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. Raw and Nitro went head-to-head for the first time on September 11, 1995. On September 4, 1995, the WWF's chief competitor World Championship Wrestling began airing its new wrestling show, Monday Nitro, live each week on TNT, which marked the start of the Monday Night Wars. The first episode produced outside of New York was taped in Bushkill, Pennsylvania 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. The WWF taped several weeks worth of Raw from the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York in April 1993, and again in June and October. From Spring 1993 up until Spring 1997, Raw would tape several week's worth of episodes after a live episode had aired. However, the weekly live schedule proved to be a financial drain on the WWF. The combination of an intimate venue and live action proved to be a successful improvement. Raw originated from the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center, a small New York City theater, and aired live each week. 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. The Raw formula was considerably different from the taped weekend shows that aired at the time such as Superstars and Wrestling Challenge. Traditionally, wrestling shows were taped on sound stages with small audiences or at large arena shows.
The original Raw was sixty minutes in length and broke new ground in televised professional wrestling. The first Raw logo used in The New Generation Era between Januto March 3, 1997īeginning as WWF's Monday Night Raw, the program first aired on Januon the USA Network as a replacement for Prime Time Wrestling, which aired on the network for eight years. 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 20, South Africa, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Mexico. Recent episodes are still available for on-demand viewing 30 days after the original air date. The WWE Network has ceased operations in the United States as of April 5, 2021, with all content being moved to Peacock TV, which currently has most Raw episodes, excluding content that was censored or removed by Peacock TV's standards and practices department. On October 3, 2005, Raw returned to the USA Network, where it remains today.
In September 2000, Raw moved from the USA Network to TNN, which rebranded to Spike TV in August 2003. The show debuted on Januand is currently considered to be one of two flagship shows, along with Friday Night SmackDown. The show features characters from the Raw brand, to which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform. Like other digital subscription services, such as Netflix and Hulu Plus, fans are able to subscribe online by going to WWE.com and can watch WWE Network on their TV through connected devices such as Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku streaming devices, Sony Playstation 3, Sony Playstation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Smart TVs including Sony and Samsung.WWE Raw, also known as Monday Night Raw or simply Raw, is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8pm ET on the USA Network in the United States. English language version of WWE Network is available on an over-the-top basis in more than 170 countries and territories. WWE Network programming includes groundbreaking original programming, reality shows, documentaries, classic matches, exclusive coverage of special events and more. WWE Network features 24/7 scheduled programming, all 12 pay-per-view events LIVE and the most comprehensive video-on-demand library with more than 2,600 hours of content, including every WWE, WCW and ECW pay-per-view, all for $9.99 per month with no commitment and the ability to cancel any time. Fans can expect “Stone Cold” to be his usual brash and in-your-face self, like only he can be, during WWE Network’s first-ever video podcast presentation. The WWE Hall of Famer and host of the popular podcast The Steve Austin Show – Unleashed will sit down with Vince McMahon from BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla for this special interview. 24, 2014 – WWE Network will air a live “Stone Cold” Steve Austin podcast with special guest, WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon immediately following Monday Night Raw on USA next Monday, December 1.