Author: Today in Pro Wrestling History: On January 11, 1993, WWF’s Monday Night Raw debuted on the USA Network as a replacement for Prime Time Wrestling, which aired on the network for eight years.
Today In Pro Wrestling History (Jan 11): The WWF Gets RAW
The original Raw was sixty minutes in length and would go on to become the flagship program of the World Wrestling Federation.
Raw moved from the USA Network to TNN in September 2000, which was later re-branded to Spike TV in August 2003. On October 3, 2005, Raw returned to the USA Network, where it remains today.
Reaching the peak of its popularity from 1998-2001, the show regularly reached Nielsen ratings over 6.0 in prime time, which was considered unheard of for pro wrestling at the time.
RAW would become the engine that drove the WWF’s storylines and, with it, the change in ‘attitude’ that the company experienced in the late 90s.
It still regularly scores well in the weekly cable ratings and is often referred to by WWE today as ‘the longest-running episodic show in television history’ by the company.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4CPAS4HyaQ&pp=ygUNZmlyc3QgcmF3IHd3ZQ%3D%3D
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