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.
