WWE Raw Tickets
Since January of 1993, WWE Raw, or Monday Night Raw as it is now known as, has been one of the longest running wrestling programs on TV. Raw revolutionized the way professional wresting is taped. Whereas prior to this, wrestling shows were taped on soundstages or large arenas and then shown much later, Raw is shot live each week.
At its conception, Raw was taped every Monday at the Grand Ballroom at Manhattan Center Studios in New York City. In its early years, Raw relied heavily on gimmicks; however, within its first couple of years, they began to market themselves as “Uncut, Uncensored, Uncooked.” This new slogan came about after, despite the action still being scripted, unexpected occurrences began to happen.
The late 1990s saw a variety of tweaks in the format, as it moved to a two-hour block as the so-called “Attitude Era” was at its peak. Despite this shift in format, Raw was still second in the ratings behind the WCW’s Monday Nitro. In 1997, Raw once again shifted formats, with the first hour of the program still being called “Raw” while hour two became known as “The War Zone.” Around this time, on November 9, 1997, the infamous “Montreal Screwjob” occurred, in which Bret Hart controversially lost to Shawn Michaels after being double-crossed by Vince McMahon. This event, while it occurred on pay-per-view, affected the Raw storylines significantly and was the zenith of the “Attitude Era.”
The 1990s ended with wrestlers such as Steve Austin, The Rock, and Triple H taking center stage, along with for the first time since 1996, Raw defeated Nitro in the ratings. After achieving significantly higher ratings throughout the duration of the millennia, in 2001, Nitro aired its final episode after years of declining ratings, and the WCW, the parent company responsible for Nitro, was sold to WWF, the parent company responsible for Raw.
In 2002, after the WWF had purchased its competitors WCW and ECW, the WWF broke its roster up into two separate shows, SmackDown! and Raw. Wrestlers were put on either one of the two shows; however, unlike in the past, they remained on that one show until the draft lottery moved them over. It was not until 2008, when a talent exchange was started between the since revitalized ECW and Raw.
While the program has seen a ratings decline from its heyday in the late-90s, Raw still enjoys considerable amount of success and features a loyal fan base as the show nears its 1,000th episode, due to air on July 23, 2012.
