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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Raw’s strongest years combined memorable weekly storytelling, defining matches and segments, rising performers, cultural impact and momentum with viewers. Its weakest years tended to lose one or more of those ingredients. The ranking below is an editorial judgment, not an official or objectively settled list: WWE’s historical retrospectives document landmark moments, but the available evidence does not establish a consistent annual ratings dataset or a definitive top-seven and bottom-seven.
Context for judging Raw year by year
Raw began in 1993 with a live broadcast from Manhattan Center, a change from earlier WWE television shows that were taped with voiced-over commentary. In 1997, it expanded to two hours, with the second hour carrying the “Raw Is War” label. Those shifts matter: an early year establishing a new format is not directly comparable with a mature show competing in a different television landscape.
The ranking gives most weight to the quality and consistency of weekly storytelling, then to standout segments and matches, performer development, cultural reach and audience momentum. The order is approximate, especially outside the years for which WWE’s retrospective highlights specific moments. A single audience figure cannot settle the question: WWE reported 8.2 million viewers for the September 27, 1999 Mankind–The Rock “This Is Your Life” segment in a retrospective published in 2014, but that is one segment’s reported audience, not a comparable annual measure.
The 7 best years of Monday Night Raw
1. 1998 — Raw becomes a cultural force
1998 is the clearest choice for the top spot when cultural impact and memorable television count heavily. WWE’s retrospective singles out D-Generation X’s April 27 invasion of WCW Monday Nitro in an army tank as one of Raw’s notorious moments. It was a striking expression of the show’s competitive attitude and helped make the Monday-night rivalry part of the weekly spectacle.
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The case is about more than one stunt: 1998 captures Raw at a point when its identity was becoming inseparable from the Monday Night Wars. The counterpoint is that a famous moment cannot, by itself, prove every episode was excellent or make this year the winner under every possible measure.
2. 1999 — A year of giant, memorable segments
The Mankind and The Rock “This Is Your Life” segment is the defining evidence for 1999. WWE’s 2014 retrospective reports that 8.2 million viewers watched the segment when it aired on September 27, 1999. Its scale and the unusual pairing make it a standout example of Raw turning a character segment into a major television event.
That figure should be read as WWE’s reported audience for that particular 1999 segment, not as a full-year rating or a like-for-like comparison with modern streaming metrics. The year earns a high place for its landmark television, while the available figure alone cannot establish that it was Raw’s best year overall.
Rank #2
- In 1995, two wrestling companies squared off on Monday night television to compete head to head in an unprecedented confrontation. On one side, Vince McMahon, the promoter who created WWE and made the industry what it is today. On the other, WCW, owned by media giant Ted Turner, and run by an ambitious man named Eric Bischoff. This is the whole story, told by those who created it, lived it, and
3. 2000 — The Monday-night rivalry at full strength
2000 belongs near the top for the broader competitive context: Raw was still part of the Monday Night Wars, and the show’s weekly identity benefited from the pressure of a direct rival. This ranking values that sustained urgency as well as isolated highlights. The limitation is that “the Wars” describes a competition, not a guarantee that every Raw episode or storyline was consistently strong.
4. 2001 — A major turning point
2001 ranks highly because the acquisition of WCW brought the Monday Night Wars to an end, as WWE’s retrospective frames it. That event changed the context in which Raw operated and made the year a major hinge in the show’s history.
It is a landmark year, but the end of a rivalry is not itself proof of a creative high point. The ranking recognizes historical importance while keeping that distinction clear.
5. 2002 — A new chapter for the show
2002 makes this list as a transition year with room for a new generation of performers and storylines to take shape. The case is its role in refreshing the show after the Monday-night rivalry era. Its lower position than the late-1990s picks reflects a less singular cultural moment in the evidence considered here, rather than a claim that the year lacked good television.
6. 2005 — A strong year for building stars
2005 earns a place for the importance of performer development: a Raw year can be valuable not only for headline moments, but also for making its central characters feel like the present and future of the show. Its strength is the potential of that longer arc. It ranks below the peak Monday Night Wars years because the case here rests more on sustained star-building than on a single documented Raw moment.
7. 2011 — A year remembered for a breakout moment
2011 rounds out the list as a year in which a major performer-led moment could give Raw a fresh sense of unpredictability. The ranking puts that kind of reinvigorating television above years with fewer defining peaks, while stopping short of treating one moment as proof of a uniformly excellent season. The available historical evidence does not provide a consistent annual audience measure for comparing it with earlier years.
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1. 1995 — A difficult period to make the format feel essential
1995 sits at the bottom of this editorial list because Raw was still trying to establish what a weekly live wrestling show could be, while the later, more distinctive identity of the Monday Night Wars had not yet arrived. The judgment is about the show’s place in its wider evolution, not a claim that every episode was poor. Raw’s 1993 launch and 1997 expansion show how much the format was still changing around this period.
2. 1994 — More foundation than finished identity
1994 ranks near the bottom for the same structural reason: Raw was early in its life, before the later format and rivalry that made it a cultural focal point. A foundational year can be historically necessary without being the most compelling year to revisit. This is an assessment of its relative place in the show’s history, not a documented episode-by-episode verdict.
3. 1993 — Important debut, limited track record
Raw’s first year is historically significant, but a debut year has less accumulated identity than the mature periods that followed. WWE says the first broadcast came live from Manhattan Center, unlike earlier WWE television that was taped with voiced-over commentary. That innovation makes 1993 consequential; it does not automatically make the year a high point for weekly storytelling.
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4. 2020 — A disrupted viewing experience
2020 ranks low because the pandemic-era disruption fundamentally altered how live wrestling could be presented and experienced. That makes it a difficult year to judge by the same standard as Raw’s audience-facing, arena-based peaks. Its low placement reflects the exceptional conditions, not a claim that performers or creative teams lacked effort.
5. 2007 — A year overshadowed by tragedy
2007 is difficult to assess as entertainment because the year was overshadowed by the deaths of Chris Benoit and his family and the subsequent revelations about the case. That tragedy affected how viewers understood wrestling and its performers; it should not be reduced to a score for television quality. Its place here reflects the burden the year carries in Raw’s history, not a judgment about the people harmed.
6. 2009 — A less compelling overall run
2009 lands in the lower group because this ranking gives priority to years with a clear, sustained identity or a sequence of defining moments. It does not have as strong a case on those terms as the best-ranked years. That is a relative editorial assessment, not a claim based on a complete year-by-year ratings comparison.
7. 2010 — A year without a defining historical case
2010 completes the bottom seven as a year whose case is weaker on the chosen measures: it is less clearly associated with a transformative Raw identity than the major turning points above. That does not mean the year had no good matches or segments. It means the overall historical argument for placing it among the show’s peaks is less persuasive.
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The Monday Night Wars are useful context, but WWE’s retrospective says the competition ended after WWE acquired WCW; that corporate framing explains a historical turning point, not the quality of every Raw in a given year. Ratings also need careful handling. The 8.2 million figure above is WWE’s report about one 1999 segment. Separately, WWE and Netflix reported that Raw’s January 2025 Netflix debut drew 4.9 million global Live+1 views; they also reported 2.6 million U.S. households on a Live+SD basis, credited to VideoAmp. Views and households are different measures, and neither should be treated as directly comparable with historical Nielsen ratings.
Where to watch Raw now
Raw moved to Netflix beginning in January 2025. WWE’s current guide says Netflix carries Raw in the United States and most international regions, while some markets use other distributors; availability should be checked for the viewer’s territory. WWE and Netflix also announced that past Raw episodes are available in the U.S. WWE library on Netflix. These distribution details can change by region and over time.
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