WWE: 10 Best Raw Matches Of All Time

10. WWF Title: The Rock vs Mankind (January 4th, 1999)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-N2MnuwlXw It was the night on which WCW commentator Tony Schiavone inadvertently handed his rival broadcast a monster quarter rating when he mocked the taped main event spoiler of Mankind winning the world title by sarcastically claiming that it would "really put a lot of butts in seats." For Schiavone, (operating under orders from Eric Bischoff) it was a gross misjudgement of how popular the underutilised Foley had been in WCW, how much of an adored figure he had become within the WWE faithful for going the extra mile with his characters and stunts inside the ring, and the intrigue surrounding a rare title win on live television, which happened to be far more exciting than the main event WCW were offering as competition. Indeed, no sooner had Schiavone spoken, that approximately 600,000 viewers of WCW programming promptly switched over to view Mankind take on The Rock in a tension fuelled match that saw members of DX and The Corporation in either man's corner and Vince and his son Shane watching from the aisle. Rock mercilessly tore into his opponent into the start with a succession of stomps, punches and power moves that culminated in an audacious Rock bottom on his opponent through the announce table. Inside the ring, Mankind recovered to surprise Rock with a swinging neckbreaker only to see his momentum halted as he was held on the ropes by the Boss Man for a distraction which enabled Rock to be handed the belt which he sent smashing into his opponent's head for a near fall. When Mankind then recovered to set up Rock for the Mandible Claw and Ken Shamrock once again interfered for the Corporation, the DX members decided enough was enough as an exciting brawl suddenly erupted on the outside between the two factions. Just to raise the stakes even more, Austin's music then hit as the Texas Rattlesnake returned to one of the greatest pops in Raw history, before proceeding to swing the steel chair in Rock's direction and securing Mankind's title win as he laid his arm over Rock's unconscious carcass. It was a perfectly booked match that led naturally to a mini-feud between Mankind and The Rock whilst reminding everyone of Austin's presence and maintaining the animosity between two feuding stables. Most importantly however, it was the night on which WWE began to make significant gains in the Monday Night Ratings War with fans preferring the balls out, youthful style of WWE to the repetitive, aging, horribly booked mess that WCW was rapidly becoming.