Day Tripper
Satisfaction (was this the first rock riff ever?)
Jumpin Jack Flash
Bitch
One Way Out
Whole Lotta Love
Cross Eyed Mary
Bridge of Sighs
. . . maybe too general of a subject, just found myself staring into an abyss of many many riffs . . . never mind
the kinks - you really got me (before satisfaction, I think)
all day and all of the night
Mississippi Queen
Day Tripper
Satisfaction (was this the first rock riff ever?)
Jumpin Jack Flash
Bitch
One Way Out
Whole Lotta Love
Cross Eyed Mary
Bridge of Sighs
. . . maybe too general of a subject, just found myself staring into an abyss of many many riffs . . . never mind
first rock riff ever? wouldn't that be something by chuck berry
Probably a good part of the Zep, Sabbath, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, and ACDC catalog. Easier to do it that way than to list all of them. 😉
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
first rock riff ever? wouldn't that be something by chuck berry
Maybe - but all I can think of by Chuck were those landmark lead intros, like Johnny B. Goode. I'm talking about the big single line repeating riff rock that came to dominate rock music in the 60s. Not riffs in general, those have been around since the early jazz age.
School's Out
Smoke On The Water
School's Out
Although I haven't heard it in a very long time, as soon as I read that, the opening riff popped right into mind. 
Rebel Rebel.
One Way Out
and the opening of Sweet Home Alabama
Treat her right - Roy Head
Susy Q - Dale Hawkins with James Burton on guitar
The Laundromat - Rory Gallagher
Natural Thing - UFO
NIB - Black Sabbath
anybody like "my girl" ??
Any number of Rich Robinson riffs.
I'm hardly a VH fan but "Running With The Devil" does the trick.
..... and Free's "All Right Now".
Mississippi Queen
You F'r! (Beat me to it 
ha) glad I am not the only one that thinks that is "The Riff"......
Mississippi Queen
You F'r! (Beat me to it
Gotta agree, Mississippi Queen is probably the most basic, simple, and hardhitting of them all.
Son of a B*tch is pretty good
Zepp' s "Heartbreaker."
Rush' s "Limelight."
Well, there's a zillion.I think of Iommi, Page, and Blackmore as the riff kings, but Lifeson ain't far behind.
Got to be Smoke On The Water
Mannish Boy - Muddy Waters
A few of my favorites that come to mind...in no particular order...
Cream - White Room, Sunshine of Your Love
Joe Walsh - Turn to Stone
Yardbirds/Aerosmith - Train Kept A Rollin'
Aerosmith - Rats in the Cellar, Walk this Way, Sweet Emotion
Led Zeppelin - The Rover, No Quarter (live), When the Levee Breaks, Black Dog
Pink Floyd - The Gold It's in the...
Stones - Jiving Sister Fanny, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man
UFO - Rock Bottom
GnR - Nightrain, Welcome to the Jungle, Rocket Queen, One in a Million, Civil War, Don't Damn Me, Locomotive
Velvet Revolver - Slither
Slash's Snakepit - Take it Away
Sabbath - Falling Off the Edge of the World
Van Halen - 'Aint Talkin' Bout Love, Unchained, Mean Street
Neil Young - Rockin' in the Free World
Ozzy - Crazy Train
Alice in Chains - We Die Young, Man in the Box
Tom Petty - Runnin' Down a Dream
AC/DC - take your pick
For guys like Jimmy Page, Keith Richards/Mick Taylor, Joe Perry, Angus Young, Slash and Eddie Van Halen...these guys made their living creating/playing great hard rock riffs...there are too many great riffs to name from these guys, but I've listed a few of my favorites.
[Edited on 10/22/2016 by Redfish7]
[Edited on 10/22/2016 by Redfish7]
