WWE Monday Night Raw has been the flagship program for the company for decades. While the ratings now are not what they used to be, Raw was, at one time, the most-watched show on cable TV, week in and week out. This was especially true during the Attitude Era.

RELATED: 9 Forgotten Wrestlers Of The Attitude EraWWE and WCW were at war with each other, and when WWE started the Attitude Era and Stone Cold Steve Austin climbed the ranks in the company, it reached unthinkable heights. WWE kept upping the stakes until they finally overtook WCW and won the Monday Night Wars. While things were never the same after that, here is a look at the 15 highest-rated episodes of Monday Night Raw ever.

Updated on October 31, 2021, by Shawn S. Lealos: The best era of WWE came during the Monday Night Wars. This not only brought out the best storytelling in WWE history but also provided fans with lots of surprises as wrestlers were jumping from WCW to WWE. Every time an underused star left WCW for WWE, the ratings rose for the company, and every time those WWE ratings rose, WCW inched closer and closer to shutting down. Sadly, once WCW was out of business, WWE never saw ratings this high again. However, looking at more of the higher-rated episodes, it is obvious that WCW played a huge role in WWE popping the highest ratings in company history.

15 February 7, 2000 (6.50)

The Radicalz in WWE

The WWE Monday Night Raw from February 7, 2000, and the episode picked up a 6.50 rating. This episode was during a big part of the Monday Night Wars because Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn, and Dean Malenko had left WCW for WWE and were not in the spotlight. The Radicalz opened Raw with the first promo and they were instant stars.

This was also part of the lead to the Triple H vs. Cactus Jack match with Mick Foley's career on the line at No Way Out. This episode saw the Radicalz turn heel on Foley, and the main event saw the group team with Triple H and X-Pac to beat Cactus Jack, The Rock, Rikishi, and Too Cool.

14 March 29, 1999 (6.50)

Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon

The March 29, 1999, episode of Monday Night Raw was the night after WrestleMania. This followed Stone Cold Steve Austin beating The Rock for the WWE Championship and the episode opened with Austin hitting the ring. He demanded his Skull Title back. By the end of the show, The Rock attacked, and their feud continued.

Other matches on the show included Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett beating the Legion of Doom in a tag title defense, DX splitting up and X-Pac fighting Triple H, and The Rock beating Billy Gunn.

13 August 16, 1999 (6.60)

Shawn Michaels and Shane McMahon referring the Mankind vs Triple H WWE match

At this time, Mankind was riding high in the world title scene and Chyna was one of the biggest stars in the company. That meant that they got to work a program together with Triple H and one of them would get a world title shot at SummerSlam. The show pulled a 6.0 rating, and some fans might have wondered if WWE would go through with a Chyna world title opportunity.

In this episode, Chyna beat Triple H after Mankind hit him with a chair. Later in the show, Mankind beat Chyna when Triple H distracted her. This led to the main event of Triple H vs. Mankind with commissioner Shawn Michaels and Shane McMahon both serving as the referees.

12 January 31, 2000 (6.60)

The Radicalz show up in WWE audience

This was the episode of WWE Monday Night Raw where four of WCW's most popular mid-card superstars jumped ship and ended up in WWE. Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, and Dean Malenko had asked for their WCW release, had it granted, and then debuted in WWE on this night, first by appearing in the audience and then by attacking the New Age Outlaws at the start of the show.

While not technically an invasion, WCW fans who had been begging the company to push these amazing wrestlers all jumped ship to WWE at this moment, and the show pulled in a nice 6.60 rating. The show also featured Christian vs. D-Von Dudley, The Rock vs. Kurt Angle, and another WCW defector in Chris Jericho fighting X-Pac.

11 March 27, 2000 (6.60)

Linda McMahon cutting a promo on WWE Raw

This was the final WWE Monday Night Raw before WrestleMania 2000. As the go-home show, WWE had to push the four-corners WWE title match between The Rock, Triple H, Big Show, and Mick Foley. Remember that there was a McMahon in each corner of this match, as all four members of the family were feuding with each other.

It seemed fans were loving the McMahon family war, with the show pulling in a 6.5 rating, which was impressive since the McMahon family spent the first 22 minutes of the show talking. As for the matches, the two best were tag team matches featuring the Radicalz, one against Chris Jericho and Chyna and the second against The Hardy Boyz.

10 June 7, 1999 (6.65)

The Rock walking to the ring in WWE

This episode of Monday Night Raw had one of the biggest reveals and swerves in WWE history. The Corporation and the Ministry of Darkness had been feuding for a while. On this episode of Raw, the Ministry finally revealed who the Higher Power was and it turned out to be Mr. McMahon himself, combining the factions into the Ministry of Darkness.

This action all happened in the first 30 minutes of the show, then Stone Cold Steve Austin came out, and Linda McMahon named him the new CEO, so he named a bunch of matches for the night. The only good wrestling match was Big Show against Undertaker for the WWE title, but it was all about the angle.

9 June 28, 1999 (6.8)

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Undertaker

This edition of Monday Night Raw came after the King of the Ring pay-per-view which saw Bad Ass Billy Gunn win the tournament, Undertaker beat The Rock in a WWE title match, and Mr. McMahon and Shane McMahon win back control of WWE from Stone Cold Steve Austin.

With the McMahon family back in power and Austin an underdog again, a lot of fans tuned in to see what was going to happen next. The episode opened with Shane firing Austin, but Stone Cold showed up with a new contract voiding that decree. There was then a great main event, with Austin beating Undertaker and winning the WWE title.

8 Sept. 27, 1999 (6.8)

Triple H with the pedigree on The Rock in WWE

This episode of Monday Night Raw remains known for one massive reason -- and as with much of the Attitude Era, it had little to nothing to do with the wrestling action. This episode was where Mankind wanted to show The Rock how good of a friend he is and called him out to the ring.

RELATED: 10 Worst Attitude Era Booking Decisions We Still Can't Believe HappenedYes, this was the "This Is Your Life Rock" episode of Monday Night Raw. This kind of angle would get destroyed by wrestling fans today, but the fans in 1999 loved it and ate up every second of the segment. There was a world title match between Triple H and The Rock, but it ended in a brawl, like almost every other match on the show.

7 July 24, 2000 (6.9)

The Rock coming to the ring in WWE

This episode of Monday Night Raw took place after the Fully Loaded PPV. In that main event, The Rock successfully defended his title against Chris Benoit and left as the champion. The episode started with Mick Foley coming to the ring as the general manager and making the matches for the night.

The main event saw Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit vs. Kane and The Rock, which ended in a no-decision (like too many matches of that era). There was also a Big Show swerve that started a feud with Undertaker on this episode.

6 April 24, 2000 (7.1)

The McMahon-Helmsley alliance standing at ringside with Chris Benoit

This episode of Monday Night Raw is the go-home show before Backlash. The PPV would see The Rock vs. Triple H for Triple H's WWE title, Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental title, and a match between Big Show and Kurt Angle. This Raw should have led into those matches.

The rating was over a seven, as fans watched Big Show help Rikishi stink face Angle before the two giants danced. For fans who remember the days where Chris Jericho came out and threw out every sort of insult in the world at Stephanie McMahon, this was one of his biggest moments. The main event was Triple H and Chris Benoit beating Chris Jericho and The Rock.

5 May 22, 2000 (7.1)

Shane McMahon v The Rock v Triple H Insurrextion 2000 Cropped

This episode of Monday Night Raw had a lot of weak matches, but it was the storyline that ended the episode that made this Raw one to remember. Mr. McMahon said he was going to fight The Rock that night, with DX in his corner.

However, as the night went on, The Rock took out everyone in DX and Shane McMahon, evening the odds somewhat. Triple H was the only one who was smart enough to be careful. Then, when it came the time, Triple H and The Rock met in the ring and The Rock put him through the announcer's table. This Raw was all about The Rock's story, and it was paced perfectly.

4 July 26, 1999 (7.1)

Triple H attacking Stone Cold Steve Austin in WWE

This episode of Monday Night Raw took place the night after Fully Loaded. The episode the week before was ranked seventh on this list, and this one was even bigger. At Fully Loaded, Stone Cold Steve Austin beat Undertaker, which meant Mr. McMahon could not appear on television anymore, while Triple H won the number one contender spot by defeating The Rock.

RELATED: 5 Awesome Attitude Era Moments (& 5 That Don't Hold Up)

The follow-up to these two matches brought in a ton of fans. This episode opened with Big Show and Undertaker becoming partners and beating Kane. The main event then saw The Rock beat Billy Gunn and Chyna in a handicap match. For the fans, Austin kicked McMahon out, and they all sang, "Hey hey hey, goodbye."

3 May 24, 1999 (7.15)

The Owen Hart tribute show in WWE

This episode of Monday Night Raw has a massive rating for the most tragic of reasons. The night before this Raw at the Over the Edge PPV, Owen Hart died in an in-ring accident. Hart was working as the Blue Blazer and his gimmick was that he was a superhero. He was going to rappel down to the ring on a wire, but it snapped and he fell to his death.

This episode of Monday Night Raw was a tribute show to Owen Hart. The wrestlers received the chance to work or not. Those who did so wrestled in memory of Owen, with no angles and no storylines. In between matches, the wrestlers talked about their memories of Owen.

2 May 1, 2000 (7.4)

The Rock in a steel cage match in WWE

This episode was when WWE started to win the Monday Night Wars. WCW made actor David Arquette their champion to get mainstream attention, while WWE put their world title on The Rock. WCW fans tuned out and it ended up with a 2.5 rating, while WWE pulled in an impressive 7.4.

What did Monday Night Raw do to get that rating? Triple H complains about not being the champion anymore, and then Shane McMahon gets booked to battle The Rock in a Steel Cage battle for the title. Despite Mr. McMahon and his Stooges trying to help Shane, The Rock escapes the cage to win.

1 May 10, 1999 (8.1)

Stone Cold fighting Undertaker in WWE

The highest-rated episode of Monday Night Raw in WWE history (and the only one to ever break the 8.0 mark) took place on May 10, 1999, in the middle of the Attitude Era. The big thing about this rating is that Monday Nitro did not air that night, so even WCW fans tuned in to WWE to see what was going to happen.

The main event was a six-man tag team match with Triple H, Undertaker, and Shane McMahon versus Vince McMahon, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and The Rock. This Raw was one month before Mr. McMahon turned heel again and the good guys won a nice brawl to help cement the Monday Night Wars ratings in WWE's favor. They never let go of them again.