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Best raw opening and matches


Scott,
Long time fan of course. This might make for interesting blog fodder this weekend before the 1,000th show, some dude ranked the top raw openings of all time, he included way too many versions of the same song which makes it a long list but really cool to look back on:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1264513-wwe-monday-night-raw-ranking-the-shows-theme-songs-opening-montages
Also, off the top of your head and in the spirit of nostalgia...Would you attempt to do a TOP 5 Raw matches of all time?
Thanks for making my days at work go by quicker with your blog.

Off the top of my head?

1.  Bulldog v. Owen, March 97.
2.  Benoit/Jericho v. Austin/HHH, May 2001.
3.  HHH v. Shawn, December 2003
4.  Benoit v. Michaels, May (?) 2004.  The Phoenix match.
5.  The 10 man.  You know the one.  

Comments

  1. HBK/Austin v. Bulldog/Owen
    Perfect v. Flair

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  2. Oh yeah, HBK/Austin v. Bulldog/Owen.  You win the internet for that one, my bad.

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  3. Holy crap, that 10 man tag match. I've never heard a constant ROAR during a match until I saw that.

    That, and the return of Kane to destroy Tori...oh man, that was MONEY.

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  4.  As far as openings, I always liked the 1993 and 1994 ones the best.  Brings back good memories.

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  5. I would go:

    Jericho/Pegasus Kid vs Austin/HHH as number 1. Followed by the euro title final, Flair loser leaves town, Austin/HBK vs Owen/Dog, HHH vs HBK

    Then some personal favorites no order:

    Bret vs 123 Kid
    Evil doink vs Mr. Perfect
    Quebeckers vs Steiners, Quebec Rules
    Terry Funk vs Mic Foley
    Kurt Angle vs Pegasus Kid, cage match
    HBK vs Shelton, just for the super kick

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  6. Best Opening: Raw 1999, 2000 perfect music. 

    Best Match HBK vs Cena                 Honorable mention: Owen vs Bulldog, HHH/Austin vs Y2J/That other guy.

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  7. This is great because my fan knowledge has weird gaps all over the place so I'm just going to use everyone's picks as weekend viewing to get away from this shooting crap.

    I'm gonna sound like a dolt now but, uh, what 10 man tag am I supposed to search for?

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  8. Benoit/Saturn/Malenko/HHH/X-Pac vs. The Rock/Foley/Too Cool/Rikishi from Dallas the night The Radicalz turned on Foley.

    On a personal note: I was there, and it was awesome.

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  9. Some personal favourites:

    HBK v. Cena (the Raw from London)
    Bulldog v. Owen (European title)
    Jericho vs HHH (for the brief moment before they pulled a Dusty finish and it looked like he had won the title).

    Also the one where Foley won the championship (I've blanked about who he was wrestling). For the same reason as someone posted in the Candian Stampede thread about it being a time when watching wrestling was just fun.

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  10. Man, lucky lucky dude.

    That match kills it.

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  11. Foley won the title from The Rock.

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  12. A few that haven't been mentioned yet....

    * Austin vs. Angle in late 2000, a.k.a. the "holy crap, Austin can still have a technical match" match

    * Undertaker vs. Jeff Hardy ladder match for the WWE title in mid-2002

    * Cactus Jack vs. HHH, no holds barred from September 1997 in MSG

    * Cena vs. Mysterio last year, that was a great little match that made me wish they'd given it 10 more minutes and made it the Summerslam main event

    * RVD vs. Eddie, ladder match in 2002

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  13. Need to chuck HBK vs Shelton Benjamin out there as well.

    It's about as good a sub 15 minute match will ever get and has probably the most influential finish of the past ten years or so

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  14. defintiely HBK/Cena.

    HBK/Shelton was great as well.

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  15. oh yeah RVD/Eddy rocked it.

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  16. That Cena-Mysterio one really sticks out for me. Everyone talks about why the Summer of Punk wasn't what it could have been, and that match is the main sticking point for me.

    It's the whole reason I've never bought the whole "strike while the iron is hot" argument for bringing Punk back after just a week.

    Cena-Mysterio would have been a hot main event program. It was fresh. It was unique. And it totally could have carried the Summerslam main event.

    The threat of the real champion CM Punk lurking in the background the whole time, with all of us eagerly waiting for his reemergence, would have just been gravy on those mashed potatoes. 


    Instead, Cena-Mysterio was a goofy way to change the title twice in a two-hour span -- at a time when the Punk program was about to finally bring some prestige back to the belt. (Well, as much as Punk putting it in the refrigerator and Tweeting about it is bringing prestige to the belt.)

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  17. There was some really good stuff back in the Evolution/Benoit/HBK days, 8 man tags and such.. Too fucking drunk to look up specifics right now. Also echoing those who say Cena/HBK. Maybe Angle/Austin cage match. Also, HBK vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan's epic feud in 1993 for nostaglias sakes. 

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  18. HHH vs Shelton Benjamin. Awesome match and it made Benjamin look like a star. JR's commentary was great too. 

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  19. Jannetty-Michaels is being overlooked. When Jannetty jumped in the ring and pulled off his hood... Man, that was a Raw moment. And it led to an amazing match.

    A couple less heralded ones...

    HBK-Owen Hart. Not the one after Syracuse, but the match before the Royal Rumble 98 (I think that's the timeline). It was only like 5 minutes, but I remember it being 5 minutes of wrestling bliss that almost made me believe they'd change the title. 

    Should have been the RR main event, anyway. 

    And LOD-DX for the tag titles. This had to be in 97. LOD still had that aura of being the LOD at that point, for me at least, and HHH-HBK were just hitting their stride as obnoxiously awesome. Probably not a masterpiece, but one that I remember just for the generations colliding. 

    I think both those last 2 matches are on the original DX VHS release, much later re-released on DVD. I don't own it, so did that become one of those WWE DVDs selling for ridiculous money on ebay? 

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  20. That 10-Man tag match was something else.  That crowd wasn't just hot.  It was molten.

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  21. The flag match was especially great, because it followed HBK doing a backflip off the top turnbuckle with his lost-smile knee. 

    Talk about getting a rabid Canadian crowd even more fired up. 

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkbGIurjYJE
    (his flip is at 5:30, but the whole clip is pretty awesome)

    Easily my favorite time as a wrestling fan. 

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  22. I haven't watched it in years so I don't know how well it holds up but HHH vs. Taka for the title  was always a great match in my eyes and the only thing I remember from it is me and my friends all watching Raw thinking that Taka was actually going to win the World title because Taka hired the APA to guard against interference.

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  23. What we ended up with (austin becoming the man) was great.

    But a small part of me wished they could have done a mini HBK/Owen program prior to.

    Politics is a bitch cuz the money was in a "revenge for putting my family out of WWF" Owen Hart vs HBK for the winter, then after Austin gets the belt turn Owen into a "yeah i broke your neck, and ill do it again if we meet " Heel vs Austin for the summer.

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  24. or at least do Michaels vs. Hart as a real program, THAN transfer to Hart vs. Triple H for WrestleMania.

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  25. Never saw that match, so I just YouTubed it.  Glad I did!  It wasn't a technical masterpiece or anything, but you certainly don't get excitement like that on your average episode of RAW anymore...

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  26. btw: with most of the talk ususally focussing on Raw, what about Smackdown's greatest matches? there were tons of those, too - especially because there were large streches when Smackdown was more or less "the wrestling show".

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  27. Did anyone ever match the kayfabe destruction of Owen Hart, putting TWO top guys out of action for several months with his devastating arsenal?

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  28. Going really old school, Marty Janetty and 1-2-3 Kid winning the tag titles from The Quebeckers was easily the most shocking thing to ever happen on RAW up to that time, and really cemented the show as Must See TV.

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  29. That 10 man tag was great. The crowd came unglued when The Rock got the tag.

    Also that might be the biggest pop I've heard Kane(and Paul Bearer) get.

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  30. HBK vs Owen in Jan 98 and Feb 98 would have got all of my monies. "The Black Hart" was probably the greatest gimmick that only lasted 2 weeks. 

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  31. The Outlaws shaving LOD is one of my favorite angles. 

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  32. Agreed, I've always thought they should of just had Punk pull a Sting and every once in a while just show up in the stands with the belt mocking WWE(and to a lesser extent Cena). I'm not even a Cena fan and I would of been interested in Cena-Mysterio. 

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  33. I still have a soft spot for the Tag Team Titles Ladder Match from 02. If I'm not mistaken that was the same night the seeds were planted for Katie Vick. 

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  34. Perfect/Flair Loser Leaves Town
    Michaels/Janetty where Marty wins the title
    Bret vs. 123 Kid
    Cactus vs. HHH street fight
    HBK/Austin vs. Bulldog/Owen
    Foley's title win vs. Rock

    I'm blanking right now but there are millions more. 

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  35.  I agree in theory, but I can't really fault austin's "you broke my neck and now I don't really want to wrestle you" argument.  I can see that one being a hard thing to get over.

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  36.  I would say that The Lightning Kid pinning Razor Ramon was more shocking.

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  37. TLC 3
    Austin vs. Benoit
    Eddie vs. Edge, and Benoit vs. Angle vs. Rey (both matches from the SAME EPISODE)
    Benoit/Angle vs. Edge/Rey 2/3 falls
    Angle vs. Eddie vs. Benoit vs. Edge #1 contender elimination match
    Eddie vs. Cena parking lot brawl
    Angle vs. Lesnar iron man
    Eddie vs. Rey (2005)
    Jericho vs. Rey
    Rey vs. Morrison

    There's a few to start you off

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  38. Good to see the Phoenix match getting some love.. A pure classic..

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  39. One of my favourite matches. They just can't get a crowd for a match like that anymore on RAW.

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  40. I loved the Rock N' Sock Connection.

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  41. I know! It was the perfect gimmick/moment for Owen to make it to the next level.

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  42. Shelton did a springboard right into HBK's superkick. Freakin' awesome and you could hear the crowd gasp.

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  43. That would have been great. Cena usually takes on monsters and it would be interesting to see him maybe not take Rey so seriously, which would result in good matches.

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  44. I always liked that opening when the wrestlers like Ahmed, Bret, Austin, etc go into the warehouse and start fighting. 1996?

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  45.  Yes, they are constantly burning months of stories in 1-2 weeks and then they are wondering,why the ratings stagnate. Or take the walkout angle: They began the very innovative "4 man RAW" show and then they stopped the whole thing after 20 minutes.

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  46. It wasn't a "great" match, but one of my favorites was HHH/Bulldog from sept/oct 99 with Rock as the guest ref.

    Any match with a sliding People's Elbow is automatically on a 'Best of' list.

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  47. Or to be a tad more detailed, Shelton springboarded from the opposite side of the ring and flew 4/5 across the ring just to get jacked in the face with a superkick.  Why Shelton wants to play it safe with Haas in ROH is a bit of a mystery to me--the man should be headlining somewhere

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  48. I don't think anyone has mentioned Benoit/Angle in a cage from 2001 (the one with the moonsault). Wanted to throw that in the mix.

    Maybe it wasn't *that* great cause I can't remember all the participants or even what year it was, but there was an 8 (or 10) man tag a few years back (I'm thinking 07ish) which was really fun. The face side had Cena, HBK, Matt Hardy, and 1 or 2 more guys. The finish was everyone hitting their finishers on Big Show and a 5 man dogpile on top for the pin (always loved how Shawn jumped on at the end). Again, my memory is fuzzy, but I remember thinking that match was just great, lighthearted, FUN.

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  49. It's more of a collective "OHH!"

    Sidebar: The "OHH!!" cry (the one you heard at ECW events in response to a big spot) from fans is something Vince McMahon should be shooting for EVERY WEEK.

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  50. They're probably in ROH because they believe they'll be back in WWE someday. They jump to TNA and that window could be closed slightly.

    Even so, the way TNA is right now, with workrate being respected more, Haas and Benjamin would be a great fit. Shelton's always been one of my favourites as he's just a naturally awesome wrestler. Sure, he's got some charisma/promo deficiencies but those can always be covered up by a manager or something. Give him Paul Heyman!

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  51. You have it a little mixed up because Big Show was on HBK's team and provided the cover on the opponent and the foundation for the pyramid pin. 

    Cena, HBK, Hardy, Big Show vs Angle, Snitsky, Masters, and Edge.  It is a fun, entertaining match. Once again, Jabber2 deserves his own column or blog.

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  52. Yeah, just to recap, I'm advocating on behalf of a match for which I can't remember the year it happened, the people involved, or the finish. I'll show myself out.

    P.S. Looking at the wrestlers it must've been late 2005.

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  53. I loved hbk/austin vs owen/bulldog and the owen v bulldog match for the first euro title.

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  54. Look, I remember enjoying the match but forgetting Snitsky and Masters, too.  I actually had to look it up.  I still think you should come up with your column or blog.  I like reading your thoughtful, unique (not contrarian, but still willing to go against the grain) posts.  I'm being completely serious here as I've been advocating this for a good couple months.

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  55. ofc u cant blame austin, im just wishful thinking.

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  56. Other than, say, the top 5 wrestlers of all-time, Benjamin may be the most complete wrestler in the biz.  I believe he is basically a high flying Kurt Angle--which is just insane.  He has a slightly lower ring IQ than Kurt and that Momma angle did a lot of damage to his stage presence and confidence.  But yeah, throw Heyman or Vicki or Flair with him and he's good. 

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  57. I have a soft spot in my heart for the RAW match after Mania where Ricky Steamboat was part of a 10 man tag. The "You Still Got It" chants for a guy who really still had amazing skills was great.

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  58. I liked Brock vs. Benoit where Lesnar made Chris pass out in the Brock-Lock.

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  59. Ah, thanks. I was wondering what city that match was in.

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  60. More recently, Punk vs Bryan - champion vs champion - from January this year was great, as was the Cena/Punk Summerslam rematch from last summer. Both had run-ins, but I'm a big believer in not giving away clean finishes on TV. 

    Always love a big tag match, hoping we get some sort of 8 or 10-man spectacular on Monday. Fingers crossed. 

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  61. I'm pretty sure this was even released on one dvd, I think it was the one for Unforgiven 2005.

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  62. yeah, the sliding peoples elbow is so amazing!

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  63. Flair vs. Austin  - May 2002 - A forgotten classic and Austin's final Raw match.

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  64. Thanks for the compliment, it's nice to know there's somebody here who doesn't just label me as a contrarian.

    I had always wanted to write a column for 411 (it was the only wrestling site I went to before I discovered Scott's Blog), but I felt like my idea was too close to the "In Defense of..." series they were running at the time. It never really occured to me to submit something to Scott, but being able to email him topics for blog fodder and commenting through Disqus is enough of an outlet for me. But again, thanks.

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  65. I can see Scooter leaving Shelton/HBK off the list, but it's gotta be in the top 10.  Also throw in the HBK/Cena match in London.

    Jericho winning the title over HHH is in the argument for historical purposes only.  

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  66.  The face side was, IIRC, Cena, Jeff Hardy, Rey, Punk, and Steamboat. Can't remember shit about the heels but I do remember thinking that seemed like a hell of a babyface faction, at the time they were all just plucky do-gooders and making them a Fantastic Four style team (Steamboat excluded, although they always could have had him as the manager or whatever) could have been interesting. Not worth sacrificing everything Punk would do later, of course, but there was something there.

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  67. Ditto.  I could watch that RAW every day.

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  68. Best part of the finish is JR's call.  And also after having seen the finish on youtube a million times I can't help but notice the fans in the front row losing their minds.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_DnRxJmhik
    There's the finish if anyone wants to see it.

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  69. Might've been said already, but this discussion (as well as the clips we've seen on Raw) have reminded me of how much better the Raw openings were when WWE didn't rely on some mainstream artist to provide their theme music.  That 1997 Raw opening that everybody (including myself) loved sounded distinct, hardcore, and edgy.  Nickelback?  Not so much.

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  70. The momma angle just killed him. I don't think theres ever been a worse angle thrown on a better wrestler (even dog shit like undertaker dying at a rr made more sense). Really a shame. Shelton is beyond awesome.

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  71. Honestly I think they were worried a full fledged month long feud between rey (the ultimate underdog babyface) and cena would have turned cena heel with the kids. Rey might be the only guy cena could beat down that would make the kids cry.

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  72. Amazing to go through the comments & not see too many recent matches make the list. The only recent ones that I remember really like were Flair/Edge ladder match and the Cena/HBK near-broadway...but those matches were 5 and 6 years ago.

    Funny when Im thinking about great Raw matches and how many times Mick Foley pops into my head. The title win vs. Rock. The tag title win w/ Austin. Brawl vs. HBK in Aug. 97. Crazier brawl vs. Triple H at MSG Raw. Incredible match vs. Terry Funk in April or May 1998 to set up the Austin/Dude Love. The 10-man tag in Dallas. Ladder match for the title vs. Rocky in 1999. Losing the title vs. Triple H after SummerSlam 99.

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  73. It is sort of surprising The Rock has not had a marquee match on Raw in the 4 star range but I guess by the time he came on the scene Raw was way more about moments and interviews.

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  74. Stan Hansen used to break necks with the lariat back in the day, including Bruno and I believe student Larry Zbsyzko.  That's some pretty good street cred right there.  

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  75. Yeah, Spring/Summer of 2004 was great for "Raw" - Benoit-Shawn-Foley-Shelton vs. "Evolution" was a great match and a great feud.

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  76. Trips is great when he's playing the overconfident asshole to a mid- or low-carder - his matches with Taka, Jeff Hardy, Rikishi, and the Brooklyn Brawler were all great.

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  77. Awesome match!

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  78. Yup, Trips cut the first "Katie Vick" promo immediately after Kane won the match.

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  79. One of my favorite matches, with a personal story attached:

    The Razor/Kid rematch, where Razor offered Kid $10,000 just to get in the ring again. Everybody remembers the original, but I really loved that this particular match had a story [if Kid could repeat] and two competitors (instead of just one) to care about.

    Anyway, I was watching this particular episode of "Raw" with my grandfather, and while he wasn't a wrestling fan and had no idea what was going on, the recaps got him up to speed. So, the match comes, Kid hits the moonsault just like in their previous match, but Razor kicks out this time. What does Kid do? Runs out of the ring, grabs the big bag of money, and high-tails it out of the arena! My grandfather and I both laughed so incredibly hard at the way Kid played Razor for a fool, it was a great bit of storytelling, and it definitely had the desired effect on us.

    Just wanted to share a nice little wrestling-related memory.

    (Oh, and "Across the Nation" was the best "Raw" theme ever.)

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  80. My dad was always a very casual fan and this match was one of his favorites as well.

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  81. I'm going to have to change my shorts multiple times while watching all of these amazing matches/memories, IF YA KNOW WHAT I'M SAYIN' HAR HAR HAR.

    Sorry.

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  82. The classic "COMING OFF THE BENCH" match.

    I laughed every time that phrase was used. But yeah, that shit ruled.

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  83. That was Smackdown, no?

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