Wrestling has tons of moments for us to look back on. Some were great, others not so much. Many are recorded, most weren’t.
This Day in Wrestling History looks back at the debut of Monday Night Raw.
On January 11, 1993, the then WWF held their first ever Monday Night Raw at the Manhattan Center in New York city.
It took over the time slot on the USA cable network from Prime Time Wrestling and was the first truly live weekly wrestling show.
The card wasn’t the strongest as the WWE maintained a squash type of lineup they used on Saturday morning and afternoon broadcasts. But it was live and we got to see the matches and storylines progress in real time.
It was an awesome moment that started a great run.
This Day in Wrestling History: Getting its start
It’s sometimes hard to envision a time where there was no Monday Night Raw. There’s so much history with the show, and it began with Yokozuna defeated Koko B Ware in the first ever match.
Shawn Micheals defended the Intercontinental Championship and the Undertaker prevailed in the show’s first main event.
In the dvd Monday Night Wars, Mean Gene Okerlund didn’t have many nice things to say about the building or the environment.
That being said, every show has to start somewhere and chances are this was an experiment that wasn’t expected to last long.
The WWE cranked out numerous tv shows on Saturdays to highlight their talent with promos and squash matches. They’d end one and begin another for various reasons.
Raw hung in there.
This Day in Wrestling History: The Monday Night Wars ends pretaped shows
By the summer of 1993 wrestling was fading.
The WWE had been the land of the giants, and with Andre passed away, Hulk Hogan not drawing as much, and the cartoon-like style of characters things started to change.
As the WWE shifted to smaller wrestlers like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels as their future, they also started recording Raw. Often numerous shows a night.
With the down turn in business, the steroid scandal rocking the WWE, things were tough but they hung on.
Taping their shows would prove to be a weakness. Under Eric Bischoff, WCW exploited Raw’s pretaped shows with WCW Nitro going live each week. Bischoff would give away results from Raw as the Monday Night Wars began.
The WWE struck back and by 1997 they were alternating live and taped Raw episodes as the ratings war ensued.
The WWE would eventually prevail and Raw can now be seen on Netflix. Though its first year on the streaming service has gotten mixed reviews by fans, we expect it to hold on.
What was your favorite Monday Night Raw moment? Let us know in the comments below.
Check back for more This Day in Wrestling History as we delve into the moments time may have forgotten but we haven’t.
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