5 of Mick Foley's favourite Raw moments

Chances are, if you've watched WWE RAW for any extended period of time, you'll have fond memories of a certain Mick Foley. Whether it was the most recent run of general manager Mick Foley, or way back to the Mankind days - or even Dude Love or Cactus Jack - Mick Foley could easily be called a staple of WWE's flagship show.

So, it's only fitting that, hours before RAW 25 kicks off, Mick Foley blogged about his five personal favourite moments from the past 25 years of the red brand.

Sadly, The Hardcore Legend won't be appearing on the landmark show tonight as he already had committed to a family holiday, but he has more than made his mark on the show over the past quarter of a century.

#5 Mankind vs Stone Cold

The match actually happened the night after Survivor Series where Austin had an instant classic against Bret "The Hitman" Hart, while Mankind went up against The Undertaker.

Foley reportedly was disappointed with his performance at Survivor Series and vowed to have a strong showing the next night on RAW - and it seems to have worked to make number five on his list!

In fact, so much so that Foley wrote about it in Have A Nice Day too.

“Steve and I had been talking frequently about the contracts we’d recently been offered that, while not embarrassing, were not nearly on the level of Marc Mero. This filled us both with the potent combination of pride and anger, and we vowed to show Vince (McMahon) the error of his contractual ways.

Without even talking about what we’d do, we tore the house down in a match that many called the best RAW match in several years. There was nothing fancy about it, just a great give-and-take contest, but the intensity was high, and the chemistry was there.”

Austin v Mankind's first ever encounter made Foley's top five... Just.

"Sometime in 1996, maybe even 1997. Maybe I can’t remember the exact date, but I remember what it felt like to be giving and taking with The Texas Rattlesnake when we were both heels. Just a cool, totally improvised match when Mankind was on his way up, and Steve was right on the verge of exploding into the stratosphere."

Well, maybe Mick can't remember, but we definitely can.

The match happened on November 18th, 1996 in New Haven, Connecticut, and was the first time Foley and Austin ever wrestled against each other.

#4 The debut of Commissioner Foley

Many were shocked when Foley returned with a bit less hair on his head

Foley previously said he wanted to be a "role model for nerds" in this role.

He told awful jokes and his office was, well, rather mobile - popping up in places like closets. This era was actually responsible for the birth of the cheap pop too - something Foley is still famed for to this day.

Famous rivalries from this time include Mick going face to face with, but never actually wrestling against, Edge, Christian, Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon.

Foley recalls...

June 7, 1990 (*) I shaved my head as a sign to myself that I would never do anything in public again. Ever. Two days later, I received a call from Mr. McMahon. “Hey pal, how’d you like to be the new Commissioner?” So I showed up a few days later with a new look, a new role, and carte blanche to say or do just about anything I wanted to. One of my biggest career regrets is not recognizing how special that opportunity was, and doing whatever I needed to do to hold onto it for as long as possible.

* The keen eyed of you may have noticed an error there. The debut of "Commissioner" Foley was actually in 2000, but we can forgive The Hardcore Legend for mixing up his dates a bit.

#3 Being fired by Stephanie McMahon

Stephanie McMahon lays down the law on RAW

Mick Foley's run as GM, while many disliked him being emasculated by Stephanie, involved some pretty epic moments - from pairing together Sheamus and Cesaro as competitors for a best of seven series and then as a tag team (where they are now three-time RAW Tag Team Champions) to his incredibly emotional promo with Sasha Banks and Charlotte ahead of their Hell In A Cell encounter.

All I wanted when I took the Raw GM job in July 2016 was to make a difference where I could, and to be fired in spectacular fashion on my way out. The March 13, 2017 promo with Stephanie and Triple H (a week before my official firing) allowed me to do just that, and left me with a post show rush reminiscent of the way I felt after big PPV matches.

#2 This is your life

The Rock, Mankind and Yurple The Clown

Infamously known as being the highest rated RAW segment in history, there's no surprise this made Mick's list. This segment received a rating of 8.4.

Foley and Dwayne Johnson took the ball and ran with it in 1999, but apparently, this segment didn't please everyone, least of all the boss...

Rumor has it that Mr. McMahon hated this segment to the point where he had to be talked out of physically ending the segment, which he considered to be a train wreck of epic proportions. Sure it was a train wreck – but wasn’t it magnificent.

The Rock at his best, with no rehearsal, not scripting, the return of Yurple, and the debut of the dueling Rock and Sock Connection jackets (hand drawn with gold markers by Jerry Lawler) and Mr Rocko.

#1 Mick Foley wins the WWE Championship for the first time

Mick Foley wins his first ever championship on RAW in 1999

Well, no surprises here. This doesn't just fall into one of the greatest Mick Foley moments from 25 years of RAW, but it definitely ranks highly among the greatest moments the red brand had ever seen. A true underdog story and one that has recently been said to have been a mistake, shockingly, from Mick himself.

Not only was it an incredibly surreal and cool moment to hold the prestigious title for the first time, but “the night the channels changed” also changed the way I was perceived within the business literally overnight.

So, why is this so monumental? Well, it has been noted as "the night the war ended". As Mick hints at in his quote, this was when the tide turned in the RAW v Nitro ratings wars. January 4, 1999.

WCW had been pummeling WWE in the ratings war for almost two years, mainly thanks to the NWO, acquiring WWE talent and one huge advantage - being broadcast live.

RAW was being taped in advance, so Eric Bischoff would cunningly have the commentators spoil the results of the show on Nitro to try and prevent viewers from switching the channel to see what was happening on RAW.

Well, this time, it backfired. Tony Schiavone announced the results of Raw's main event and had completely the opposite effect.

Thousands of people turned over to see Mick Foley defeat The Rock in order to win his first ever WWE Championship, the first of three.