Raw (WWE brand)
 Logo for the brand and the Raw television program as of September 30, 2019 | |
| Product type | Professional wrestling Sports entertainment |
|---|---|
| Owner | WWE |
| Produced by | Paul "Triple H" Levesque Bruce Prichard |
| Country | United States |
| Introduced | March 25, 2002 (first split) July 19, 2016 (second split) |
| Discontinued | August 29, 2011 (first split) |
| Related brands | SmackDown ECW NXT 205 Live NXT UK |
| Tagline | Must be Monday[1] |
Raw is a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was established on March 25, 2002. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers assigned to Raw primarily appear on the brand's weekly television program, Monday Night Raw, also referred to simply as Raw. It is one of WWE's two main brands, along with SmackDown, collectively referred to as WWE's main roster. The brand was discontinued between August 2011 and July 2016.
In addition to Raw's main television program, less-utilized wrestlers also appear on the brand's supplementary show,
History
First split (2002–2011)
In early-to-mid-2002, then World Wrestling Federation (WWF) underwent a process they called the "brand extension".[2] The WWF divided itself into two de facto wrestling promotions with separate rosters, storylines and authority figures.[2] Raw and SmackDown! would host each division, give its name to the division and essentially compete against each other. The split came about as a result of the WWF purchasing their two biggest competitors, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW); and the subsequent doubling of its roster and championships. The brand extension was publicly announced by Linda McMahon during a telecast of Raw on March 25 and became official the next day.
At the time, this excluded the WWE Undisputed Championship and the original WWE Women's Championship as those WWE titles would be defended on both shows. In September 2002, then 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, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff awarded a newly instated World Heavyweight Championship to Raw's designated number one contender Triple H. Because the WWE Undisputed Championship was now a SmackDown! exclusive title, it was no longer referred to as "undisputed". Following this, the original WWE Women's Championship soon became a Raw exclusive title 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.
Raw was the home brand for many top WWE stars including Triple H, Ric Flair, R-Truth, Batista, Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, CM Punk, Goldberg, Booker T, Chris Jericho, Christian, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Kane, Cody Rhodes, Trish Stratus, Lita and Stacy Keibler.
The
On the August 29, 2011, episode of Raw, it was announced that performers from Raw and SmackDown were no longer exclusive to their respective brand.
Second split (2016–present)
On May 25, 2016, it was announced that WWE would be reintroducing the brand split in July, with distinctive rosters for both Raw and SmackDown.[6] On the July 11 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon named Stephanie McMahon the Commissioner of Raw.[7] The draft took place on the live premiere of SmackDown on July 19, with the General Managers of the respective brands hand-picking the wrestlers for their brands.[8] Raw's Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and General Manager Mick Foley created a new championship—the WWE Universal Championship. This championship would be exclusive to the Raw brand, as the WWE World Championship had become exclusive to the SmackDown brand.[9] Clash of Champions was scheduled as the reintroduction of the cruiserweight division and the first Raw-exclusive pay-per-view since January 2007, whereas Elimination Chamber was scheduled as the final Raw-exclusive pay-per-view two years later. Subsequently, this saw all upcoming pay-per-views interbranded after WrestleMania 34.
After SmackDown moved to Fox in October 2019, Raw lost its status as the main "A" Show.[10]Following WrestleMania 38 it also didn't have a world title and tag team title, although raw superstars were allowed to challenge for them.
Beginning in December 2021, talents from Raw begin to appear on NXT 2.0. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio reported that a Raw-NXT crossover between their talents as a way to help boost NXT 2.0 ratings as both shows air on the USA Network.[11]
Champions
Initially, the WWE Undisputed Championship and the original WWE Women's Championship were available to both brands.[12][13][14] The other championships were exclusive to the brand the champion was a part of.[12][13][15] When the brand extension began, Raw received the Intercontinental Championship and the European Championship when their respective holders were drafted.[16] In September 2002, the WWE Undisputed Championship became the WWE Championship again and was moved to SmackDown, prompting Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff to create the World Heavyweight Championship for Raw.[17] Shortly thereafter, Raw became the exclusive brand for the World Tag Team Championship, the Intercontinental Championship and the original WWE Women's Championship.[18][19]
On July 19, 2016, the brand extension was brought back and for the first time ever the draft was held on SmackDown Live. Raw drafted the
Current championships
| Raw | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | Current champion(s) | Reign | Date won | Days held |
Location | Notes | Ref. | |
| World Heavyweight Championship | 
|
Damian Priest | 1 | April 7, 2024 | 11 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|
Cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania XL Night 2. | |
| Women's World Championship | N/A | Vacant | N/A | April 15, 2024 | N/A | Montreal, Quebec, Canada
|
Former champion Rhea Ripley vacated the title due to injury. | |
| Intercontinental Championship | .jpg)
|
Sami Zayn | 4 | April 6, 2024 | 12 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|
Defeated Gunther at WrestleMania XL Night 1. | |
| World Tag Team Championship |  
|
) | 1 (5, 2) |
April 6, 2024 | 12 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|
Retrieved the titles in a 6-team Ladder Match at WrestleMania XL Night 1.
|
|
| WWE Women's Tag Team Championship | 
|
The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) ‡ |
2 (4, 2) |
January 26, 2024 | 83 | Miami, Florida | Defeated Smackdown .
|
[24] |
- The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship is defended across Raw, SmackDown, and NXT.
Previous championships
| Championship | Time on brand |
|---|---|
| WWE European Championship | March 25, 2002 — July 22, 2002 |
| WWE Hardcore Championship | March 26, 2002 — August 26, 2002 |
| ECW Championship | June 23, 2008 — June 29, 2008 |
| World Tag Team Championship (original) | July 29, 2002 — December 13, 2008 |
| WWE Women's Championship (original) | September 24, 2002 — April 13, 2009 |
| Million Dollar Championship | April 5, 2010 — November 15, 2010 |
| World Heavyweight Championship (Original) | September 2, 2002 — June 28, 2005 June 30, 2008 — February 15, 2009 April 5, 2009 — April 26, 2009 |
| WWE Divas Championship | April 13, 2009 — September 19, 2010 |
| WWE Cruiserweight Championship (New) | September 14, 2016 — April 4, 2018 |
| WWE Universal Championship | August 21, 2016 — October 31, 2019 |
| WWE 24/7 Championship | May 20, 2019 — November 9, 2022[nb 1] |
| WWE Championship | November 4, 2019 — April 28, 2023 |
| WWE Women's Championship (New) / WWE Raw Women’s Championship | July 19, 2016 — April 28, 2023
|
| WWE United States Championship | April 22, 2019 — May 1, 2023 |
Personnel
Pay-per-view and WWE Network events
First brand split events
Second brand split events
Notes
References
- ^ "WATCH WWE RAW's New 'Must be Monday' Commercial". 30 March 2020.
- ^ a b Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE: History of WrestleMania. p. 55.
- ^ Nemer, Paul (August 30, 2011). "Raw Results – 8/29/11". Wrestleview. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
- ^ Tom Herrera (January 11, 2014). "The 10 most important moments in Raw history". WWE.com. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
- ^ "WWE NEWS: Stephanie McMahon says why brand split is gone". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
- ^ Clapp, John. "Smackdown going live July 19th". WWE. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
- ^ Caldwell, James. "7/11 WWE Raw Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
- ^ "WWE's destiny to be determined during SmackDown's LIVE premiere". WWE. June 20, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
- ^ Schwartz, Nick. "WWE creates new Universal Championship for Raw". Retrieved July 26, 2017.
- ^ "Report: FOX Originally Wanted TV Rights to WWE Raw". March 30, 2022.
- ^ "WWE is planning to do more Raw vs. NXT feuds". 22 February 2022.
- ^ a b Zimmerman, Christopher Robin (March 26, 2002). "WWE Draft 2002 Recap". Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ a b "WWE Raw (March 25, 2002) Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ "WWE Draft 2019 Results". PWWEW.net. Archived from the original on January 26, 2002. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ "WWE Raw (March 25, 2002) Results". PWWEW.net. Retrieved February 23, 2008.[dead link]
- ^ "WWE Cruiserweight Championship History". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ "Triple H's first World Heavyweight Championship reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 21, 2008. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ "WWE Tag Team Championship History". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ "WWE United States' Championship History". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ WWE.com Staff (July 19, 2016). "2016 WWE Draft results: WWE officially ushers in New Era". WWE. Archived from the original on July 20, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
- Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archivedfrom the original on July 27, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
- CBSSports. Archivedfrom the original on November 1, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
- CBSSports. Archivedfrom the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
- ^ Barnett, Jake (January 26, 2024). "WWE Friday Night Smackdown results (1/26): Barnett's review of the Royal Rumble go-home show, LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa, Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Kabuki Warriors for the WWE Women's Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
