WWE Monday Night RAW WWE Raw ( sometimes stylized as 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 was also used to refer to the Raw brand , in which WWE employees were assigned to work and perform on that program between 2002 and 2011 during the WWE Brand Extension . The other program and brand during that time was SmackDown . 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 , the fact its shows are live every week , and emphasis on pay - per - views . It is the longest running weekly episodic television show in US history . Show history . 1993 - 2002 . Original format . Beginning as " WWF Monday Night Raw " , the program first aired on January 11 , 1993 . The show as presented would be barely recognizable to a viewer of today ' s programming - as the WWF at the time was attempting to cater to a younger audience with cartoonish , one dimensional characters . It screened on the USA Network for one hour . Of the wrestlers featured on that occasion , only one is still actively wrestling with WWE : 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 , events occurred such as Irwin R . Schyster tearing up Tatanka ' s headdress , the various " Undertaker sightings " in mid - 1994 and characters like Duke " The Dumpster " Droese , Doink the Clown , or Bob " Spark Plugg " Holly . " Raw " , uniquely in its day , 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 The Kid or Marty Jannetty beating Shawn Michaels to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship . " Raw " also was the first WWF television program of any kind to show footage of Lex Luger bodyslamming Yokozuna at the " USS Intrepid " . Vince McMahon , Rob Bartlett and " Macho Man " Randy Savage served as the original hosts of " Raw " . 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 , who remained until December 6 , 1993 , when Gorilla Monsoon kicked him out of the WWF . 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 and Raw is War . 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 " < nowiki > Raw ' < / nowiki > " s taping schedule on several occasions , WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff , who also worked as 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 . Until September 1999 " WWF Raw " broadcast live every other week to save costs , but 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 . 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 losing 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 " / " War Zone " . The March 17 , 1997 episode featured a heated Bret Hart / Vince McMahon ringside altercation ( that unknowingly foreshadowed the Montreal Screwjob ) with profanity normally not heard on television . 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 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 , Chris Benoit , Chris Jericho , and Eddie Guerrero , Chavo Guerrero , Lance Storm and Shane Helms 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 in the Hampton Roads area on the same night ( " Raw " in Hampton , Virginia , " Nitro " in Norfolk , Virginia ) , 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 ! " " On September 27 , 1999 , Mick Foley helped WWF Raw achieve some of its highest ratings ever with a segment featuring himself ( as Mankind ) and The Rock . The segment called " This is Your Life " included Mankind bringing out people from The Rock ' s past , such as a home economics teacher , gym teacher and old high school girlfriend . The " This is Your Life " segment remains one of the highest rated segments in Raw viewership history , with an 8 . 4 rating . The end of the Wars . A new television contract with Viacom led to changes in WWF broadcasting . 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 " Raw " on TNN and " Nitro " on TNT with an appearance by Vince ' s son Shane McMahon . 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 " . 2002 - present . Brand Extension . In early to mid - 2002 , WWF underwent a process they called the " Brand Extension " . WWF 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 . The March 25th episode of RAW was the final RAW to use the Attitude era depiction and the last to use the theme song Thorn In Your Eye . 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 . 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 " < nowiki > Raw ' < / nowiki > " s return to the USA Network , Spike TV scheduled Ultimate Fighting Championship ] ' s live " Ultimate Fight Night " in " Raw " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s old timeslot in an attempt to go head - to - head with " Raw " . The show ' s first night back on USA was billed as the " WWE Homecoming " and featured the return of former WWE Champions such as Hulk Hogan , 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 . WWE announced that " Raw " received its highest ratings in three years , gaining close to six million viewers . The following week , Vince McMahon fired Jim Ross for not helping after Steve Austin gave him and his entire family the 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 ECW announcer Joey Styles was hired . 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 brand when it launched in June . In Canada , after an 11 - year run on TSN , " Raw " moved to rival sports broadcaster 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 . During the September 25 , 2006 episode of " Raw " in 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 , when a major thunderstorm hit the Florence Civic Center causing major chaos for the PPV . That Tuesday , , returned to North Charleston , South Carolina to finish out three matches that were not shown because of the lost power feed . That October , " 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 , in television history . On June 25 , 2007 , " Raw " was scheduled in Corpus Christi , Texas to be a three - hour special memorial show for the storyline death of the 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 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 . In December , " Raw " celebrated its 15th anniversary in a three - hour spectacular on the USA Network with the returns of Steve Austin , Rob Van Dam , The Godfather , Steve Blackman , Howard Finkel , Ted DiBiase , Eric Bischoff , Marty Jannetty , Gangrel , Trish Stratus , Lita , Sunny , 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 . The Raw 15th Anniversary DVD was also released which featured some of the most memorable moments in Raw history . WWE began their 2008 year with a new HD set , which consists of more than 1 , 000 , 000 LEDs . 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 . That June , the World Heavyweight Championship returned to Raw after CM Punk cashed in money in the bank and defeated Edge . Since then , Raw announced that a " talent exchange " was started between " ECW " and " Raw " , allowing their respective talent to appear and compete on either brand o n the September 8 , 2008 . This is similar to an earlier " talent exchange " between SmackDown and ECW . However , on November 3 , 2008 , " Raw " celebrated its 800th episode with a three - hour episode . The actual 800th episode aired on September 22 , 2008 . In 2009 , at No Way Out that February 15 , Edge won the World Heavyweight Championship in " < nowiki > Raw ' < / nowiki > " s Elimination Chamber match , thus making it a SmackDown exclusive title and giving SmackDown two top tier championships . 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 . SmackDown would regain the World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash ( 2009 ) when Edge defeated John Cena to win the championship . 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 WWE Raw franchise to Donald Trump , who appeared on - screen to confirm it and declared he would be at the following commercial - free episode in person . WWE issued a press release on the scripted sale while the USA Network later issued a statement confirming the " sale " as part of a storyline . The statement was issued in response to multiple news sources having mistakenly reported the event as legitimate . Due to the mistake , on the day following the announcement , WWE ' s stock on the New York Stock Exchange notably fell . Despite USA Network ' s acknowledgment that the sale was fictional , Randy Katz , a securities lawyer with Baker & Hostetler , commented on the 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 . " The next week , Vince McMahon repurchased " Raw " from Donald Trump and announced that a " Guest host " initiative originally introduced by Trump in response to the position of General Manager being vacant would go in effect on June 29 . Each weekly guest host is usually either a WWE Hall of Fame r , a former or returning talent , or other celebrity . The guest host or hostess assumes the role of a brand General Manager , serving as Raw ' s authority figure for the day . The following year , it was announced that with Vickie Guerrero ( and subsequently Bret Hart ) becoming the new full - time GM , the guest hosts ( while continuing to appear ) would no longer have booking power . In 2010 , " TNA impact ! " , which normally airs on Thursdays , would go head to head with " Raw " in a three - hour live broadcast . This would be the first time since March 2001 that two major wrestling promotions would go head - to - head in a Monday night ratings competition . TNA promoted the debut of Hulk Hogan leading to the broadcast . WWE countered by announcing the return of Bret Hart , who hadn ’ t appeared with the company since the Montreal Screwjob in 1997 . The ratings showed that , much like the first Monday Night War , " Raw " came out on top , averaging 5 . 6 million viewers while " iMPACT ! " averaged 2 . 2 million viewers . On March 8 , 2010 , " Impact ! " permanently moved to Monday nights to compete head - to - head with " Raw " . After declining ratings , Spike executives announced that starting April 5 , " Impact ! " would air an hour earlier than " Raw " . After scoring its lowest ever rating at 0 . 5 , it was announced May 3 that " Impact ! " would be moving back to its original time on Thursdays starting May 13 . Since then on April 19 , 2010 , many of the WWE Raw superstars were stranded in Belfast due to the ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull ( a volcano in Iceland ) hovering over most of Europe and causing many flights to be put on hold . Former ring announcer Lilian Garcia announced that night while the SmackDown roster took part in production of the " Raw " episode . The following month on May 17 , 2010 , " Raw " aired its second overall commercial free episode from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto , Ontario . That summer on August 30 , 2010 , " Raw " aired its 900th episode , " SmackDown " superstars and " NXT " rookies also appeared on this milestone episode . It featured The Undertaker vs Bret Hart for the first time in almost 14 years . That November , " Raw " went " Old School " for one night with the old ring and titantron designs . This episode featured WWE Legends Hacksaw Jim Duggan , Mae Young , Million Dollar Man , Ron Simmons , The Iron Sheik and many more . Mark Henry briefly returned to his " Sexual Chocolate " gimmick in honor of " Raw " going " Old School " . Production . Currently , the theme song for the Raw brand is " Enemies " by Shinedown , which has been used for the brand since July 25 , 2016 , when Raw moves to the new era . Previously , the 2014 Remix version of " The Night " by CFO $ and KromestatiK , which has been used for the brand since August 18 , 2014 . Prior to this , the theme song for the Raw brand was the regular version of " The Night " by KromestatiK , which has been used for the brand since Raw 1000 , " Burn It to the Ground " by Nickelback , which had been used for the brand since November 16 , 2009 , and " . . . To Be Loved " by Papa Roach , which had been used since October 9 , 2006 . " Across The Nation " by The Union Underground was used from April 1 , 2002 to October 2 , 2006 . The rap outro of " Thorn In Your Eye " featuring Scott Ian of Anthrax was the theme song from 1998 to March 25 , 2002 . From March 10 , 1997 to July 16 , 2012 , 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 " 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 . The program extended to three hours on July 23 , 2012 . On January 7 , 2008 , WWE announced that all brands ( Raw , SmackDown and formerly , ECW ) would be broadcast in HD , codenamed " WWE HD " starting with Raw on January 21 . WWE invested an estimated $ 20 million 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 . The stage has been altered since 2008 , but most of the stage stays the same .