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When the original brand extension took place in March 2002, WWE continued to present all pay-per-views every month as featuring matches from both brands. It wasn't until over a year after the extension, in June 2003, that WWE decided to try out solo branded pay-per-views for RAW and Smackdown.
The result was a success, for the most part, considering shows were often light on major players. With ECW thrown into the mix, WWE decided to end the trend in 2007 and reverted back to multi-branded pay-per-views that year, and officially ended the extension in 2011.
Due to a great influx of talent from their developmental brand NXT, as well as other talent being brought in straight to TV, the brand extension was revived on July 19, 2016, when SmackDown began broadcasting live on Tuesdays.
This also brought the revival of single-branded pay-per-views, however, this trend would not last as long as the original. After just under a year and a half, WWE announced that the Elimination Chamber event in February 2018 would be the final RAW only pay-per-view, and Fastlane in March would be the final one for SmackDown and, thus returning to all pay-per-views being dual branded.
During both single branded PPV era's, we did manage to get some really excellent events, and here I will be looking at the top 10 best that came out of RAW.
#10 Taboo Tuesday 2005
Taboo Tuesday became a revolutionary event for WWE as it is the first time they experimented with the fans choosing some of the matches, well, match types at least. For the most part, it worked.
Taboo Tuesday 2004, was a pretty good event, while it was renamed to Cyber Sunday, also provided to entertaining cards. The best of the bunch came in 2005, with the second and last Taboo Tuesday event.
This was an event that was almost even more historic, as it was to feature the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin, who retired 2 years earlier at WrestleMania XIX. Austin was scheduled to face Johnathan Coachman. Due to Austin still in danger of being confined to a wheelchair should he have ever wrestled again, WWE pitched that he lose to Coach in a screwjob type finish.
Austin wasn't happy and backed out of the match just 2 days before the event, and would be replaced by SmackDown's World Heavyweight Champion Batista. Despite this big disappointment, we still got a good show.
Matt Hardy and, local boy Rey Mysterio were voted in to face Edge and, Chris Masters in the opening match. Edge backed out of the match last minute for no reason and announced Gene Snitsky as his replacement. They had a passable opening match considering Gene and Chris were less experienced. This would be Christian's last night in WWE for over 3 years and the live audience knew it. They chanted his name throughout the match.
In other happenings, Eugene and his voted tag partner, Hall of Famer Jimmy Snuka, defeated Rob Conway and, Tyson Tomko in an attempted comedy match, Mick Foley as Mankind beat Carlito in a short match, Big Show and Kane nearly squashed Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch to lift the Tag Team Titles, Batista squashed Coach in a Street Fight and, Trish Stratus retained her Women's Championship in a 'Fulfil Your Fantasy' Battle Royal.
The best of this card came from a very fun and entertaining Steel Cage match, between Ric Flair and Triple H, where the Nature Boy retained his Intercontinental Championship over The Game and, John Cena defeated Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels in an exciting main event. Give that match another 8 - 10 minutes and it could have been truly excellent.
#9 Vengeance 2006
This was a very solid line-up considering it was a B-show pay-per-view. Much of the happenings in WWE at this time were like a failed throwback to 1998. We had the D-Generation X revival, the rebirth of ECW and for a little while, we even had Luke Gallows wandering around dressed up as Kane. All these were represented at Vengeance, thankfully some better than others.
In a RAW vs New ECW match, Randy Orton pinned Kurt Angle in Angle's last pay-per-view appearance until WrestleMania 34 in 2017. The match was pretty good. Umaga squashed poor Eugene, who was unsuccessfully aided by Doink The Clown, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and Kamala.
In a major disappointment, Ric Flair beat Mick Foley 2 - 0 in a 2 out of 3 falls match, which came in at under 8 minutes. Thankfully the two managed to redeem themselves at SummerSlam the following month.
Johnny Nitro won his first WWE Intercontinental Championship in an exciting Triple Threat over Carlito and Shelton Benjamin, Luke Gallows as the 'Impostor Kane' pinned the real Kane in a dud and, in a match that feels strange to say ever happened, John Cena defeated ECW Icon Sabu in a short but decent Lumberjack match.
The main event was a 5 on 2 Handicap match pitting the revived DX against the Spirit Squad. Although the predictable outcome and the fact that DX gave the Squad no real effort, it was still a pretty good main event. The real gem of the show, however, came earlier on the show when WWE and ECW Champion Rob Van Dam retained his title over Edge in a minor classic that deserves a re-watch from all.
#8 Clash of Champions 2016
Clash of Champions would serve as the first RAW only pay-per-view of the second brand extension, and it was pretty impressive.
The New Day opened the show defending their record-setting Tag Team Championships reign against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. New Day's entrance and intro were actually longer than the match itself, with the match going under 7 minutes, but they at least made the most out of it.
T.J Perkins, back when he still had his full name and a little respect, retained the Cruiserweight Championship over Brian Kendrick in an entertaining match. Chris Jericho pinned Sami Zayn in a pretty good match, Charlotte retained her Women's Championship over Bayley and Sasha Banks in a good match, Roman Reigns lifted the United States Championship from Rusev in a decent match and, Kevin Owens retained his Universal Championship over Seth Rollins in a fair effort, despite the ending.
The match of the night would surprisingly come from Sheamus and Cesaro, who had the 7th and final match of their best of 7 series. This one ended in a no-contest that left the fans chanting 'Let them fight'.
#7 Unforgiven 2003
It was finally over! Triple H won the World Heavyweight Championship in December 2002 and held it for the majority of 2003, not losing it until this September night. The Game spent the entire year running through what was left of WCW's top stars, first putting away Scott Steiner at the beginning of the year, then Booker T at WrestleMania, Kevin Nash followed on from April - June, and then Goldberg for the rest of the year. but at least 'Da Man' came out on winning side on a few occasions.
Unforgiven opened with a last minute title match. The Dudley Boyz, including Spike, were set to face all 3 members of La Résistance in a table elimination match. Spike was pulled due to injury and, General Manager Steve Austin made it a Handicap Table Tag Team Championship match, which the Dudley Boyz won in exciting fashion.
Test downed Scott Steiner in just under 7 minutes to earn his services as a manservant. The best thing about this match was the intro package. In the first singles PPV match, Randy Orton pinned Shawn Michaels in an exciting match. In Lita's first match in over a year and a half, she teamed with Trish Stratus to defeat Gail Kim and, Molly Holly in a fair match.
Christian retained his Intercontinental Championship over Chris Jericho and, Rob Van Dam in a thrilling match, Al Snow and Jonathan Coachman defeated Jerry Lawler and, Jim Ross in a match as good as it sounds, and, Goldberg pinned Triple H, to win the World Heavyweight Championship in a decent main event.
Best match of the night goes to the Last Man Standing between Kane and Shane McMahon. The match went everywhere and featured another classic Shane O'Mac death-defying leap as he jumped more than 20 feet off the stage to get himself counted out to Kane.
#6 Unforgiven 2006
Another solid line-up for a 2006 B-PPV show card. Also, the night that John Cena's year-long WWE Championship reign began.
The show opened up hot with, Johnny Nitro defending the Intercontinental Championship with the recently returned Jeff Hardy. A solid effort from both men. Kane and Umaga fought to a double count-out in a short match.
The Spirit Squad retained the Tag Team Titles over The Highlanders in a lame match, D-Generation X defeated the Big Show and the McMahons in an exciting bloodbath of a Hell in A Cell match, Trish Stratus defeated Lita for the Women's Championship in not her final match, but final match as a full-time WWE performer. She got a nice sendoff, which was rare at the time, and Randy Orton defeated Carlito in a passable match.
The best match of the night came from the main event, John Cena lifted the WWE Championship from Edge in an exciting TLC match. John Cena has become a great performer over the years, but this match was carried by Edge.
#5 Hell In A Cell 2016
The second RAW only pay-per-view of the second brand extension, and another solid show.
Roman Reigns and Rusev's United States Championship Hell in A Cell match opened a show, and what a fine way to do so. This was one of the better Cell matches in recent memory, both men really made the effort here.
Bayley beat Dana Brooke in a forgettable match, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson downed Enzo and Cass in another short match you don't need to see again, Kevin Owens retained his Universal Championship over Seth Rollins in the second Cell match of the night, this was an entertaining match.
The Brian Kendrick lifted the Cruiserweight Championship from T.J Perkins in a fair match and Cesaro and Sheamus beat The New Day by DQ in a passable match.
The match of the night came from the women again, Charlotte won the Women's Championship once again from Sasha Banks in an excellent Hell in A Cell match. These two never fail.
#4 Bad Blood 2004
Bad Blood finally drew a line under the on/off 2-year feud between Triple H and Shawn Michaels, and what a way to go out.
Another solid line-up from RAW, we had much to look forward to. In his first of two matches, World Champion Chris Benoit opened the show teaming with Edge challenging La Résistance for the Tag Team titles, which ended in a disqualification, when Kane attacked Benoit.
Chris Jericho pinned Tyson Tomko in a dud, Randy Orton retained his Intercontinental Championship over Shelton Benjamin in a decent match, Trish Stratus won her 5th Women's Championship in a rushed Fatal Four-way over Gail Kim, Lita, and Champion Victoria, Eugene pinned Coach in a comedy match and Chris Benoit retained the World title over Kane in an exciting match.
The match of the night came from the feud ending Hell in A Cell match with Triple H and Shawn Michaels. This one lasted longer than all of the 5 undercard matched combined, coming in at over 47 minutes. It was an excellent way to go out though, one of the best matches of the year here.
#3 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2017
A pay-per-view that was literately flipped on its head just 2 days before it happened. We were originally scheduled to see Bray Wyatt, as Sister Abigail, take on the 'Demon King' Finn Bálor and, The Shield battle Kane, Braun Strowman, The Barr and The Miz in a 3 on 5 Handicap match.
However, medical issues forced Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt to pull out of the show, and were replaced by something far better, Bray Wyatt by SmackDown's AJ Styles, and Reigns by WWE RAW General Manager Kurt Angle, wrestling his first WWE match in more than 11 years. The show also featured the undefeated Asuka in her main roster debut.
Asuka defeated Emma in the opening match, this was thankfully not a typical Asuka squash match, instead, we got a competitive one. Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann defeated Gentleman Jack Gallagher and The Brian Kendrick in a fair match, for under 10 minutes.
Alexa Bliss retained her Women's Championship over Mickie James in a decent match, Enzo Amore won his second Cruiserweight Championship from Kalisto in a boring match, Finn Bálor pinned AJ Styles in a thrilling minor classic and Jason Jordan pinned Elias in a bearable match.
The match of the night was the 5 on 2 Handicap match. It was completely crazy, but a whole lot of fun.
#2 Backlash 2004
The night that proved Chris Benoit was not a fluke, and Randy Orton was a real superstar, Backlash 2004 is one of the best PPV B-shows of all time.
The Shelton Benjamin push continued as he opened the show with a passable win over Ric Flair. With a lot of help from opponent Tajiri, the Coach pinned him in a fair match considering it featured an announcer, Chris Jericho defeated Christian and Trish Stratus in an exciting Handicap match, Victoria retained her Women's title over Lita in a cluttered match, The Hurricane and Rosey beat La Résistance in a filler and Edge pinned Kane in a much too short match, hampered due to a wrist injury for Edge.
The match of the night came from... Two matches. That's right, the show featured two matches that were equally as excellent. In a match that Mick Foley has described as his favorite, also the match that made Randy Orton the man he became, the Legend Killer pinned the Hardcore Legend Mick Foley, in a brutal and excellent Hardcore match. The main event was a rematch from WrestleMania XX, World Champion Chris Benoit defeated Shawn Michaels and Triple H in a match almost every bit as excellent as their first.
#1 Vengeance 2005
What a fantastic line-up, perhaps the best line up ever for a single branded show.
New WWE Intercontinental Champion Carlito, opened the show defending his title with former Champion Shelton Benjamin, which he won in a decent match. Victoria nearly squashed Christy Hemme, Kane downed Edge in a good match, John Cena retained the WWE Championship over Chris Jericho and Christian in an exciting Triple Threat match, and Batista gave arguably the best performance of his career in a brutal and thrilling Hell in A Cell match.
The best match of the night and one of the best matches of the entire year came from Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels in a rematch of their WrestleMania 21 classic. This was almost as excellent, going almost 30 minutes, this was wrestling at damn well perfection.
