At the end of the night, as Stone Cold attacks Bret, the revitalized Hart Foundation hits the ring to pound away on Austin. Bret cooled their tensions and then made up with his brother Owen, citing their family values as being unbreakable. The hottest storyline of 1997 kicked off on this episode as Bret Hart stopped a fantastic rematch between Owen and Bulldog, claiming the American media has turned them against each other. Last but certainly not least, Ric Flair returned to WWE for the first time since 1993, revealing that he was now McMahonвЂ™s partner and WWE co-owner. Secondly, William Regal kept his job by becoming the first member of the Kiss My Ass Club. First off, Paul Heyman was fired and replaced by the returning Jerry Lawler. Twenty four hours after WWE vanquished The Alliance at Survivor Series, three major changes were made to the company. Also, the Legion of Doom made their surprise return to WWE, battling the Headbangers to a double countout before saving the Undertaker from a Nation of Domination beatdown. Elsewhere on the show, Ken Shamrock made his WWE debut, sitting in the crowd and being interviewed by Jerry Lawler, laying the groundwork for his special referee role at WrestleMania 13. It was surreal seeing The Eliminators, BWO, Dudley Boyz and Sandman all show up, let alone Sabu jumping off the giant Raw letters onto a sea of officials. Plus, Waylon Mercy.Д®CW invaded Raw four years before The Alliance storyline happened, as Vince McMahon welcomed Paul HeymanвЂ™s demimonde onto the USA Network to gain some mainstream exposure for their upcoming debut on pay-per-view. But letвЂ™s get to the sizzle and steak: HBK rocked Louisville with a fun, energetic win over Jimmy Del Ray, and the Hitman ended his feud with Hakushi in one of the greatest matches in Raw history. The giant RAW letters atop the entrance way debuted here, as did Dean Douglas. Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart bookend this show, so you know itвЂ™ll be good. The main event features Eddie Guerrero vs.

Of course, rather than work for Bischoff, Heyman quit. The most exciting picks were the returning Edge going to Raw, Triple H going to Smackdown (with a funny spit take) and Smackdown GM Heyman going to Raw. The suspense over which names will be called makes for a more entertaining episode than the original draft, where McMahon and Flair went from calculated picks to just babbling names before the show ended. Two years into the (first) brand extension, Raw holds a Draft Lottery to shake up the rosters. In the current three-hour era, this 45-minute broadcast (commercials cut on the Network) is a fun stroll down memory lane.

But the atmosphere felt fresh and intimate as Rob Bartlett delivered topical humor and Bobby Heenan took the slapstick route trying to get into the building. Well, not so much in the first episode, as Yokozuna, Undertaker and the Steiners all dominated their opponents in quick fashion. Uncut, uncooked and uncensored: Monday Night Raw changed WWE television by forgoing the traditional squash match-interview-squash match formula and presenting competitive, star-filled bouts with storylines weaved throughout the show. In honor of the anniversary of WWEвЂ™s flagship show, these are the 25 greatest Raw episodes.

Raw ecw invasion 1997