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''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American
professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
produced by
WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...
that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the
USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
in the United States. The show features characters from the Raw
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...
, to which
WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...
employees are assigned to work and perform. The show debuted on January 11, 1993 and is currently considered to be one of two flagship shows, along with '' Friday Night SmackDown''. In September 2000, ''Raw'' moved from the USA Network to TNN, which rebranded to Spike TV in August 2003. On October 3, 2005, ''Raw'' returned to the USA Network, where it remains today. The
WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television t ...
has ceased operations in the United States as of April 5, 2021, with all content being moved to
Peacock TV Peacock is an American over-the-top video streaming service owned and operated by the Television and Streaming division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Named after the NBC logo, the service launched on July 15, 2020. The service pri ...
, which currently has most ''Raw'' episodes, excluding content that was censored or removed by Peacock TV's standards and practices department. Recent episodes are still available for on-demand viewing 30 days after the original air date. Since its first episode, ''Raw'' has been broadcast live from 208 different arenas, 171 cities and towns, and ten different nations: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Afghanistan in 2005, Iraq in 2006 and 2007, South Africa, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Mexico.


History

Beginning as WWF's ''Monday Night Raw,'' the program first aired on January 11, 1993 on the
USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
as a replacement for '' Prime Time Wrestling'', which aired on the network for eight years. The original ''Raw'' was sixty minutes in length and 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 considerably different from the taped weekend shows that aired at the time such as '' Superstars'' and ''
Wrestling Challenge ''WWF Wrestling Challenge'' is a professional wrestling television show that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE). It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1995. The show became simply known as ''WWF Cha ...
''. Instead of matches taped weeks in advance with studio voice overs and taped discussion, ''Raw'' was a show shot and aired to a live audience, with angles playing out as they happened. ''Raw'' originated from the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center, a small
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
theater, and aired live each week. The combination of an intimate venue and live action proved to be a successful improvement. However, the weekly live schedule proved to be a financial drain on the WWF. From Spring 1993 up until Spring 1997, ''Raw'' would tape several week's worth of episodes after a live episode had aired. The WWF taped several weeks worth of ''Raw'' from the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in
Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie ...
, New York in April 1993, and again in June and October. The first episode produced outside of New York was taped in Bushkill,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
in November 1993 and ''Raw'' left the Manhattan Center permanently as the show would be taken on the road throughout the United States and had in smaller venues. On September 4, 1995, the WWF's chief competitor
World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...
began airing its new wrestling show, '' Monday Nitro'', live each week on
TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
, which marked the start of the
Monday Night Wars The Monday Night Wars or Monday Night War was an era of mainstream televised American professional wrestling, from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001, in which the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF, now WWE) ''Monday Night Raw'' (later ''Raw I ...
. ''Raw'' and ''Nitro'' went head-to-head for the first time on September 11, 1995. 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, due to the nWo
angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two rays, called the '' sides'' of the angle, sharing a common endpoint, called the '' vertex'' of the angle. Angles formed by two rays lie in the plane that contains the rays. Angles a ...
, ''Nitro'' started a ratings win-streak that lasted for 84 consecutive weeks, ending on April 13, 1998. On February 3, 1997, ''Raw'' went to a two-hour format, to compete with the extra hour on ''Nitro'' (which had been expanded to two hours in the summer of 1996), and by March 10, it was renamed to ''Raw Is War''. It was also during the time ''Raw'' would be aired live more often. After
WrestleMania XIV WrestleMania XIV was the 14th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; WWE as of 2002). It took place on March 29, 1998, at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts. ...
in March 1998, the WWF regained the lead in the Monday Night Wars with its new " WWF Attitude" brand. The April 13, 1998 episode of ''Raw Is War'', which was headlined by a match between
Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...
and Vince McMahon, marked the first time that WCW had lost the head-to-head Monday night ratings battle in the 84 weeks since 1996. On January 4, 1999,
Mick Foley Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American actor, author, retired professional wrestler, and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE under the company's Legends program, acting as a company ambassador. Foley worked for m ...
, who had wrestled for WCW during the early 1990s as Cactus Jack, won the WWF Championship as Mankind on ''Raw Is War''. On orders from Eric Bischoff, ''Nitro'' announcer
Tony Schiavone Noah Anthony Schiavone (, ; born November 7, 1957) is an American sports announcer, professional wrestling commentator and podcaster currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a play-by-play commentator and senior producer. He has pr ...
gave away this previously taped result on a live ''Nitro'' and then sarcastically added, "That's gonna put some butts in the seats", consequently resulting in over 600,000 viewers switching channels to ''Raw Is War'' to see the underdog capture the
WWF Championship The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDow ...
. This was also the night that ''Nitro'' aired a
WCW World Heavyweight Championship The WCW World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally used in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the original world title of ...
match in which
Kevin Nash Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he performed under his ...
laid down for Hollywood Hogan after Hogan poked him in the chest. On June 28, 2000, Viacom won the landmark deal with the WWF to move all of its WWF programs stemming from the lawsuit action against WWF from USA Network. The new television contract and the subsequent purchase of competitor WCW led to many changes in WWF's programming content. ''Raw Is War'' premiered on TNN on September 25, 2000. WCW's sharp decline in revenue and ratings led to AOL Time Warner selling selected assets such as the WCW name, tapes, and contracts to the WWF in March 2001 for $3 million. The final episode of Nitro, which aired on March 26, 2001, began with Vince McMahon making a short statement about his recent purchase of WCW and ended with a simulcast with ''Raw'' on TNN and ''Nitro'' on TNT including an appearance by Vince's son Shane. The younger McMahon 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. Following the purchase of WCW and the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
, the program was retitled as ''Raw'' on October 1, 2001, permanently retiring the ''Raw Is War'' moniker in prelude to the upcoming United States invasion of Afghanistan. In March 2002, as a result of the overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline, WWF instituted a process known as the " brand extension", under which ''Raw'' and '' SmackDown!'' would be treated as two distinct divisions, each with their own rosters and championships. Shortly thereafter, the WWF was legally required to change the name of the company to World Wrestling Entertainment. On March 10, 2005, Viacom and WWE decided not to go on with the agreement with Spike TV, effectively ending ''Raw'' and other WWE programs' tenure on the network when their deal expired in September 2005. On April 4, 2005, WWE announced a three-year deal with
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primaril ...
to bring ''Raw'' back to its former home, the USA Network, with two yearly specials on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
and a Spanish ''Raw'' on
Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...
. On the same week as ''Raw''s return to the USA Network, Spike TV scheduled
Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
's live ''Ultimate Fight Night'' in ''Raw'''s old timeslot in an attempt to go head-to-head with ''Raw''. Since the move to USA Network, ''Raw'' has been pre-empted during the U.S. Open, which aired on USA, resulting the program to be moved to
SciFi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...
, a sister channel to USA, for three years. Since 2016, the two-hour version of that week's ''Raw'' has aired on Syfy. In February 2022, Raw temporarily moved to Syfy for two episodes due to USA's coverage (as part of NBC Sports) of the 2022 Winter Olympics. On the August 29, 2011 episode of ''Raw'', it was announced that performers from ''Raw'' and ''SmackDown'' were no longer exclusive to their respective brand, thus effectively dissolving the brand extension. On July 23, 2012, ''Raw'' aired its 1,000th episode, which also began its permanent three-hour format. On January 14, 2013, ''Raw'' celebrated its 20th year on the air. On May 25, 2016, WWE reintroduced the brand split, and a new set with red ring ropes, a brand new stage, used at
SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's secon ...
. Furthermore, the broadcast table was moved to the entrance ramp similar to how it was in 2002–2005. On January 22, 2018, WWE celebrated the 25th anniversary of Raw with a simulcast show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the home of the first Monday Night Raw, the Manhattan Center. On the February 19 episode of ''Raw'', six days before Elimination Chamber, seven participants of the men's Elimination Chamber match,
Braun Strowman Adam Joseph Scherr (born September 6, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and former strongman. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Braun Strowman. In WWE, he is a one-time U ...
,
Elias Elias is the Greek equivalent of Elijah ( he, אֵלִיָּהוּ‎ ''ʾĒlīyyāhū''; Syriac: ܐܠܝܐ ''Eliyā''; Arabic: الیاس Ilyās/Elyās), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several h ...
,
Finn Bálor Fergal Devitt (born 25 July 1981) is an Irish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Finn Bálor (), and is a member of The Judgment Day. Devitt is widely known for his t ...
,
John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied ...
,
Roman Reigns Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoa'i (born May 25, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and former football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Roman Reigns. He is the leader of The B ...
,
Seth Rollins Colby Daniel Lopez (born May 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Seth Rollins (often referred to as Seth "Freakin" Rollins). Prior to signing ...
and
The Miz Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name The Miz. Mizanin first gained fa ...
, were involved in a
Gauntlet match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
that began with Reigns and Rollins. Strowman won the Gauntlet match by pinning The Miz in what was the longest match in WWE history, lasting nearly two hours. From March 12, 2020 to August 18, 2020, WWE announced that all of its live programs was aired from the
WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school system of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The promotion currently operates two Performance Center locations, which serve as training facilities for WWE ...
in Orlando, Florida without an audience until further notice beginning with the following day's episode of ''SmackDown'' due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
that resulted in the suspension of many professional sports leagues. On the May 25 episode of ''Raw,'' NXT trainees were added into live crowds at the Performance Center. In August, all programming was moved to the new, state-of-the-art
WWE ThunderDome The WWE ThunderDome was a bio-secure bubble created by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, in partnership with the full-service fan experience company, The Famous Group. It was launched in August 2020 as a way for professional wrest ...
inside of the
Amway Center Amway Center is an indoor arena located in Downtown Orlando, Florida. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the NBA, the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, and the Orlando Predators of the National Arena League. Amway Center hosted the 2012 N ...
in Orlando. On May 21 WWE announced that they will return in front of live fans with a 25 city tour, therefore the July 12 edition of Raw would be the final WWE ThunderDome show.


Production

''Raw''s original set featured red, white, and blue ring-ropes, a blue ring-apron, blue steps, and a small stage made of neon tubes. Since March 10, 1997, broadcasts of ''Raw'' were split into two hours and given hourly names for television ratings purposes, with the first hour being referred to as ''Raw Is War'' and the second as ''War Zone'' in television listings, and by the show's on-screen graphics beginning with the June 9, 1997 episode. War Zone opened with simply the Raw intro repeated, punctuated with the War Zone logo, until the November 24, 1997 broadcast when it finally debuted its own distinct opening video, albeit simply a remixed Raw opening video. In 1995, the entrance way was changed to feature "Raw" in giant letters. In 1997, WWF changed to red ring-ropes for ''Raw'' as well as ''Raw Is War'' being written along the ring due to their rivalry with
WCW World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...
. They also updated the stage to feature a 70 foot tall large screen video wall known as the "TitanTron", which consisted a projection screen with several metal stage trusses and a
video projector A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. Video projectors use a very bright ultra-high-performance lamp (a special mercury arc lamp), X ...
. The set also initially featured curtains on each side with truss beams and lighting later bearing the "WWF Attitude" banner on the sides. By 1999, the WWF added the "WWF.com: 'Download This!'" logo on the bottom of the TitanTron and added two vertical sides on the stage. With ''Raw'' moving to TNN from USA beginning with the September 25, 2000 episode, the TNN network logo was added on top of the TitanTron on the December 11, 2000 episode. The Chyron graphics were added to the bottom from the July 2, 2001 episode. Beginning October 1, 2001, in direct response to the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
, the first hour was referred to as ''Raw'' instead of ''Raw Is War'' and the second hour changed from the ''War Zone'' to the ''Raw Zone'' by the show's on-screen graphics; however, announcers would generally refer to the entire two-hour block as ''Raw'' on-air. ''Raw'' updated to a new, industrial-inspired, parallelogram-shaped TitanTron in 2002. When the ''War'' ended, they began advertising their website on the ring aprons instead. They occasionally used black ropes. Like the previous set, the TNN logo was relocated to the bottom side of the TitanTron which was then replaced by the Spike TV logo on August 11, 2003 upon network relaunch. During the July 25, 2005 broadcast of ''Raw'' in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, a special stage design was built for the
John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied ...
-
Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jerich ...
Battle of the Bands concert. The 2002 set was designed by Production Designer Jason Robinson and it is larger than the previous TitanTron with the dimensions of 55 foot wide by 25 foot tall weighing about 4,000 lbs. and requires 3 18,000 watt projector screens to power the TitanTron.WWE Confidential – October 11, 2003
/ref> On October 3, 2005, as ''Raw'' returned to USA Network, the 2002 set was retained but the beams and lighting on the sides were modified. The Spike TV logo was removed from the bottom side of the TitanTron. No changes to the ''Raw'' set beyond October 9, 2006 when it unveiled the new logo and opening intro featuring " ...To Be Loved" by Papa Roach as its theme song and scenes from
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, the birthplace of ''Raw'', with the ending of the intro shows the rooftop of Madison Square Garden. However, the logo and intro was retained until November 9, 2009 even with the changeover to high-definition broadcast on January 21, 2008, replacing the previous set which the "Minitron" was destroyed by
Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as ...
when Vince McMahon's face was shown. From November 16, 2009 to July 23, 2012, the theme song for the ''Raw'' brand was "
Burn It to the Ground "Burn It to the Ground" is the fourth U.S. single (fifth single in Canada after " I'd Come for You") released from Canadian rock band Nickelback's sixth studio album '' Dark Horse''. The song has been used extensively for various promotional use ...
" by
Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. It is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adair. It wen ...
. Prior to this, the theme song for ''Raw'' was " ...To Be Loved" by Papa Roach, which had been used since October 9, 2006 and "Across The Nation" by The Union Underground which was used from April 1, 2002 to October 2, 2006. The rap outro of " Thorn In Your Eye" featuring
Scott Ian Scott Ian (born Scott Ian Rosenfeld, December 31, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the thrash metal band Anthrax. Ian is the guitarist and a founding member of the crossover thrash band Stormtroo ...
of Anthrax was the theme song from March 31, 1997 to March 25, 2002. On May 17, 2012, WWE and USA Network announced that ''Raw'' would switch to a permanent three-hour format beginning with the 1,000th episode on July 23, 2012. Since then, all three hours of the broadcast have been known solely as ''Raw'', though they are still considered three separate programs for Nielsen ratings purposes (as indicated by the on-screen copyright notice shown near the end of each hour). In 2008, ''Raw'' went HD debuting a new stage. In 2010, WWE retired the red ropes for ''Raw'' after thirteen years for an all white scheme, and in 2012 became standard for all WWE programming. In 2012, ''Raw'' updated their HD set. Starting in mid 2014, this set would also be featured in pay-per-views. From late September through the end of October 2012, the middle rope at all WWE programming was changed to pink due to WWE's alliance with the Susan G. Komen organization for
Breast Cancer Awareness Month Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM), also referred to in the United States as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM), is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awaren ...
. This was repeated in 2013, from late September to early November, and it was repeated in 2014 from 29 September. WWE is one of many organizations who provide financial contributions as well as getting customers and employees to support the cause. On August 18, 2014, ''Raw'' switched to a full 16:9 letterbox widescreen presentation, with a down-scaled version of the native HD feed on a 4:3 SD feed. In conjunction with this, ''Raw'' updated its graphics package, with the new WWE logo (first used with the WWE Network's launch in February) now on the lower-right corner of the screen, right next to the word, "Live". Also, the new WWE logo is seen on the ring's turnbuckle covers. The USA Network logo has also been moved to the lower-left hand corner of the screen. Also, ''Raw''s theme song ("The Night") was modified. On re-runs on the WWE Network and on delayed broadcasts for most international markets, ''Raw'' is edited without the word "LIVE" and the hashtag. On March 23, 2015, WWE added a small LED board to the left side of the ring on ''Raw''. This LED board was also used at
WrestleMania 31 WrestleMania 31 was the 31st annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on March 29, 2015, at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area town of Santa Clara, California. Nine ...
. The LED board since is now on an on/off basis, featuring in some weeks and not others. On the 1,000th episode of ''Raw'', "The Night" by Kromestatik debuted as the theme for ''Raw'' while "Energy" by
Shinedown Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed by singer Brent Smith in 2001 after the dissolution of Dreve, his previous band. Smith, still under contract with record label Atlantic Records, recruited the band's original ...
served as the secondary theme-song until August 18, 2014, when it was replaced with "Denial" by We Are Harlot. On the September 14, 2015 season premiere of ''Raw'', the middle rope was colored gold. Throughout the month of October 2015, the program partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure to promote
Breast Cancer Awareness Month Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM), also referred to in the United States as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM), is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awaren ...
, with various stage elements being made pink. On the November 16, 2015, episode of ''Raw'', WWE had a moment of silence for the victims of the
terrorist attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, France, on November 13, 2015. Another moment of silence was held months later in June for the victims of the
Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff. In a ...
. On July 25, 2016, the ropes returned to red, the announce table moved back to the top of the stage for the first time since 2005, and a new HD set and graphics were debuted. The new set was almost identical to the set used for
SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's secon ...
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
and
2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
. It received some negativity after the newly dubbed "New Era" was using an older set. The set was revamped just four weeks later with a more elaborate and distinctive design. The new set featured the absence of a traditional TitanTron which had been custom since 1997. In its place was a curved LED banner with several rows of rectangle LED lights behind it. The new set also introduced LED floor panels on the entrance ramp along with LED ring posts. On the January 29, 2018 episode of Raw, new graphics and an updated logo were introduced, which lasted until September 23, 2019. On September 30, 2019 for its season premiere (and coinciding with the premiere of ''SmackDown'' on Fox later that week), ''Raw'' introduced a new set (including the reinstatement of pyrotechnics, which had been dropped in 2017 due to budget issues), updated logo (cropped with a chevron to make it resemble the corner of a ring), and new theme music ("Legendary" by Skillet). It was also revealed that both shows will now be staffed by separate writing teams. In September 2021, the ropes would turn white from red permanently which would also apply the same to SmackDown. Meaning all WWE programming except NXT UK use white ropes once again just like December 2012 – July 2016. On November 22, 2021, an updated version of the 2019 logo was introduced, alongside new graphics, and theme song. In February 2022, ''Raw'' and ''NXT'' temporarily moved to Syfy in the United States, due to USA Network broadcasting coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics. According to Eric Bischoff on the episode of '' WWE Confidential'', the show utilizes 13 cameras at the cost of $85,000.


Theme music

;Notes # Bold song titles denotes that the song is currently being used as the show's theme.


Name-related lawsuits

The name for ''Raw'' was disputed in June 2009 when Muscle Flex Inc., a
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
-based fitness company, had taken legal action against the WWE after a court ruled that some of WWE's trademarks related to ''Raw'' were similar enough to the ''In the Raw'' trademark that they caused confusion among
Canadians Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
. On June 18, 2008, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office then issued a final decision that found certain wares listed in the trademark application from WWE (No. 1,153,018) were confusingly similar and thus lacked distinctiveness from the Muscle Flex trademark, which Muscle Flex is in the process of acquiring. The WWE appealed the CIPO's ruling to the
Federal Court of Canada The Federal Court of Canada, which succeeded the Exchequer Court of Canada in 1971, was a national court of Canada that had limited jurisdiction to hear certain types of disputes arising under the federal government's legislative jurisdiction. O ...
, but failed to file the required documents by the deadline. In August 2009, the court ruled in favor of Muscle Flex, Inc. that it was successful in defending its ''In the Raw'' trademark against the WWE. In a press release date issued on July 20, 2009, Muscle Flex Inc. disclosed that it was in possession of WWE ''Raw''-labeled items that it believes directly infringe on its ''In the Raw'' trademark such as various CDs, VHS tapes, and a number of apparel items. According to the WWE's most recent reported financial quarter in 2009, combined sales of WWE's consumer products and digital media business segments produced $40 million in global revenues. In previous quarters, these numbers were even higher. Similarly, in June 2017, the WWE issued a legal order to Raw Motors, an automobile repair company in
Colwick Colwick ( ) is a village, civil parish, and suburb of the city of Nottingham, in the English ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire. It is situated to the east of Nottingham's city boundary, and forms the Colwick ward within the local governmen ...
, UK, over a logo that it claims infringes on one of its logos for ''Raw'' that was used from 2006 to 2012.


Special episodes

Throughout its broadcast history, the show has aired episodes that have different themes. Some of them are yearly events such as the
Slammy Award The Slammy Awards is a concept used by WWE, where awards, similar to the Academy and Grammy Awards, are given to professional wrestlers and other individuals within WWE, such as commentators and managers. Introduced in 1986, there have been 13 e ...
s. Others include tributes to various professional wrestlers who have recently died or retired from actively performing, as well as episodes commemorating various show milestones or anniversaries such as Raw 1000, which celebrated the 1000th broadcast.


On-air personalities

The show features various on-air personalities including the wrestlers themselves (both males and females), ring announcers, commentators, on-screen authority figures and musicians. ''Raw'' also has had various recurring on-air segments hosted by members of the roster.


Broadcast

In the United States, the show airs live every Monday at 8PM ET on the
USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
. Occasionally, ''Raw'' is aired on same-day tape delay when WWE is on an overseas tour. ''Raw'' is also shown live on
BT Sport BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Bro ...
in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, in a deal which began January 2020. ''Raw'' airs live in India at 5.30 am on Tuesdays on
Sony Ten Sony Sports Network, formerly Sony Pictures Sports Network, and also known as Sony TEN, is a group of Indian pay television sports channels owned by Culver Max Entertainment (formerly Sony Pictures Networks India). The original TEN Sports chan ...
1. Since October 6, 2014, ''Raw'' has been airing live throughout
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
on
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...
. The show also airs live on Supersport in South Africa on Tuesdays at 02:00 am CAT. ''Raw'' had aired in Australia on Fox8 since 2003, usually on a 27-hour tape delay, but has started airing live as of February 4, 2014. Syfy in the United States started airing a 2-hour replay of ''Raw'' on May 20, 2016. On June 26, 2018, WWE and USA Network announced a five-year contract extension for ''Raw''. The new agreement for the live, weekly three-hour block commenced in October 2019. Clips from some WWE shows have also been shown on Fox Sports.com.


Online streaming

On September 24, 2012, Hulu signed a multi-year deal with WWE to stream all of the company's TV shows and some of its web series which includes ''Raw''. Episodes of ''Raw'' are available for viewing the following day as a condensed 90-minute version is available, not the full version as shown the previous night on the USA Network. As of December 9, 2016, all episodes of ''Raw'' are available on demand on the WWE Network. Recent episodes are available for on-demand viewing 30 days after their original air date. After
WrestleMania 32 WrestleMania 32 was the 32nd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on April 3, 2016, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. This was the last Wre ...
in 2016, WWE began with airing the newest episodes of Raw and
SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes sim ...
on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
for countries that do not air WWE programming on traditional TV for free in less than 24 hours after the original broadcast (The links are blocked in countries where the shows are traditionally available). The 90-minute Hulu version gets put on YouTube for international audiences.


Canada

From 1995 to 2006, ''Raw'' was shown on
The Sports Network The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. Since 2001, it has been majority-owned by comm ...
(TSN) until it moved to rival sports broadcaster The Score (now renamed Sportsnet 360) after it was announced that TSN would be carrying '' Monday Night Football'' for the 2006 season. This meant that Canadian viewers would have to watch via tape-delay, as The Score did not broadcast ''Raw'' live at that time. Around that time, The Score aired ''Countdown to Raw'' until May 2013 when ''Raw'' is shown live to match the United States airtime. It was also shown on CKVR-TV in Barrie and CKMI-TV in Quebec until 2009. During its run on TSN, which aired live, Raw occasionally had been censored live for extremely violent scenes, or when female wrestlers or
characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
were assaulted by male wrestlers (particularly one segment that featured the 3-Minute Warning assaulting Kitana Baker). These actions are supposed to be in order to meet Canadian broadcast standards, with repeat broadcasts often more heavily edited. This move had disappointed many wrestling fans over the years, and is unusual since the violence of wrestling scenes are not significantly different from other television programs aired on regular Canadian networks. Due to Rogers holding the rights to the National Hockey League broadcasts, ''Raw'' also airs on its
OLN OLN (formerly Outdoor Life Network) is a Canadian English-language Category A specialty channel. OLN primarily broadcasts factual-based and adventure-related reality programming aimed at male audiences. OLN is wholly owned by Rogers Sports & Me ...
channel. All archived broadcasts of ''Raw'' are available on the
WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television t ...
. Rogers Media secured the rights to Canadian WWE programming until 2024.


The Middle East

''Raw'' airs live in the
MENA MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...
region on
Shahid ''Shaheed'' ( ,  ,   ; pa, ਸ਼ਹੀਦ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); ...
streaming platform Tuesday mornings, and later on the same day, a one-hour version airs on
MBC Action MBC Action (stylized as ''MBC'ACTION'') is a free-to-air television channel that MBC Group’s action-packed channel that targets young Arabic males. It delivers the best in high-octane Western series, movies and action. shows and sports and ...
at 8 PM
Egypt Standard Time Egypt Standard Time (EGY) ( ''Tawqīt Miṣr al-qiyāsiyy'') is UTC+02:00, which is equivalent to Eastern European Time, Central Africa Time, South African Standard Time and Central European Summer Time, and is co-linear with neighbouring ...
. It also airs on FM1 in Iran and on Sport 1 and Sport 1 HD in Israel. ''Raw'' further began airing on D-Smart in Turkey.


Europe

In Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, ''Raw'' airs live on
DAZN DAZN ( "da zone") is a global sports entertainment platform. Different to traditional linear and satellite broadcasting, DAZN is an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service meaning that it is delivered directly to viewers via the internet. The ...
and with German commentary on ProSieben MAXX every Wednesday at 10pm. In Belgium, ''Raw'' airs on
ABXplore ABXplore is a private commercial thematic television channel of the French Community of Belgium operated by Mediawan Thematics. History On September 13, 2017, AB Groupe Mediawan Thematics (formerly known as AB Groupe) is a French business gro ...
(in French) and on
Play6 Play6 is a Belgian commercial television channel for Flemish public which started broadcasting on 6 October 2016. It is part of SBS Belgium. The channel is a sister channel of Play4 and Play5. ZES focuses on older, successful series, movies and ...
. In Czech Republic, ''Raw'' airs on Nova Sport. In France, ''Raw'' airs on AB1 and L’Équipe every Saturday. In Italy, ''Raw'' airs live on Discovery Plus and with the italian commentary 7 days after on DMAX. In Lithuania, ''Raw'' airs on BTV. In Poland, ''Raw'' airs on Extreme Sports Channel. In Portugal, ''Raw'' airs live on Sport TV with Portuguese commentary. In Romania, ''Raw'' airs on Telekom Sport. In Russia, ''Raw'' airs on Match! Fighter with Russian commentary. In Serbia, ''Raw'' was airs on
Prva Srpska Televizija Prva (; sr-Cyrl, Прва) or Prva Srpska Televizija ( sr-Cyrl, Прва српска телевизија, lit=First Serbian Television), is a Serbian commercial television network with national coverage. Launched on 31 December 2006 at 7&nbs ...
., like it was airs on OBN in
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
and on RTL 2 in Croatia. In Spain, ''Raw'' airs on
Mega Mega or MEGA may refer to: Science * mega-, a metric prefix denoting 106 * Mega (number), a certain very large integer in Steinhaus–Moser notation * "mega-" a prefix meaning "large" that is used in taxonomy * Gravity assist, for ''Moon-Eart ...
every Saturday at 1pm with Spanish commentary. In United Kingdom and Ireland, ''Raw'' airs live on
BT Sport BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Bro ...
, with a one-hour version airing on Channel 5 every Sunday at 10:30am.


Asia and Pacific

''Raw'' airs on
Sony Ten Sony Sports Network, formerly Sony Pictures Sports Network, and also known as Sony TEN, is a group of Indian pay television sports channels owned by Culver Max Entertainment (formerly Sony Pictures Networks India). The original TEN Sports chan ...
1 and Sony Ten 1 HD in Nepal. It airs on Mola TV On-Demand in Indonesia. ''Raw'' airs live on Sony Ten 1 HD and Sony Ten 1 in India. And airs exclusive in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. ''Raw'' streams live on TAP GO app with a live and encore telecast on TAP Sports (Philippines) on the same day and 5 in delayed telecast every Sunday nights. ''Raw'' airs live on Starhub's Hub Sports 2 in Singapore. ''Raw'' airs both live and delayed on Fox8 and Thursday nights on
9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, ani ...
as a one-hour version in Australia. ''Raw'' airs live on J Sports 4 in Japan. ''Raw'' airs live on
Sky 5 Sky 5 is a television channel in New Zealand available on Sky. The channel's shows are a variety of international shows, for example ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', ''The Simpsons'', WWE, ''The Flash'', ''Supergirl'', ''Arrow'', ''Tour ...
and Friday nights on
Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...
as a one-hour version in New Zealand. ''Raw'' airs in China on various local networks within China and
Videoland Television Network Videoland Television Network () is a cable television network program provider in Taiwan, founded in 1983 by Koos Group. Videoland is one of Taiwan's major satellite television providers, offering seven channels of programming. Videoland is also ...
in Taiwan in both English and Thai. ''Raw'' airs on
ViuTVsix ViuTVsix is a free-to-air English language general entertainment television channel in Hong Kong operated by HK Television Entertainment (HKTVE), whose parent company, PCCW, also operates IPTV platform Now TV and media streaming service Viu. Th ...
in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, on
Ten Sports Sony Sports Network, formerly Sony Pictures Sports Network, and also known as Sony TEN, is a group of Indian pay television sports channels owned by Culver Max Entertainment (formerly Sony Pictures Networks India). The original TEN Sports chan ...
in Pakistan, and on IB Sports in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
.


Latin America

''Raw'' airs live on
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...
in Mexico and across Central and
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
. It also airs on La Red in Chile, Unitel in Bolivia, Canal Uno in Colombia, Teleamazonas in Ecuador, Andina de Televisión in Peru, Repretel: Canal 11 in Costa Rica, Canal VTV in El Salvador, Canal 5 in Honduras, RPC Canal 4 in Panama and
Imagen Televisión Imagen Televisión is a national broadcast television network in Mexico, owned by Grupo Imagen. It launched on October 17, 2016, at 8 p.m. History Imagen on television In 2006, Imagen's parent, Grupo Empresarial Ángeles, acquired XHRAE-T ...
in Mexico.


South Africa

Previously the rights to broadcast Raw, along with other WWE shows, were held by free-to-air broadcaster
e.tv e.tv (commonly referred to on-air as e) is the first and only privately owned free-to-air television station in South Africa. It is the fifth terrestrial television channel in the country, following three channels that are operated by the sta ...
. Raw would play on Sundays in the evening, with a 7-day delay, edited to one hour and was the most watched program on the channel. However, in 2017 e.tv decided not to renew its broadcasting deal with WWE. The rights were later resold to SuperSport (the initial broadcasters of WWE programming). In 2019 SuperSport, along with its parent company MultiChoice, signed a deal to broadcast the 24-hour WWE channel as a pop-up channel for five months on their DStv platform. It is now a permanent channel on DStv under the channel number 128


Jamaica

WWE Raw airs live on Flow 1 and has a replay on Saturdays at 12 PM.


Broadcast history


United States


Canada


Awards and nominations


References


External links


''WWE Raw''
a
USANetwork.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:WWE Raw 1993 American television series debuts 2000s American television series 2010s American television series 2020s American television series American live television series Spike (TV network) original programming USA Network original programming English-language television shows