10 greatest superstars in the history of WWE RAW

The 25th Anniversary of RAW is finally upon us and it looks to be a fantastic night of nostalgia with some of the greatest superstars in the history of RAW, returning to be a part of it. Naturally, WWE wouldn't be where they are today without past superstars bringing in ratings and money for WWE and to produce RAW every week. These are the performers who have made us watch RAW every week to entertain, laugh, cry, inspire and so much more.

These are the top ten greatest superstars in the history of WWE Monday Night RAW!

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Sportskeeda

Honorable mentions go to Brock Lesnar, The Shield, Kane, Kurt Angle, Stephanie and Shane McMahon, Eric Bischoff, Chris Benoit, Brian Pillman, Owen Hart, Trish Stratus, Lita, Ric Flair, Randy Orton, Goldust, Rob Van Dam, Edge, Christian and Booker T.

#10 CM Punk

For a while, CM Punk seemed to be just another run of the mill superstar. Before moving from SmackDown to RAW, Punk had been a 3-times World Heavyweight Champion and was in and out of the main event scene on the blue brand. After a disagreement with The Undertaker backstage, Punk spent 2010 in the upper mid-card and things didn't seem much better when he transferred to RAW in late 2010, while recuperating from an injury.

Things looked to have turned around when Punk was ready to return as he immediately joined the then red-hot Nexus angle as their new leader and begun to feud with John Cena. However this was short lived as the feud lasted just three weeks and following its conclusion, Punk was again shifted into upper mid-card status, this time bringing the remaining Nexus members with him. But then something happened that would change his life.

Informing WWE of his plans to leave the company when his contract expired the following month, WWE allowed Punk to air his grievances live on RAW in a semi-worked shoot and Punk let loose, instantly becoming the most talked about superstar in the world. From then, Punk would become a 2-times WWE Champion and would spend the next two and a half years on RAW cutting fantastic promos and wrestling excellent matches.

#9 The Undertaker

This seems like a high entry for the Deadman, and if this were a list for the greatest superstar in WWE history then he would certainly be in the top five. The Undertaker only comes in at #9 because the arguably best years of his career came from his time on SmackDown during the 'Ruthless Aggression' era.

Before that, The Undertaker did have a great run on RAW which even included appearing on the first ever episode on January 11, 1993. The Deadman's best years on RAW came in the Attitude Era when he really enhanced his character to the leader of a demonic, Satanist cult. The gimmick saw him attempting to sacrifice several superstars, almost marry Stephanie McMahon, defeat Stone Cold Steve Austin for his 3rd WWE Championship and participate in the 'Higher Power' angle, which was exciting before it's final reveal. Taker also had several entertaining matches, feuds and segments as the 'American Badass' on RAW.

#8 Bret Hart

The 'Hit Man' had been one of the main reasons to watch RAW when it first debuted. In a period of child pandering ridiculous gimmicks, Bret Hart was among the few true wrestlers of WWE.

Bret wrestled more than a dozen thrilling matches on RAW in their early years, including giving a young Sean Waltman the best match of his career in a scorcher on the July 11, 1994, episode. Bret's greatest moments on RAW came in 1997, first reforming the Hart Foundation for a fantastic America vs Canada angle and then for his legendary feud with Shawn Michaels which saw some of the best segments and promos that had ever been seen on WWE TV until that time.

Bret also provided some memorable RAW moments post-Montreal Screwjob, when he returned to RAW on the first episode of 2010 and buried the hatchet with Shawn Michaels on live TV. Yes, this was pretty much the first proper time Bret and HBK were face to face since Survivor Series 1997. The only other time was earlier in the day before RAW began when Bret approached Shawn in catering and quickly told him he would be calling him out to the ring for an unscripted segment. Before serving a short term role as RAW General Manager the following summer, Bret would defeat The Miz to win the WWE United States Championship on the May 17 edition of RAW.

#7 John Cena

The flag bearer of WWE for the past 13 years, John Cena has well proved his worth for this list. Although John debuted on RAW in 2005 as WWE Champion, things didn't get off to the best start for him as this new face of the company was frequently booed, and his heel majority of opponents, most notably Edge, Christian, Chris Jericho, Triple H and Kurt Angle, were all cheered so much in his matches with him, that you would have thought they were the babyfaces and John the heel.

Nevertheless WWE stuck by their decision to push John as 'The Guy', and it worked out extremely well. After a shaky 2005 - 2010, John really came out into his own in 2011. With a little help from The Rock and CM Punk, John became one of the best promo-men in the business and had also improved his craft tremendously.

While he did have great matches in his earlier years on RAW, John wrestled frequent thrilling efforts from 2011 to this present day and has continued to prove his doubters wrong. After his promos with The Rock and CM punk won over some fans, he won over much more with his WWE United States Championship open challenge in 2015 which saw some of the best matches of Cena's career.

#6 Mick Foley

The Hardcore Legend Mick Foley is another superstar who easily qualifies for an appearance on the Anniversary special as he is one of the greatest superstars in the history of RAW. Foley has had excellent matches on RAW as not one but under 4 different names/gimmicks, as Mankind, Cactus Jack, Dude Love and his real name, Mick Foley.

Mick Foley's matches on RAW speak for themselves as he has had memorable classics with The Rock, Triple H, The Undertaker, Steve Austin and many more, with his WWE Championship win over The Rock in January 1999 is probably being the most memorable, as it was also the night going forward that WCW Nitro would never beat them in the rating game again. Some of Mick's most memorable RAW segments include the Vince McMahon hospital visit which featured Mr Socko's debut, and The Rock 'This is Your Life'.

Mick had also served as RAW General Manager twice, most recently still during this time last year, and has appeared on almost every Anniversary show and milestone episode.

#5 Chris Jericho

After a floundering career in WCW, Chris Jericho entered WWE in 1999 to much fanfare. Chris had what many, including WWE, consider to be the greatest debut in history, and it occurred on Monday Night RAW on the August 9, 1999, episode.

Jericho was quick to provide some incredible RAW moments as on the April 17 episode of RAW, Jericho upset Triple H in a WWE Championship match as referee Earl Hebner made a fast count when Jericho pinned Triple H, causing Jericho to win the title. Hebner later reversed the decision due to pressure from Triple H, and unfortunately, WWE does not recognize Jericho's reign as Champion, but it did provide an incredible night.

Jericho would have countless more memorable matches and moments over the next 17 years and he is still not finished. Most recently Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens provided one the most recent excellent RAW moments when he hosted the first ever 'Festival of Friendship' last February.

#4 D-Generation X

Triple H and Shawn Michaels have provided so many incredible RAW moments and matches that I had to include them in one, and to be joined by their D-Generation X brothers X Pac, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg and Chyna (not pictured). Every week DX pushed the envelope on what they could get away with on the USA Network.

As described by Triple H, they were pretty much playing themselves on TV as they did on RAW whatever they thought was funny that they were doing backstage. After a very fun and successful run, the team portion of DX came to an end when Shawn suffered what was thought to be a career-ending back injury and Triple H and Chyna formed a new DX with X Pac, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg, for more of the same pushing the envelope TV.

Triple H and Shawn Michaels have both also had two of the best solo careers in the history of the industry with each man winning multiple WWE World Championships and participating in some of best storylnes and matches in WWE history.

#3 Vince McMahon

The man who invented WWE RAW, this list could not be complete without WWE CEO, Vince McMahon.

Vince actually wanted to limit his WWE TV character career to that of just an announcer, everyone knew he was the owner, but he still didn't want it mentioned on TV. However, in 1997, Bret Hart began to call Vince out on TV for many of the happenings in WWE that he was unhappy about. All approved by Vince of course, this was all just done to give it more of a real feeling, but it evolved heavily from their when the news broke that Bret was likely leaving for WCW and Vince began to feature more and more in his real-life role, but on TV. Following the Montreal Screwjob, Vince became an official on-camera authority figure when he began his legendary feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin in early 1998.

Vince and Austin had countless memorable segments throughout 1998 and 1999 and also expanded into other fantastic feuds on RAW over the years with The Rock, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Linda, Stephanie and Shane McMahon, and many more.

Perhaps Vince's most memorable moment came when he announced he had officially purchased rival company WCW in 2001.

#2 The Rock

The superstar known as Rocky Maivia in 1996 and 1997 was just another run of the mill superstar who didn't seem at all special to the fans, oh how wrong we were.

In 1998, Dwayne Johnson transformed from Rocky Maivia to The Rock and one of the greatest superstars in the history of the industry was born. The Rock didn't have the best start as apart of the uncomfortable Nation of Domination faction, but as soon as he broke away from them and won his first WWE Championship at Survivor Series 1998, he was made.

Although a heel and member of Vince McMahon's Corporation stable, The Rock was wildly popular for how charismatic he was and for his performances in matches with Mankind and Steve Austin. The Rock became a face again and became the best talker in WWE history. Rock would have more than a dozen memorable matches on RAW with Triple H, Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle and many more before focusing a little more on Hollywood.

After a disastrous via satellite interview at the RAW 10th Anniversary show saw him booed out of a completely different building, a much-needed heel turn happened in 2003 and 'Hollywood Rock' became arguably The Rock at his comedic best in WWE. After seven years, The Rock returned to RAW in 2011 for an incredible shoot feud with John Cena and had some of the best segments in RAW history in 2011 and 2012.

#1 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin

Stone Cold Steve Austin was voted the greatest superstar in the history of RAW on the 10th Anniversary special in January 2003, and not much has changed since.

Steve Austin burst onto the scene in 1996 and quickly became the centre of attention with his anti-PG surely redneck gimmick. Austin would feud with Bret Hart in 1996 - 1997 giving some excellent matches and segments before climbing to the top of the mountain in 1998 taking his rightful place as the top star in the company and WWE Champion. Austin would have a legendary feud with Vince McMahon for the next year and a half that is still regarded as the best feud in WWE history due to the countless number of memorable segments to two shared on RAW and later, a highly entertaining partnership in 2001.

Stone Cold Steve Austin is, was and will always be the greatest superstar in the history of Monday Night RAW!

Send us news tips at [email protected]