WWE Monday Night RAW 25th anniversary: Ranking the 25 biggest stars

9. Mick Foley

Mick Foley obviously didn’t save Monday Night RAW, but his WWE Championship win on the Jan. 4, 1999 episode helped turn the tide in the Monday Night War and really was one of the greatest moments of the Attitude Era.

Mick Foley’s journey to WWE was not an easy one. Looked at as a glorified stuntman, Foley spent years on the independent circuit before moving to WCW in 1991 and then to ECW in 1994. He debuted on Monday Night RAW in 1996, the night after WrestleMania XII, as Mankind and immediately became a draw as he engaged in a program with The Undertaker. Paul Bearer switched sides and Mankind and ‘Taker battled for the better part of a year, which really gave Foley some exposure.

Mankind got more crazy when he attacked Jim Ross in an interview on RAW, which actually got the crowd to start cheering for him. He tried teaming up with Stone Cold Steve Austin but Austin wanted nothing to do with him. That led Foley to come out as Dude Love, one of his three personas, and the fans ate it up. Cactus Jack was born a few months later, and Foley was now a star. He and Terry Funk, who came back to WWE as Chainsaw Charlie, feuded with the pre-DX New Age Outlaws leading into WrestleMania XIV, but he soon found himself at the top of the card as he got involved in the ongoing storyline with Austin and Vince McMahon.

Dude Love was never able to beat Austin for the title, so he was “fired” by Vince and that led to the return of Mankind, who rekindled his feud with The Undertaker, which led right into the Hell in a Cell Match at King of the Ring in 1998. Trust me, I could write an entire piece on that match (and just might with the 20th anniversary coming up this summer), but following his performance in that match, Mick Foley was now a god to the WWE Universe.

Mankind then became more of a comedic act, and it worked to absolute perfection. His interaction with Mr. McMahon provided some of the funniest moments of the Attitude Era. Mr. Socko became a thing and Foley was seemingly headed toward the WWE Championship until he was screwed over at Survivor Series and The Rock became the new golden boy for The Corporation. However, Foley got his chance on that fateful episode of RAW and put plenty of butts in the seats as Stone Cold made the assist to help Mankind win his first WWE Championship. What a moment that was.

Foley had a great, albeit very violent, feud with The Rock but later teamed up with him as The Rock ‘N Sock Connection, which may have been even better than the stuff with Vince. The “This Is Your Life” segment on the Sept. 27, 1999 episode of RAW is still the highest in the show’s history. He went on to feud with Triple H at the turn of the century and took part in the main event at WrestleMania 2000.

While he never won another WWE Championship, Mick Foley continued to appear sporadically on RAW for years. He had feuds with Randy Orton, Edge and Ric Flair and most recently appeared as the General Manager, a position he’s held on numerous occasions. Foley is one of the most beloved figures in WWE history and easily deserves this spot in the top 10.