Trivia / WWE Raw

• Banned Episode/Keep Circulating the Tapes: Of all the episodes of Raw available on the WWE Network, only one is missing—namely, the episode that aired on June 25, 2007, which was the show's tribute to Chris Benoit broadcast before reports revealed that he murdered his family before committing suicide. In its place was a highlight episode—a recap of world championship matches that had taken place from last year up to that point—airing in international markets where Raw aired on a tape delay basis. To this day, WWE refuses to acknowledge the tribute show's existence, and the only places you can find that episode are on video sharing websites circulating the original USA Network broadcast.
• Channel Hop: From USA Network to TNN/Spike TV and back.
• Dueling Works:
  • With WCW Monday Nitro in the mid-to-late 1990s, causing the WWF to push the envelope more. The ratings for Raw have never been as high since then.
  • TNA tried to be the WCW to PG-era WWE in 2010 with their show Impact!. It failed.
  • During the early days of the Brand Extension era, Raw had a kayfabe rivalry with SmackDown. This seems to have returned as of the second Brand Extension of 2016, particularly given that the McMahon siblings are the on-screen commissioners. The Survivor Series in the years following the new split feature teams representing each brand pitted against each other.
• Long-Runners: It's been on the air constantly since 1993. And they will not let you forget it.
• Long-Runner Cast Turnover: Since Raw has been on the air for over 25 years and the wrestling business being what it is, this is kind of a given. In fact, only two people who appeared on the very first episode, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker, are even still with the company today, with both of them having retired from in-ring competition in 2010 and 2020 respectively.
• Milestone Celebration: Whenever they celebrate an anniversary, such as Raw 1000 (celebrating 1000 episodes) on July 23, 2012, Raw 25 Years (their 25th anniversary) on January 22, 2018, and Raw Is XXX (their 30th anniversary) on January 23, 2023.
• Real Song Theme Tune:
  • Throughout its run, the show has used "The Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson (better known later as a theme song for WWE SmackDown), "... To Be Loved" by Papa Roach, "Burn it to the Ground" by Nickelback, "Enemies" by Shinedown, "Born for Greatness" by Papa Roach, "Legendary" by Skillet, and "The Search" by NF. Since February 28, 2022, the current theme song is "Greatness" by Vo Williams.
  • The current bumper theme is "Charge Up the Power" by Goodbye June. Some music that are recently used are "The Energy" by Shinedown, "Denial" by We Are Harlot.
• Screwed by the Network:
  • USA Network's original run of WWF Raw was screwed over when Viacom, the parent of Spike TV (then known as TNN), managed to formulate a long-term agreement with the WWF for broadcast rights (which screwed over competitor ECW's program on said network in the process) as part of the overhaul of TNN. Since the relationship between USA Network and the WWF was considered stable at that time and ratings were still relatively high, it is possible that Viacom's money was a factor in the jump (indeed, USA Network sued Viacom in an attempt to stop the Channel Hop, but the court rejected its challenge)...
  • ...Then Spike TV's run of Raw got screwed over after just five years, with WWE opting to return Raw to USA Network after major contractual turbulence between Viacom and WWE. In what could only be described as a deliberate jab at WWE and USA Network, Spike TV went out of their way to censor any mention of the move during their final broadcast of Raw on September 26, 2005, a week before the move back to USA Network (the episode was aired uncensored in international markets, and is offered uncensored on the WWE Network), which pushed WWE to respond to the censorship on their website shortly after broadcast. Compare this to how USA Network handled SmackDown's move to Fox 14 years later; not only did they allow WWE to promote the move unimpeded, but they also didn't attempt to screw Raw (which stayed on USA) in retaliation (Viacom-owned UPN dumped SmackDown to Friday nights when Raw moved back to USA).

---