9 Ways WWE Raw Broke GOOD Ratings Records 20 Years Ago

6. Most-Viewed Post-WrestleMania Raw (EVER) - March 29th 1999

Raw beer bash
WWE

Unlike the equivalent go-home editions of Raw across 1999 and 2000, the fallout from 'The Ragin' Climax' remains the all-time record-holder for post-WrestleMania editions of the flagship.

The wheels of WWE were re-oiled and raring to go on a night that saw The Rock find new focus for his final month as a heel, Stone Cold Steve Austin begin a quest to reclaim his Smoking Skull belt, and Shane McMahon tacitly take control of The Corporation as father Vince expressed greater concern over the safety of daughter Stephanie.

As with almost every entry in this list, if a lot of it sounds like bullsh*t, it's because it was, but it was fertiliser with the aroma of a rosegarden in comparison to the stench watfting over from Nitro.

Posting an enormous (and now entirely unfathomable) 6.5, the show defeated 2000's edition by 0.1, but 2001's (the night after Steve Austin's jaw-dropping heel turn) by a bigger margin. The 5.7 figure earned for the Raw after arguably the greatest WrestleMania of all time was in keeping with sliding trends, but WWE was an even grander organisation by then - 1999's building blocks were crafting that very monolith.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett