WWE Raw is a
professional wrestling
television program for World Wrestling Entertainment
(WWE) that currently airs on the USA
Network in the United
States
. The show's name, which is sometimes
stylized as
RAW, is also used to refer to the Raw brand,
in which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform on that
program; the other programs and brands are
SmackDown and
ECW. It
is the only television broadcast for the Raw brand. The show
originally debuted in the United States on the USA Network on
January 11, 1993. It remained there until 2000, when
Raw
was moved to
TNN, later known as
Spike TV. In 2005, the show was
moved back to the USA Network. Since its launch in 1993,
Raw continues to air on Monday nights.
Raw is
generally seen as the company's flagship program due to its longer
history, higher ratings, and emphasis on pay-per-views. It is the
longest running weekly episodic television show in history.
Show history
Original format
Beginning as
WWF Monday Night Raw, the program first aired
on January 11, 1993 on the
USA Network
for one hour. Out of all of the wrestlers that were featured, only
two are still employed in WWE:
Shawn
Michaels and
The Undertaker. The
original
Raw broke new ground in televised professional
wrestling. Traditionally, wrestling shows were taped on sound
stages with small audiences or at large arena shows. The
Raw formula was very different than that of its
predecessor,
Prime Time
Wrestling. Instead of taped matches, with studio voice
overs and taped chat,
Raw was a show shot to a live
audience, with angles as they happened. The first episode featured
Yokozuna defeating
Koko B. Ware,
The Steiner Brothers defeating
The Executioners,
WWF
Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels defeating
Max Moon and The Undertaker defeating
Damien Demento. The show also featured an
interview with
Razor Ramon.
Raw originated from the Grand Ballroom
at Manhattan Center Studios
, a small
New York
City
theater and aired live each week. The
combination of an intimate venue and live action proved highly
successful. However, the weekly live schedule proved to be a
financial drain on the WWF, and taped shows began airing every
other week. From early 1994 to September 1999,
Raw was
shown live on one Monday and then the next day (Tuesday) next
Monday's
Raw was taped. This meant that
Raw was
live one week and taped the next.
The storylines and
characters during the
early years of
Raw still had a healthy dose of the old
Federation "
gimmick-heavy" style.
For instance, there were moments such as
Irwin R. Schyster
tearing up
Tatanka's headdress, the
various "Undertaker sightings" (during the Undertaker vs.
Undertaker storyline, leading up to
SummerSlam 1994); and characters like
Duke "The Dumpster" Droese,
Doink the Clown, or
Thurman "Sparky" Plugg.
WWF Monday Night Raw logo (January 11, 1993-March 3, 1997)
Raw was also one of a kind, in which they covered the
unexpected, exciting moments, a prelude to "
the Attitude Era", in which it coined
Raw as "Uncut, Uncensored, Uncooked."
Some of those moments
include Razor Ramon losing a match unexpectedly to Sean "The 1-2-3 Kid" Waltman, who was later
known as X-Pac; Marty Jannetty
beating Shawn Michaels to win the WWF Intercontinental
Championship; and Raw was the first WWF television program
of any kind to show footage of Lex Luger
bodyslamming Yokozuna at the USS Intrepid
.
The original hosts of
Raw were
Vince McMahon,
Rob
Bartlett and "Macho Man"
Randy
Savage.
Sean Mooney conducted the
interviews and
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
also helped contribute. On April 19, 1993, Rob Bartlett made his
final appearance on the program. He was dropped from the
broadcasting team and was replaced by Bobby Heenan the following
week. Then on December 6, 1993,
Gorilla
Monsoon kicked Bobby Heenan out of the WWF forever. In reality,
this was a
storyline between
Monsoon and his close friend Heenan, who decided to leave the World
Wrestling Federation in order to lighten his travel schedule and
because he didn't want to take a 50% paycut. After about a year,
Raw moved out of the Manhattan Center and traveled to
various regular Federation venues in the United States.
The Monday Night Wars
In 1995,
World Championship
Wrestling (WCW) began airing its new wrestling show,
WCW Monday Nitro, live
each week on
TNT.
Raw and
Nitro went head-to-head for the first time on September
11, 1995. Due to
Raw's taping schedule on several
occasions, WCW Vice President
Eric
Bischoff, who was also an on-air personality, would frequently
give away the results of WWF's taped
Raw shows on the live
WCW show. Some fans also looked at
Raw taping results on
the steadily growing
Internet; as a result,
this caused the
ratings of the taped
Raw episodes to be lower.
WWF Raw had a live broadcast every other week to save
costs, until September 1999, when ratings and pay-per-view buy rate
increased, allowing them to justify doing a weekly live show.
At the start of the ratings war in 1995 through to mid-1996,
Raw and
Nitro exchanged victories over each other
in a closely contested rivalry. Beginning in mid-1996, however,
thanks primarily to the
nWo angle,
Monday Nitro started a ratings win-streak that lasted for
84 continuous weeks, ending on April 13, 1998.
Raw is War
WWF Raw is War logo (March 10, 1997-September 10, 2001)
On February 3, 1997,
Monday Night Raw went to a two hour
format, as
the Attitude Era was
starting to come in full stream in the WWF. In an attempt to break
the momentum of what had turned into ratings domination by WCW's
competing
Monday Nitro,
Extreme Championship
Wrestling (ECW) was brought in as
Jerry
Lawler "challenged" ECW on February 17, 1997.
In an episode where
Raw returned to the Manhattan Center,
the "challenge" answered on the following week's show with
Taz,
Mikey Whipwreck,
Sabu,
Tommy
Dreamer,
D-Von Dudley, and
The Sandman. ECW owner
Paul Heyman did a call-in interview on
Raw the week after that.
Throughout 1997, further controversial elements emerged with
Raw and WWF programming.Memorable moments included
Bret Hart cursing profanely at the crowd
after reaping loss in a
Steel Cage
match, with commentators apologizing for his foul behavior,
before he proceeds in major brawls with
Sid,
The Undertaker,
Steve Austin, and briefly
Shawn Michaels. Some of the most
notable moments cites the profusely intense feud with The Hart
Foundation against Michaels and Austin, which saw Raw develop a
memorable episode in which Michaels and Austin beat The British
Bulldog and Owen Hart for the
WWF Tag Team Championship,
and during their post-match attack on Michaels, Austin physically
charged a disabled Bret Hart to ward them off. Other events saw the
new black street gang
Nation of
Domination formed, and Michaels
D-Generation X "racial graffiti" storyline
designed to "implicate Bret Hart's '
The Hart Foundation'", and the "XXX
Files" series.
On March 10, 1997,
Monday Night Raw officially became
Raw is War. The March 17, 1997 episode featured a heated
Bret Hart/Vince McMahon ringside altercation (that unknowingly
foreshadowed the
Montreal
Screwjob) with profanity normally unheard on TV.
Brian Pillman did a series of "XXX Files"
segments with
Terri Runnels, which
further "pushed the envelope". These segments ended prematurely
with the September 29, 1997 episode of
Raw, after the
death of Brian Pillman on October 5, 1997 due to hereditary heart
problems.
After
WrestleMania XIV in March
1998, which featured
Mike Tyson as a ring
enforcer, and Shawn Michaels final match up until 2002, the WWF
regained the lead in the Monday Night Wars with its new "WWF
Attitude" brand, led in particular by rising stars Steve Austin,
The Rock,
Triple
H and
Mankind. The classic
feud between the
villainous WWF Chairman Vince
McMahon (who was re-imagined and re-branded from the color
commentator into the evil corporal chairman character Mr. McMahon
after the real-life Montreal Screwjob incident) and
fan favorite Steve Austin
caught the imaginations of fans. The April 13, 1998 episode of
Raw, headlined by a match between Austin and McMahon,
marked the first time that WCW had lost the head-to-head Monday
night
ratings battle in the 84 weeks
since 1996.
While
Raw was taking a new approach to programming,
Nitro began producing lackluster programming with
repetitive storylines. Older stars such as Hogan and Nash
frequently occupied the main events, while younger talent such as
Rey Mysterio, Jr.,
Chris Benoit,
Chris
Jericho, and
Eddie Guerrero were
not given opportunities to advance, and the only newcomers elevated
to main-event status at this time were
Bill Goldberg and
Diamond Dallas Page.
Meanwhile, on
Raw, fans were immersed in the feud between
WWF owner Vince McMahon and Steve Austin. New talent such as Triple
H being the new leader of the D-Generation X (DX)
faction, Mankind and
The Rock were elevated to main event status on the WWF's program.
Superstars such as Kane, Kurt Angle, Val Venis, Goldust and the
like were coming through the ranks and exposing the WWF as
territory where new talent can ascend unlike the WCW counterpart.
Matters
were so heated between the two programs that, when both shows were
on the Hampton
Roads
on the same night (Raw in Hampton,
Virginia
,
Nitro in Norfolk
), DX was
sent to film a "war" segment at the Norfolk Scope
where they berated WCW and interviewed fans on
camera who stated that they received their Nitro tickets
for free (presumably in an attempt by WCW to pack the arena to
capacity due to low ticket sales).
On January 4, 1999, Mick Foley, who had wrestled for WCW during the
early 1990s as Cactus Jack, won the WWF Title as Mankind on
Raw. On orders from Bischoff,
Nitro announcer
Tony Schiavone gave away this
previously taped result on a live
Nitro, and then
sarcastically added
"that'll sure put some butts in the
seats" consequently resulting in over 600,000 viewers
switching channels to watch
Raw. This was also the night
that
Nitro aired a
WCW World Heavyweight
Championship match in which
Kevin
Nash blatantly laid down for
Hulk
Hogan after Hogan
poked him
in the chest. The next week, and for months after, many fans in
the
Raw audience brought signs which read,
"Mick Foley
put my ass in this seat!"
The end of the Wars
WWF Raw logo (September 17, 2001-April 29, 2002)
A new television contract with Viacom led to a WWF change in the
broadcast. On September 25, 2000,
Raw moved from the USA
Network to
TNN
(which later became
Spike
TV).
WCW's sharp decline in revenue and ratings led to Time Warner's
sale of the company to the WWF in 2001. The final edition of
Nitro aired on March 26, 2001. The show began with Vince
McMahon making a short statement about his recent purchase of WCW
and ended with a simulcast on
Raw and on TNN with an
appearance by Vince's son
Shane
McMahon on
Nitro. Shane interrupted his father's
gloating over the WCW purchase to explain that Shane was the one
who actually owned WCW, setting up what became the WWF's "
Invasion"
storyline.
The
Raw is War logo and name were retired in September
2001, following the
September 11
attacks and sensitivity over the word
war, and because
the Monday Night Wars were "over".
Brand Extension
WWE Raw logo (May 6, 2002-October 2, 2006)
In early to mid-2002, WWE underwent a process they called the
"Brand Extension". WWE divided itself into two "de facto" wrestling
promotions with separate rosters, storylines and authority figures.
Raw and SmackDown! would host each division, give its name to the
division and essentially compete against each other. The split was
a result of WWF purchasing their two biggest competitors,
WCW and
ECW. The brand extension was
publicly announced during a telecast of
WWF Raw on March
25, 2002, and became official the next day.
Wrestlers now would become show-exclusive, wrestling for their
specific show only. At the time this excluded the
WWE Undisputed Championship and
WWE Women's Championship, as those
WWE titles would be defended on both shows. In August 2002, WWE
Undisputed Champion
Brock Lesnar
refused to defend the title on
Raw, in effect causing his
title to become exclusive to
SmackDown! The following week
on Raw, General Manager Eric Bischoff awarded a newly instated
World Heavyweight
Championship to Raw's designated number one contender,
Triple H. Due to the fact that since the WWE
Undisputed Championship was now SmackDown! exclusive it was no
longer seen as "undisputed". Following this, the
WWE Women's Championship soon
became Raw-exclusive as well. As a result of the Brand Extension,
an annual "
draft lottery" was instituted
to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the
lineups.
WWE Raw claimed to have earned the distinction of having
the most original episodes of any fictional weekly program on
August 2, 2005 when it broadcasted the 636th episode. It was said
to have taken the place of
Gunsmoke, which held that distinction.
Return to USA Network
Variations of the
Raw modern titantron set were used from
April 1, 2002 - January 14, 2008.
On March 10, 2005,
Viacom and
WWE decided not to go on with
the agreement with
Spike TV,
making it so
Raw and other
WWE programs on the
network would cease when their deal expired in September 2005. On
April 4, 2005, WWE announced a 3-year deal with
NBC Universal to bring
Raw back to
its former home, the
USA Network, with 2
yearly specials on
NBC and a
Spanish Raw on
Telemundo. On the same week as
Raw's
re-debut on USA,
Spike TV
scheduled
Ultimate
Fighting Championship's live
Ultimate Fight Night in
Raw's old timeslot in an attempt to go head-to-head with
''Raw''.{{cite
web|url=http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=730&zoneid=1|title=WWE
VS UFC Showdown Heats Up|publisher=MMA
Weekly|date=2005-09-25|accessdate=2009-08-21|first=Ivan|last=Trembow}}
The show's first night back on USA was billed as the "WWE
Homecoming" and featured the return of former [[WWE
Championship|WWE Champions]] such as [[Hulk Hogan]], [[Stone Cold
Steve Austin|Steve Austin]], [[Shawn Michaels]], [[Mick Foley]],
[[Triple H]] and [[Vince McMahon]] along with cameos from legends
such as [[Roddy Piper]], [[Jimmy Hart]], [[Jimmy Snuka]] and
[[Harley Race]].Also, it featured a 30 minutes Iron Match between
Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle. WWE Homecoming was three hours long
— the second longest an episode of ''Raw'' has ever run in its
12-year history. USA also showed ''Raw Exposed'', an hour of the
best moments of ''Raw'' during its previous run on USA. [[World
Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] announced that ''Raw'' received its
highest ratings in three years, gaining close to six million
viewers. The following week, Vince McMahon [[Kayfabe#"You're
fired!" and "I quit!"|fired]] [[Jim Ross]] for not helping after
Steve Austin gave him and his entire family the [[Stunner
(professional wrestling)|Stone Cold Stunner]]. [[Jonathan
Coachman]], the second analyst at the table, took over Ross's
duties as play-by-play for two weeks until former [[Extreme
Championship Wrestling|ECW]] announcer [[Joey Styles]] was hired.
====2006==== On the May 1, 2006 edition of ''Raw'', [[Joey Styles]]
announced he was quitting ([[kayfabe]]). His vacating of the
announcer position set the stage for Jim Ross to return to Raw's
commentary booth, thus ending the storyline where Ross got fired by
[[Linda McMahon]]. This freed Styles to become a commentator for
the [[ECW on Syfy|ECW]] brand when it launched in June. In
[[Canada]], after an 11 year run on [[The Sports Network|TSN]],
''Raw'' moved to rival sports broadcaster [[The Score Television
Network|The Score]] after it was announced that TSN would be
carrying ''[[Monday Night Football]]'' for the 2006 season. The
Score claimed that unlike TSN they would never preempt Raw, however
that promise only lasted a few months. Then in 2007, The Score
started airing the show with a 15 minute tape delay. The first 15
minutes of the hour contains a countdown pre-show recapping the
previous week's events.{{cite
web|url=http://www.thescore.ca/scoretv|title=WWE
RAW|accessdate=2009-10-06|publisher=The Score}} During the
September 25, 2006 episode of ''Raw'' in [[Oklahoma City|Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma]], the opening of ''Raw'' suffered a blackout.
Spotlights were the only lights running in the house. Power in the
presentation was later restored. Another similar moment happened
back on May 26, 1996 in [[Florence, South Carolina]] for WWF [[In
Your House#In Your House 8: Beware of Dog|In Your House 8: Beware
of Dog]], when a major thunderstorm hit the [[Florence Civic
Center]] causing major chaos for the PPV. That Tuesday, [[In Your
House#In Your House 8: Beware of Dog 2|Beware of Dog]], returned to
[[North Charleston, South Carolina]] to finish out three matches
that were not shown because of the lost power feed. On October 9,
2006, ''Raw'' held a three-hour season premiere called the "Raw
Family Reunion", where the Raw brand debuted a new logo and theme
song, [[Papa Roach]]'s "''[[...To Be Loved]]''". The episode also
featured talent from the SmackDown! and ECW brands. Later that
month, on October 23 ''Raw'' aired its 700th episode, making it the
longest running weekly entertainment show, without a [[Hiatus
(television)|hiatus]], in television history. ====2007==== {{See
also|Chris Benoit double murder and suicide}} On June 25, 2007,
''Raw'' was scheduled in [[Corpus Christi, Texas]] to be a
three-hour special memorial show for the [[Kayfabe|storyline]]
death of the [[Vince McMahon|Mr. McMahon]] character. Two weeks
earlier, the show had broadcast an angle in which Mr. McMahon was
murdered by a bomb planted within his limousine. The 'Mr. McMahon'
tribute was cancelled on the day it was due to air after the real
life death of current superstar Chris Benoit and his family. The
show then became a three-hour tribute to Benoit. What made this
tribute different from others (e.g. Eddie Guerrero and Owen Hart)
was that the show had no original matches and no live audience.
Instead, the three-hour show aired highlights from the WWE DVD
'Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story', and a selection of Benoit's
most famous matches. Several wrestlers paid tribute in the form of
real interviews about him, and Vince McMahon broke character to
address the viewers about what had happened. However, when the
facts of Benoit's death came to light, WWE pulled this episode from
international markets which aired ''Raw'' on a [[Broadcast
delay|tape delay]] basis. Several channels announced the episode
was being withheld for legal reasons. A substitute ''Raw'', hosted
by [[Todd Grisham]] from WWE Studios, was created featuring recaps
of John Cena's WWE Championship victories, mainly the ones that had
occurred over the past year. The episode started with a message
from Vince McMahon which originally aired on the June 26 edition of
''ECW''. Some countries that received WWE programing up to three
weeks late had all Chris Benoit matches edited out. The WWE even
removed all Chris Benoit matches and interviews from the WWE 24/7
service. On December 10, 2007 ''Raw'' celebrated its 15th
anniversary in a three-hour spectacular on the USA Network with the
returns of [[Stone Cold Steve Austin|Steve Austin]], [[Rob Van
Dam]], [[Charles Wright (wrestler)|The Godfather]], [[Steve
Blackman]], [[Howard Finkel]], [[Ted DiBiase]], [[Eric Bischoff]],
[[Marty Jannetty]], [[David Heath (wrestler)|Gangrel]], [[Trish
Stratus]], [[Amy Dumas|Lita]], [[Tammy Lynn Sytch|Sunny]], [[Nora
Greenwald|Molly Holly]], [[Hulk Hogan]] and [[Mick Foley]] (as
Mankind) among others. Along with several reunions of former tag
teams and also included a 15-man "15 Years of Raw" [[Battle royal
(professional wrestling)|battle royal]]. The Raw 15th Anniversary
DVD was also released which featured some of the most memorable
moments in Raw history. ====2008====
[[Image:WWERawHD.jpg|right|175px|thumb|The ''Raw'' version of
universal WWE entrance set introduced on January 21, 2008 for WWE's
[[high-definition television|high-definition broadcasting]]
debut.]] WWE began their 2008 year with a new HD set, which
consisted of more than 1,000,000 [[Light-emitting diode|LED]]s. The
introduction of this new set retired the old set, which was used
from April 2002 to January 2008. Raw's first show in HD was held in
the [[Hampton Coliseum]] in [[Hampton, Virginia]]. On June 30, 2008
the World Heavyweight Championship returned to Raw after [[CM
Punk]] cashed in money in the bank and defeated Edge. On the
September 8, 2008 edition of Raw it was announced that a "talent
exchange" was started between ''ECW'' and ''Raw'', allowing their
respective talent to appear and compete on either brand. This is
similar to an earlier "talent exchange" between [[WWE Friday Night
SmackDown|SmackDown]] and ECW. On November 3, 2008, ''Raw''
celebrated its 800th episode with a three hour episode. The actual
800th episode aired on September 22, 2008. ====2009==== On February
15, at [[No Way Out (2009)|No Way Out]], [[Adam Copeland|Edge]] won
the [[World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)|World Heavyweight
Championship]] in ''Raw'''s [[Elimination Chamber]] match, thus
making it a SmackDown exclusive title and giving SmackDown two top
tier championships.{{cite
web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/matches/9229100/results/|title=Elimination
chamber result at no way
out|last=Tello|first=Craig|publisher=wwe.com|accessdate=
2009-02-17}} As a result of the [[2009 WWE Draft]] in April, WWE
Champion [[Triple H]] was drafted to the Raw brand, while the World
Heavyweight Championship moved to the Raw brand after Edge lost the
title to [[John Cena]] at [[WrestleMania XXV]].{{cite
web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/04132009/|title=Rough
Draft (Televised draft
results)|first=Aubrey|last=Sitterson|date=2009-04-13|publisher=[[World
Wrestling Entertainment]]|accessdate=2009-04-14}} SmackDown would
regain the World Heavyweight Championship at [[Backlash (2009)]]
when Edge defeated John Cena to win the championship.{{cite
web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/backlash/matches/9808960/results/|title=
Results:Fueled by hatred and desperation|publisher=[[World
Wrestling Entertainment]]|date=2009-04-26|accessdate=2009-04-26}}
In addition, SmackDown and Raw would exchange both women-exclusive
championships with Raw gaining the [[WWE Divas Championship]] and
SmackDown gaining the [[WWE Women's Championship]]. Also, SmackDown
and Raw exchanged the [[WWE Intercontinental Championship]] which
is now exclusive to SmackDown and the [[WWE United States
Championship]] which is exclusive to Raw Brand, for the first time
ever. On June 15, 2009, McMahon announced on a special three-hour
edition of ''Raw'' that he had "sold the show" to [[Donald Trump]],
who appeared on-screen to confirm it and declared he would be at
the following commercial-free episode in person. WWE treated the
sale as real, even issuing a press release on their corporate site
announcing it, but USA Network confirmed the next day that it was
[[kayfabe]] and part of a storyline. The "sale" was picked up as a
real event by many industry sources. The day following the
announcement, WWE's stock on the [[New York Stock Exchange]] fell.
On June 22, 2009, Vince McMahon bought back ''Raw'' from Donald
Trump for double of what he paid for ''Raw''. Despite USA Network's
acknowledgment that the sale was fictional, Randy Katz, a
securities lawyer with Baker & Hostetler, told [[Fox Business
Network]] that a probe by the [[U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission]] against WWE and USA Network owner [[General Electric]]
"certainly is a possibility."{{cite web|url=
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/wwe-usa-networks-could-face-sec-probe_1107317|title=Donald
Trump - WWE-USA Networks Could Face Sec
Probe|date=2009-06-22|accessdate=2009-06-23|publisher=Contact
Music}} After buying ''Raw'' back, McMahon announced that instead
of [[#Authority figures|general managers]] being in charge of
''Raw'', each week a different guest host would be in charge. These
hosts were either injured or retired wrestlers, [[WWE Hall of
Fame]]rs, or celebrities.{{cite web|
url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/06292009/|title=The
Animal's kingdom|last=Sitterson|first=Aubrey|date=2009-06-29|
publisher=[[World Wrestling Entertainment]]|accessdate=2009-07-14}}
==Production== Currently, the theme song for the Raw brand is
"[[Burn It to the Ground]]" by [[Nickelback]], which has been used
for the brand since November 16, 2009.{{cite
web|url=http://www.wwe.com/subscriptions/wwetunes/3242484/nickelbackrawtheme|accessdate=2009-11-09|title=Nickelback
and WWE team up for new Raw theme|publisher=World Wrestling
Entertainment}} Prior to this, the theme song for the Raw brand was
"[[...To Be Loved]]" by [[Papa Roach]], which had been used since
October 9, 2006. Since March 10, 1997, broadcasts of ''Raw'' were
split into two hours and given hourly names for [[Nielsen
Ratings|television ratings purposes]], with the first hour being
referred to as ''Raw is War'' and the second as ''War Zone'' by the
show's on-screen graphics. However, as of October 1, 2001, the
first hour has been referred to as ''Raw'' and the second as ''Raw
Zone'' by the show's on-screen graphics. However, both hours are
known as just "Raw" on-air. On January 7, 2008, WWE announced that
all 3 brands (Raw, [[WWE Friday Night SmackDown|SmackDown]], and
[[ECW on Syfy|ECW]]) would be broadcast in [[High-definition
television|HD]], [[Code name|codenamed]] "WWE HD" starting with Raw
on January 21. WWE invested an estimated $20 million dollars on new
recording and broadcasting equipment to prepare for the move, as
well as new pyrotechnics and lighting. The move replaced the Raw,
SmackDown!, and ECW sets with a new [[state of the art]] set shared
by all brands.{{cite web|title=WWE Goes
HD|url=http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2008/2008_01_14.jsp|publisher=WWE|accessdate=2008-01-15}}[http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/vms/raw/2008/january15-21/6255116
WWE: Mediaplayer > WWE goes high-definition with an all new set
] ===Special episodes=== {| border="2"
cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0;
background: #FCFDFF; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse:
collapse; font-size: 95%;" ! Episode || Date || Rating || Notes |-
|''Raw'' Bowl |January 1, 1996 |2.6{{cite
web|url=http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/wwf/wwfraw.htm|accessdate=2007-12-28|title=
WWE Raw rating history|publisher=Wrestling Information Archive}}
|{{small|}} |- |''Raw'' Championship Friday |September 6, 1996 |2.4
|{{small|}} |- |[[Royal Rumble (1997)|Royal Rumble]] ''Raw''
|February 3, 1997 |2.6 |{{small|First two-hour broadcast.
Featured clips from the [[Royal Rumble (1997)|Royal Rumble]].}} |-
|[[Owen Hart#RAW is Owen|''Raw'' is Owen]] |May 24, 1999 |7.2{{cite
web|url=http://www.gerweck.net/ratings99.htm|title=1999 Nielsen
Television
Ratings|publisher=Gerweck.net|first=Steve|last=Gerweck|accessdate=2009-08-21}}
|{{small|Tribute in memory of [[Owen Hart]].}} |- |The [[WWE Brand
Extension#Raw and SmackDown!|Brand Extension Draft]] |March 25,
2002 |5.4{{cite
web|url=http://www.gerweck.net/ratings02.htm|title=2002 Nielsen
Television
Ratings|publisher=Gerweck.net|first=Steve|last=Gerweck|accessdate=2009-08-21}}
|{{small|Start of the [[WWE Brand Extension|Brand
Extension]].
Vince McMahon selects the SmackDown roster while Ric Flair selects
the Raw roster.}} |- |''Raw'' X Anniversary |January 13, 2003
|3.9{{cite web|url=http://www.gerweck.net/ratings03.htm|title=2003
Nielsen Television
Ratings|publisher=Gerweck.net|first=Steve|last=Gerweck|accessdate=2009-08-21}}
|{{small|Award show that celebrated the show's 10th anniversary.}}
|- |The [[2004 WWE Draft Lottery]] |March 22, 2004 |4.5{{cite
web|url=http://www.gerweck.net/ratings04.htm|title=2004 Nielsen
Television
Ratings|publisher=Gerweck.net|first=Steve|last=Gerweck|accessdate=2009-08-21}}
|{{small|The first Draft Lottery that featured a supplemental
draft.}} |- |''Raw'' Homecoming |October 3, 2005 |4.4{{cite
web|url=http://www.gerweck.net/ratings05.htm|title=2005 Nielsen
Television
Ratings|publisher=Gerweck.net|first=Steve|last=Gerweck|accessdate=2009-08-21}}
|{{small|First three-hour broadcast.
Return to the [[USA Network]].}} |- |[[Eddie
Guerrero#Aftermath|Eddie Guerrero Tribute Show]] |November 14, 2005
|4.5 |{{small|Tribute in memory of [[Eddie Guerrero]].}} |- |[[WWE
Tribute to the Troops#2005|Tribute to the Troops]] |December 19,
2005 |3.7 |{{small|Christmas from [[Afghanistan]].
Honored [[United States armed forces|American armed forces]].}} |-
|''Raw'' Family Reunion |October 9, 2006 |3.8{{cite
web|url=http://www.gerweck.net/ratings06.htm|title=2006 Nielsen
Television
Ratings|publisher=Gerweck.net|first=Steve|last=Gerweck|accessdate=2009-08-21}}
|{{small|First ''Raw'' special to feature talent from all three
brands.}} |- |[[WWE Tribute to the Troops#2006|Tribute to the
Troops]] |December 25, 2006 |2.7 |{{small|Christmas from
[[Baghdad]].
Honored American armed forces.}} |- |[[2007 WWE Draft|Draft]]
3-Hour Special |June 11, 2007 |3.8{{cite
web|url=http://www.gerweck.net/ratings07.htm|title=2007 Nielsen
Television
Ratings|publisher=Gerweck.net|first=Steve|last=Gerweck|accessdate=2009-08-21}}
|{{small|Featured the [[2007 WWE Draft]].}} |- |[[Chris Benoit]]
3-Hour Memorial |June 25, 2007 |3.8 |{{small|Memorial to Chris
Benoit.
Clip show in international markets.}} |- |''Raw'' 15th Anniversary
|December 10, 2007 |4.4{{cite
web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/rawxvratings|title=Raw XV
heats up ratings|publisher=[[World Wrestling
Entertainment]]|date=2007-12-12}} |{{small|Celebrated the show's
15th anniversary.}} |- |[[WWE Tribute to the Troops#2007|Tribute to
the Troops]] |December 24, 2007 |2.5 |{{small|Christmas from
[[Iraq]].
Honored American armed forces.}} |- |[[King of the Ring#2008|King
of the Ring]] |April 21, 2008 |3.0 |{{small|King of the Ring
tournament.
Featured talent from all three brands.}} |- |[[2008 WWE Draft]]
|June 23, 2008 ||3.4 {{cite
web|url=http://gerweck.net/ratings08.htm|title=2008 Nielsen
Television Ratings|publisher
=Gerweck.net|first=Steve|last=Gerweck|accessdate=2009-08-21}} | |-
|''Raw's'' 800th Episode |November 3, 2008 |3.04
|{{small|Celebrated the show's 800th episode.}} |- |[[Slammy
Award#2008 Slammy Awards|2008 Slammy Awards]] |December 8, 2008
|3.02 |{{small|Slammy Award show.
Featured talent from all three brands.}} |- |[[2009 WWE Draft]]
|April 13, 2009 |3.73 {{cite
web|url=http://gerweck.net/ratings.htm|title=2009 Nielsen
Television Ratings|publisher=
Gerweck.net|first=Steve|last=Gerweck}} | |- |The 3-For-All |June
15, 2009 |3.72 {{cite
web|url=http://www.gerweck.net/news/1245187141.shtml|title=Raw
Rating|first=Steve
|last=Gerweck|date=2009-06-16|accessdate=2009-06-16|publisher=Gerweck.net}}
|{{small|Featured talent from all three brands.
Three World Championships were defended; [[WWE Championship|WWE]],
[[ECW Championship|ECW]], and [[World Heavyweight Championship
(WWE)|World Heavyweight]].}} |- |[[Donald Trump|Trump]] ''Raw''
|June 22, 2009 |4.5 {{cite
web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/news2009/1245795784.php|title=Final
6/22 Raw rating (huge
number)|first=Adam|last=Martin|publisher=Wrestle
View|date=2009-07-23|accessdate=2009-08-21}} |{{small|The first
[[Television advertisement|commercial-free]] broadcast.}} |- |A
''Raw'' [[Thanksgiving]] |November 23, 2009 |TBA |{{small| Featured
talent from Raw and SmackDown.
[[Jesse Ventura]] featured as Guest Host.}} |} ==On-air
personalities== ===Champions=== {{See also|List of current
champions in World Wrestling Entertainment}} {| border="2"
cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0;
background: #FCFDFF; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse:
collapse; font-size: 95%;" !Championship||Current champion(s)||Date
won||Event||Previous champion(s) |- |[[WWE Championship]] |[[John
Cena]] |October 25, 2009 |[[WWE Bragging Rights|Bragging Rights]]
|[[Randy Orton]] |- |[[WWE United States Championship]] |[[Mike
Mizanin|The Miz]] |October 5, 2009 |''Raw'' |[[Kofi Kingston]] |-
|[[WWE Divas Championship]] |[[Melina Perez|Melina]] |October 12,
2009 |''Raw'' |[[Jillian Hall]] |- |[[Unified WWE Tag Team
Championship]] |[[Chris Jericho]] and [[Paul Wight|The Big Show]]*
|June 28, 2009 |[[The Bash (2009)]] |[[The Colóns]]
{{small|([[Carly Colón|Carlito]] and [[Eddie Colón|Primo]])}} |}
* Due to Edge's injury, Jericho
received the right to pick a new partner.
Authority figures
| Authority |
Position |
Date started |
Date finished |
Notes |
| Ric Flair |
Owner |
November 9, 2001 |
June 10, 2002 |
|
| Vince McMahon |
Owner |
June 10, 2002 |
June 15, 2009 |
|
| Eric Bischoff |
General Manager |
July 15, 2002 |
December 5, 2005 |
|
| Jonathan Coachman |
General Manager |
June 11, 2007 |
August 6, 2007 |
|
| William Regal |
General Manager |
August 6, 2007 |
May 19, 2008 |
|
| Mike Adamle |
General Manager |
July 28, 2008 |
November 3, 2008 |
|
Shane McMahon
Stephanie McMahon |
General Manager |
November 3, 2008 |
November 24, 2008 |
|
| Stephanie McMahon |
General Manager |
November 24, 2008 |
April 6, 2009 |
|
| Vickie Guerrero |
General Manager |
April 6, 2009 |
June 8, 2009 |
|
| Donald Trump |
Owner |
June 15, 2009 |
June 22, 2009 |
|
| Vince McMahon |
Owner |
June 22, 2009 |
Present |
|
| Guest host |
General Manger |
June 29, 2009 |
Present |
|
Commentators
| Commentators |
Dates |
| Vince McMahon, Randy Savage and Rob
Bartlett |
January 11, 1993 - April 19, 1993 |
| Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan and
Randy Savage |
April 26, 1993 - October 18, 1993 |
| Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan |
October 25, 1993 - December 6, 1993 |
| Vince McMahon and Johnny Polo |
December 20, 1993 - March 1994 |
| Gorilla Monsoon and Randy
Savage |
June 1994 - July 1994 |
| Jim Ross and Randy Savage |
July 1994 - August 1994 |
| Vince McMahon and Randy Savage |
March 1994 - May 1994
August 1994 - October 1994 |
| Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler |
October 1994 - August 1996 |
| Kevin Kelly, Jim Ross
and Jerry Lawler |
August 1996 - October 1996 |
| Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler |
October 1996 - November 1997 |
| Jim Ross, Michael Cole and Kevin
Kelly |
December 1997 - March 1998 |
| Jim Ross and Paul Heyman |
February 2001 - November 2001 |
| Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler and Jonathan Coachman |
June 26, 2005 - October 10, 2005 |
| Jonathan Coachman and Jerry Lawler |
October 17, 2005 - October 31, 2005 |
| Joey Styles, Jerry Lawler and
Jonathan Coachman |
November 7, 2005 - April 16, 2006 |
| Joey Styles and Jerry Lawler |
April 23, 2006 - May 1, 2006 |
| Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler |
December 1997 - November 1998
April 1999 - February 2001
November 2001 - June 2005
May 8, 2006 - June 16, 2008 |
| Michael Cole and Jerry
Lawler |
November 1998 - April 1999
June 30, 2008 - Present |
|
Ring announcers
Recurring segments
A.M. Raw
WWE A.M.
Raw, a Saturday night/Sunday morning
show, airs on the USA Network at 2 a.m.
ET. It features segments from the latest episode of WWE
Raw. A.M. Raw also features news updates from all across the
WWE. The show mostly airs the main event matches and promos that
aired on Raw, and shows the event schedule for the upcoming
weeks.
International broadcasters
The show currently airs live
on the USA Network (and on tape
delay Wednesdays on mun2, Saturdays on
Universal HD, and Sundays on Telemundo in Spanish) in the United States.
Occasionally, Raw is aired on same-day tape delay when WWE
is on an overseas tour.
See also
References
- }
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