps WWE were panicking a little bit about viewers not tuning in.

Thos that did were treated to a breathless match between two tough dudes, a true 'slobberknocker' as JR would call it. After an initial slugfest and Ankle Lock tease, Austin took over and began working Shamrock over, slowing the match down with headlocks.

Considering Austin was the most over babyface on the planet in those days, it's interesting to see him resort to eyepokes and a mule kick when the UFC Hall of Famer begins to rally, but totally in keeping with his character. It sells Shamrock as a real threat to Austin's title.

Eventually, the tide began to turn after Shamrock sent the aggressive Texas Rattlesnake into the steel steps and it looked like he had it won with a Boston Crab but Austin made the ropes. A double knockdown was the signal for The Brothers of Destruction to make their presence felt and their interference caused the match to be thrown out.

A shame, as it was going so well beforehand. Still, despite the obvious finish this was a hell of a match and really showed how good a ring general Austin was and how quickly Shamrock had adapted to the world of pro-wrestling.