WWE Raw Gallery: 25 Years Of Iconic Monday Nights

19. 1999 - Butts In Seats

The Rock CM Punk
WWE.com

Dateline: 4th January, 1999 (Taped 29th December 1998)

Dedicating his WWE Title win to his children in and out of character on a chilly December evening, Mick Foley didn't know just how historic his maiden championship victory would be when it aired nearly a week later.

Tony Schiavone's caustic spoiler echoed an Eric Bischoff trick from 1995 that worked just fine when his product had more to offer. By now though, the bloom was off the WCW rose. Informing fans of Mankind's ascent on the live edition of Nitro sent viewers flooding over to USA Network to see for themselves before turning back just in time to catch Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash make a mockery of their World Title with a poke to the chest.

In one night, the companies couldn't have been creatively or philosophically any further apart..

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