Royal Rumble

Matches:

1. Traditional Royal Rumble Match
2. Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy (WWE Championship Match)
3. Rey Mysterio vs. Edge (World Heavyweight Championship Match)
4. United States Champion MVP vs. Ric Flair (Career Threatening Match)
5. Chris Jericho vs. JBL

Royal Rumble Participants

Umaga
Hornswoggle
John Morrison
Mick Foley
Hardcore Holly
Batista
The Miz
Snitsky
The Undertaker
Shelton Benjamin
Cody Rhodes
Kane
Big Daddy V
Santino Marella
Finlay
Tommy Dreamer
Carlito
Jamie Noble
Shawn Michaels
Mark Henry
Mr. Kennedy
The Great Khali
Triple H
Chuck Palumbo

SmackDown 1/25/08

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – With just 48 hours until Royal Rumble, the SmackDown Superstars were upping their game in preparation for the showdown at Madison Square Garden. Among those ready to clash in the Big Apple are two of WWE’s biggest athletes – the 6' 10.5'' Undertaker and the 500-pound man-mountain from Harlem, N.Y., Big Daddy V.
But on Friday night, it was The Deadman who displayed his dominance. Using a submission move never seen before, Undertaker defeated V, leaving him with blood flowing from his mouth – and requiring the World’s Strongest Man, Mark Henry, to help him exit the ring. Somehow, The Phenom always finds a way to win. Will he find a similar way to defeat the 29 other men come Royal Rumble? (WATCH)

Bold statements
In addition to The Phenom, Batista – another serious Rumble contender and former World Heavyweight Champion – grabbed the SmackDown mic to let everyone know about his chances of being the last man standing in New York City. Making a bold prediction, the 2005 Rumble winner proclaimed, “I’m putting every competitor on notice. History is going to repeat itself.”
Belfast brawlOn last week’s SmackDown, Finlay was on the receiving end of The Great Khali’s brutal Vise Grip, which almost crushed the Fighting Irishman’s cranium. To potentially allow Finlay to get some payback, the Chairman set up a no-rules Belfast Brawl between the two. Revenge came swiftly and severely when the Chairman’s illegitimate son, Hornswoggle, looked to be in danger of being slammed into the announce table by Khali. This launched Finlay into a relentless attack; using his shillelagh, fists, boot and a chair, he opened a wound on the Punjabi giant’s forehead. Will Finlay be able to carry this aggression forward and use it to his advantage in the Rumble?
For Hornswoggle to survive the 30-man over-the-top rope Royal Rumble, he’ll surely need Finlay at his side. But, according to the Chairman, Hornswoggle cannot trust the Fighting Irishman. In the locker room area, Mr. McMahon pulled his son aside and advised him not to trust anyone in Royal Rumble. “Your last name isn’t Finlay,” he said. “Your last name is McMahon, and don’t you ever forget it.”

A glimpse into the future?
Days before the Career Threatening Match at Royal Rumble, the verbal battle between Ric Flair and United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter continued on SmackDown. Taking a sarcastic look into Flair’s future, MVP taunted “Naitch” with what it might look like, including the “Nature Boy” playing shuffleboard in his retirement. Flair brushed off MVP’s prognosticating and flatly proclaimed he is not ready to retire, “not ready to go home.” All the talk will come to a head on Sunday, when Flair’s fate in WWE is decided. If Flair defeats MVP, the Nature Boy carries on. Lose, and he must retire, as per the Chairman.
Divided they fallIn a Six-Person Tag Team Match, Chuck Palumbo, Jamie Noble & Michelle McCool were set to face off against The Miz, John Morrison & Layla. But, before the match could really get going, McCool’s team got into trouble early. While bickering in the middle of the ring, Palumbo shoved Noble against the ropes, launching Michelle off the apron and down to the ground. With the match stopped for medical staff to check on Michelle’s condition, Chuck seemed to snap, delivering a vicious beating to Noble, his own teammate. After recovering, McCool tried to intervene, only to have Palumbo ruthlessly throw her to the ground again – this time requiring emergency medical technicians to take her out of the arena on a stretcher. Later, as Michelle was brought to a waiting ambulance, Noble apologized for how things went down. (WATCH)

Professional help?
For fans wondering where Jesse and Festus have been in recent SmackDown action, Jesse offered an explanation. In an effort to help with his bizarre personalities, Festus is seeking professional help. Best friend Jesse explained there is the calm, cool and reserved Festus. And then there is the crazy, madman Festus. Which will we see when Festus gets “well”?
SmackDown in HDOn the debut of SmackDown in HD, fans saw Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore defeat Deuce & Domino in tag team action. Also, fans learned that next week, Eve – winner of the 2007 WWE Diva Search – will be coming to SmackDown in HD. (WATCH)
Ready to RumbleWith Royal Rumble just two days away, Rey Mysterio faced off against both Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder in a Handicap Match and got the win. Later, reigning World Heavyweight Champion Edge speared his way to victory over CM Punk, while Mysterio joined Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman at ringside to watch it all unfold. In just two days, a sold out Madison Square Garden will be watching as the two do battle for the World Heavyweight Championship. (WATCH) Read the full story…

ECW 1/22/08

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – With all eyes on new ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero, Shelton Benjamin could be targeting Guerrero’s newly-won gold. Benjamin proved once again there ain’t no stopping him, as he was victorious in an Over-the-Top Rope Challenge on ECW, edging out fellow Royal Rumble participants. The “Gold Standard” showed his athleticism on Tuesday night, and his winning streak could continue into the 30-man game of endurance Sunday at the Rumble. Is it Benjamin’s time? Can he win the Rumble match?

Also on Tuesday, Kofi Kingston made his ECW debut. The Jamaican Superstar was victorious over a local contender, and looked ready to take care of any trouble that may arise in the Extreme paradise called ECW. (WATCH)

Speaking of paradise … Kelly Kelly, Layla and Lena Yada competed in a Best Body Contest on Tuesday night, and the Divas looked even more perfect in HDTV. Our fans declared Kelly Kelly the winner through their cheers, but Layla and Lena weren’t pleased. Layla knocked Kelly Kelly face-first to the mat, with Lena by her side.

In other action, an injured and bandaged Colin Delaney returned to ECW for a fifth time, facing another one of sports-entertainment’s giants, The Great Khali. Delaney, who stood frozen in fear at the sight of Khali, was demolished after a vicious Vise Grip. Will the persistent Delaney have the guts to return to ECW again?

Finally, Chavo Guerrero defeated CM Punk for the ECW Championship on Tuesday, following a huge assist from Edge. The World Heavyweight Champion speared Punk before Chavo got the pin in the No Disqualification Match, as SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero looked on with delight. (WATCH) Read more…

WWE DEBUTS IN HD TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PEOPLE- MAKE SURE YOU WATCH RAW TONIGHT : USA Network: Comcast: ch 60 BrightHouse: ch 60 DirecTV: ch 242

Smackdown 1/18/08

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- With Royal Rumble looming a week from Sunday, Undertaker kicked off SmackDown by grabbing the ring mic and issuing a grim warning: “In nine days, I will step into the ring at Royal Rumble. If you stand before me, you will fall before me. If you enter that ring, you will rest in peace!”

Deadman's Warning
After Undertaker’s rare appearance on the mic, Matt Striker and Big Daddy V came down the ramp to have their say in the matter. While the quarter-ton ECW mastodon sneered at Undertaker, Striker -- still recovering from last week’s Tombstone -- asked The Phenom, “How do you plan to move this man over the tope rope and onto the floor?!” Things soon escalated, with Undertaker and V exchanging blows. The two stopped before a full blown battle ensued, but next week, these beasts will collide in the middle of the ring on SmackDown. (WATCH)
First time on network TVAlthough they squared off at Armageddon, this was the first time Khali and Finlay met up on SmackDown. With revenge on his mind, Khali dominated the Irishman for most of the match and finished him off with his brutal Vise Grip. (WATCH)
After the match, the Chairman had a little talk with Finlay, who was supposed to take care of Khali, “but Khali took care of you,” he said. To potentially give Finlay the advantage against the Punjabi giant, Mr. McMahon lined up a Belfast Brawl street fight between the two next week on the debut of SmackDown in HD. (WATCH)

Very, Very VIP
Sixteen-time World Champion Ric Flair made an appearance on MVP’s VIP Lounge to talk about his upcoming Royal Rumble match against the United States Champion. After trading verbal barbs about who really is THE man, Flair smacked MVP in the chest, knocking him to the mat. (WATCH) Will Flair be forced into retirement at Royal Rumble? Or, will he put the younger MVP in his place?

Ready to Rumble
Batista – winner of the 2005 Royal Rumble – looked to be on form for the 30-man over-the-top rope war by taking out The World’s Strongest Man, Mark Henry. The Animal roared and appeared more than ready for the Rumble. But, with his massive size and strength, Henry will surely not go over the ropes without a fight next Sunday.
Caught in the middleIn Diva action, Michelle McCool defeated Layla and was later surprised to find a bouquet of flowers for her in the locker room area. At first, Michelle thought Jamie Noble got them for her, but Chuck Palumbo quickly stepped in to explain he gave the flowers – an effort to get back in McCool’s good graces for his actions on last week’s SmackDown. Stuck between the two testosterone-pumped Superstars, McCool had to play mediator to get them to agree to “all get along.”

Redneck & Reject roll on
In other SmackDown action, Deuce & Domino wore down Shannon Moore & Jimmy Wang Yang. But in the end, it was a moonsault press from Yang to Domino that helped give his team the win.

One big, happy family?
SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero continued to express her love for World Heavyweight Champion Edge. In a shocking display of affection backstage, Chavo Guerrero decided to make amends for the things he said about his aunt, Vickie. As he put his arms around both Vickie and Edge for a group hug, he asked, “What do you say the three of us become one, big happy family?”
Later in the ring, things got even more physical as The Rated-R Superstar and Chavo took on Rey Mysterio & ECW Champion CM Punk. At the end of the bout, Edge viciously attacked Mysterio with a steel chair to the knee, which immediately earned his team the loss by DQ. After the match, the Ultimate Opportunist and his cohorts, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, dished out more punishment. (WATCH) Read the full story…

SmackDown 10/12/07

DETROIT – Jamie Noble certainly enjoyed the beginning of his Friday night as he sucked up to SmackDown’s Acting General Manager, Vickie Guerrero. Vickie was in good spirits after a phone call from Kristal had informed her that GM Theodore Long – who suffered a massive heart attack during his wedding ceremony last month – was getting stronger and could even return home by next week. But when Noble mistakenly compared the way she assumed Long’s responsibilities to the trick he played earlier on fellow cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang, Vickie decided to put an end to the self-proclaimed elite opportunist’s fun – by placing him in a match with The Great Khali. Coming off a monumental loss to Batista in the Punjabi Prison Match, the 7-foot-3 Punjabi Goliath showed his much smaller opponent no mercy whatsoever, dominating Noble before applying the vicious Khali Vise Grip for the victory.

Road bump
Chuck Palumbo has managed to remain undefeated since returning to SmackDown, and the revved-up Superstar kept his streak intact Friday with a huge victory over Chris Masters. Never one to be outdone, though, "The Masterpiece" jumped the motorcycle enthusiast before he and Michelle McCool could ride off into the sunset, then trapped Palumbo his signature Master Lock. Try as he could, the powerful Palumbo could not free himself, instead becoming victim to Masters’ unbreakable hold for the second consecutive week. Watch Palumbo in the clutches of the Master Lock...

Faces of change
SmackDown’s newest tag team, Jesse & Festus, took part in more exciting tandem action Friday night after making their wildly successful debut last week. Jesse told our fans in the Joe Louis Arena that whenever Festus hears the bell, he transforms from his “normal, effervescent self” to a fierce tiger. It seemed young Jesse was right, because once the match started, Festus…well, that was a man who was all business, powering the duo to another impressive SmackDown win.

Fruit-ful confrontation
After Jamie Noble told Deuce & Domino that Jimmy Wang Yang allegedly had some not-so-nice things to say about Cherry, the two men from the Other Side of the Tracks became incensed. Cherry’s boyfriend Deuce confronted SmackDown’s resident redneck in the ring, but when Yang picked up the victory, Domino attacked immediately after the match. Unable to fight back, Yang was subjected to a humiliating series of slaps across the face from the usually neutral Cherry. Injury was then added to insult when he felt the brutality of a decapitating Crack 'em in da Mouth from the bomber-clad duo.

Scottish invasion
Friday Night SmackDown introduced our fans to its newest Superstar, Drew McIntyre, who faced Brett Major in his first match on The CW Network. Accompanied to the ring by Dave Taylor, McIntyre declared he is looking for dual citizenship and implored our fans to cheer for him with chants of “U-S-A.” McIntyre’s ring debut was a successful one, as a little outside distraction from Taylor enabled him to pick up a rollup win over Major. Our fans, however, weren’t so quick to comply with the Scotsman’s wishes. Watch McIntyre's debut match...

Blood is thicker than bling
WWE Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & MVP shook hands and agreed to get on the same page before they stepped into the ring with the Brothers of Destruction, Undertaker & Kane. But once they faced the fires of hell in their non-title match, both Hardy and MVP had very different ideas about what being on the same page meant. Read the full story...

Hard-fighting, high-flying
Rey Mysterio and Finlay’s bitter rivalry continued on SmackDown last Friday when the two Superstars squared off in a No. 1 Contender’s Match. The prize? An opportunity to challenge Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship at Cyber Sunday. The result? Nothing that either Superstar, or The Animal himself, was expecting. Read the full story…




Watch Chuck Palumbo feel the Master Lock
Watch Drew McIntyre's debut
Complete Friday Night SmackDown coverage
Full Cyber Sunday coverage
Make your mobile phone a "Masterpiece"
Cowboy up your wardrobe at WWE ShopMatches

Chuck Palumbo def. Chris Masters

Jesse & Festus def. Conrad Carnes & Jay Adams

Drew McIntyre def. Brett Major

Undertaker & Kane def. WWE Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & United States Champion MVP (Non-title)

The Great Khali def. Jamie Noble

Jimmy Wang Yang def. Deuce

Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay (No Contest)

Cody Rhodes being Cool

David Hoskins - Warrior

THIS IS MY COUSIN DAVID

Sorry

Sorry Guys, I have been very Busy, I have been able to post Recaps for SmackDown, Raw, or ECW in the the Past two weeks. New Updates Starting Sunday the 22nd

DX - Frosted Mini Wheats

DX - Frosted Mini Wheats

Merry D-Xmas - FULL segment

Merry D-Xmas - FULL segment

Raw's Theme

Smackdown 7/6/07

A Big Suprise

DALLAS - When Edge began hosting The Cutting Edge, you can be sure he didn’t have the latest edition in mind. After asking Theodore Long for the night off from action, the SmackDown General Manager promised the Rated-R Superstar his biggest guest in The Cutting Edge’s history… and he delivered. Kane surprised the World Heavyweight Champion, tossing the host out of the ring and earning himself a title opportunity at The Great American Bash. (WATCH) Read more on this story…


Looking for a Bash invitation of his own, The Great Khali terrorized everybody in his path, promising not to stop until somebody accepts his open challenge for a match at the pay-per-view. After several of Khali’s attacks, Batista marched to the squared circle and stood eye-to-chest with the Indian giant. The Animal’s acceptance came too late for some, though. Jimmy Wang Yang suffered a double-handed chokeslam, Deuce and Eugene’s match was interrupted as both were attacked, and even a producer was thrown almost through a wall. (WATCH)


Elsewhere on SmackDown, Matt Hardy kicked off the night with a victory over United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter. The win was anything but easy as both men contributed to one of the most athletic contests our fans have ever seen. With his victory, Hardy may have taken a step closer to becoming a contender for the United States Championship. (WATCH)
In their first match against each other in each of their illustrious careers, Finlay found a way to pick up the win against Ric Flair, beating him at his own dirty game. Hornswoggle tried to interfere and the “Nature Boy” hit him with a vicious chop. When the referee examined the injured leprechaun, however, Finlay struck Flair in the back of the knee with his Shillelagh. Moments later, Flair tapped out to the Celtic Knot.

Jimmy Wang Yang has enjoyed success in the past few months, winning match after match and coming close to earning the Cruiserweight Championship at Vengeance: Night of Champions. When he faced Chris Masters, though, it looked like time for him to ride off into the sunset. The Masterpiece had his way with the redneck rebel, capping the contest with the virtually inescapable Masterlock.

In other action, the Major Brothers made their SmackDown debut with a convincing win. Chuck Palumbo also had success in his first Friday night match when he silenced the cocky Kenny Dykstra.
During a photo shoot, Torrie Wilson told Victoria exactly what she thought of her: the Diva is crazy. The brawling beauties destroyed the set as they clawed at each other until they were pried away, but the rivalry is sure to heat up further.
Watch Friday Night SmackDown at 8/7 CT on The CW Network and find out what develops.

Sweet Chin Music

SUPER SWEET CHIN MUSIC

Game-Ready Fans Speak out

Game-ready fans speak out


DALLAS – In addition to crowning a new Intercontinental Champion and lining up John Cena’s next challenger for the WWE Championship, Raw’s highlights also included clips from Triple H’s arduous road to recovery from a torn right quadriceps. Although The Game wasn’t there in person, just seeing the 10-time World Champion back on the TitanTron screen had many of our fans at the American Airlines Center buzzing.

“When The Game returns, he’s putting WWE on notice,” predicted Jack Sanhall of Irving, Texas। “Look at what he accomplished after coming back from injury in 2002 — he not only won the WWE Title a fifth time, he became a five-time World Heavyweight Champion as well। There’s no way anyone will stop Triple H from becoming an 11-time World Champion।”


“Those Triple H promos have made my week,” stated Red Oak resident Ann-Marie Nuhaltz. “Now I only need Shawn Michaels to come back too. I’d love to see those two in the ring again.”
No one knows the condition of HBK, who at Judgment Day last May suffered a potential career-ending concussion at the hands — and boot — of Randy Orton. Dallas local Victor Flores thinks that alone should provide extra incentive for the returning Game, who last January tore his right quad while he and Michaels battled Orton and Edge at New Year’s Revolution.
“Personally, I think he should stop off at SmackDown first,” Flores said. “That way, he can kick the crap out of Edge, then go back to Raw and get some revenge against Orton. That ought to be his first priority; let ’em all know that you can’t get away with hurting the Cerebral Assassin or his friends.”
Back in March, Triple H informed WWE।com that his rehabilitation had been progressing so well that he hoped a
SummerSlam return was feasible. Judging from the video shown on Raw Monday night, the Biggest Party of the Summer might become the homecoming site for one of WWE’s greatest Superstars.

“I think Triple H will go after The Champ [Cena],” said Waxahachie-based WWE fan Rod Williams, “but I also want to see him go after some of Raw’s new guys, like Snitsky or Kennedy. Definitely Kennedy; somebody needs to shut that guy up, big-time.”
Good point. So good, in fact, that WWE.com asks Williams how he thinks The Game might fare against Bobby Lashley. “Wow, that would be good,” the teen replied enthusiastically. “Lashley’s one of my favorites, and I hope he’s right about what he said tonight — that he won’t be an uncrowned champion much longer. If Lashley can beat Cena at The Great American Bash, putting him in the ring against Triple H would make a great WWE Title Match…maybe one of the best.”

For now, inside sources either can’t or won’t confirm exactly when Triple H will make his return। However, as the sold-out American Airlines Center crowd demonstrated on Raw Monday night, one thing is certain: Once it is time again to play The Game, our fans are going to enjoy every moment of it।


Get ready with Triple H's King of Kings baseball cap....

Guys Happy 4th of July, I'll have the Latest on Smackdown Tomorrow

ECW- 7/3/07

DALLAS – ECW World Champion Johnny Nitro couldn’t stop smiling as he emerged from the locker room. His long brown locks were still drenched in sweat from his hard-fought victory earlier that night over legendary ECW Original Tommy Dreamer – an opponent that his chief rival, CM Punk, had chosen for him in a “Pick Your Poison”-themed ECW on Sci Fi. In turn, Nitro’s handpicked “poison” for Punk was Kevin Thorn – and he had just watched the Straightedge Superstar impale the powerful vampire.
Nitro seemed impressed, but his smile slowly faded as his eyes locked on Punk. The No. 1 contender to the ECW World Title did not take his eyes off the champion either, and challenged Nitro to get into the ring. But Punk was then blindsided by Thorn, and would have been double-teamed by him and Nitro if he hadn’t fought off the powerhouse.
Nitro backed away from a likely attack on his challenger as Punk invited him to duke it out. As our fans at the American Airlines Center in Dallas chanted “CM Punk! CM Punk!” Nitro stuck his nose up and held his – and he would stress his – ECW World Title for Punk and the whole world to see. “You may have won your match, Punk, but I’m still the champ,” he seemed to say. “I’m the ECW World Champion, and you’re not.”
The latest duel between Punk and Nitro was essentially a draw as both men beat their respective “poisons.” Their rivalry, which began when Nitro defeated Punk for the vacant ECW World Title at Vengeance: Night of Champions, has only heated up in recent weeks as both men have traded verbal jabs at one another. They will have the opportunity to throw five-knuckled jabs when they wage war again over the ECW World Title at The Great American Bash on July 22. Read the whole story ...
But tonight, both young Superstars were content with having other men literally fight their battles for them. In some ways, it wasn’t surprising that Punk chose Dreamer to test Nitro. Punk, a fan of the original incarnation of ECW, respects Dreamer and the legacy he has built, and the two teamed together with Sandman in a Six-Man Tag Team Tables Match against the New Breed at One Night Stand.
Nitro, however, doesn’t have much respect for Dreamer and ECW’s history. Dreamer, a former ECW World Champion who has broken his back and neck for the promotion, is among those who have questioned Nitro’s toughness and whether he was “ECW enough” to be ECW World Champion. Nitro, in turn, has been on a mission to show naysayers that he represents the evolution of the Land of the Extreme. Read the whole story …
Dreamer took Nitro to the extreme – but the focused A-lister showed Dreamer that he was redefining extreme with his athleticism. Dreamer learned that Nitro’s pretty boy looks, stylish fur and Hollywood shades could be deceiving as the ECW Champion tortured him by targeting his left shoulder before ultimately flattening him with a corkscrew neckbreaker. (WATCH)

In Kevin Thorn, Nitro had a brutal, sadistic opponent who was well-acquainted with Punk. The two had battled several times, and Nitro knew Thorn would be relentless and remorseless in his assault.
Thorn had been on a reign of terror, bulldozing all foes since he had left the New Breed months ago. He overwhelmed Punk for much of their contest with his power. But the Straightedge Superstar – at the urging of his cheering legion of supporters – shook with adrenaline and showed the heart that has won fans the world over. (WATCH)

As he stood victorious in the ring, Punk looked at Nitro. He definitely had Nitro's undivided attention and had won him over. But make no mistake; the ECW World Champion is no fan of Punk. He knows the Straightedge Superstar is the biggest threat to his championship reign. For now, these two young Superstars are only exchanging glares. What will be next as they try to gain an advantage in the weeks before their clash at The Great American Bash?
Can't get enough of ECW on Sci Fi? Relive all the action on ECW.com's Hardcore Hangover.

Raw

WWE Raw is the Monday night professional wrestling television program for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and is the primary broadcast of the RAW brand. WWE Raw is generally seen as WWE's flagship program over its sister programs, SmackDown! and ECW, due to its longer history and the way it is promoted.

The show currently airs live on USA Network, and on tape delay Wednesdays on mun2, and Sundays on Telemundo (in Spanish) in the United States, and in the United Kingdom, Fridays in New Zealand on Sky 1 and Republic of Ireland on Sky Sports 3. It also currently broadcasts on tape delay in Canada on The Score and Global Quebec, in Australia on FOX8, in Portugal on SIC Radical, in Malaysia on Astro Super Sport, in New Zealand on SKY 1, in India and Pakistan on Ten Sports, in the Philippines on Jack TV and RPN, in Chile on Chilevisión, in Mexico on 52MX, in Peru on ATV, in Romania on TV Sport, in South Korea on XTM, in Spain on Sportmanía, and on AFN Xtra. Raw is also currently being aired on Etv in South Africa. Occasionally, Raw is aired on same-day tape delay when WWE is on an overseas tour.

Show history
Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji on the very first episode of Monday Night RAW
Beginning as WWF Monday Night RAW, the program first aired on January 11, 1993 on the USA Network for one hour. The original RAW broke new ground in televised professional wrestling. Traditionally, wrestling shows were taped on sound stages with small audiences or at large arena shows. The RAW formula was very different than that of its predecessor, Prime Time Wrestling: instead of taped matches, with studio voice overs and taped chat, RAW was a show shot to a live audience, with angles as they happened. The first episode featured Yokozuna defeating Koko B. Ware, The Steiner Brothers defeating The Executioners, WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels defeating Max Moon and The Undertaker defeating Damien Demento. The show also featured an interview with Razor Ramon.
RAW originated from the Grand Ballroom at Manhattan Center Studios, a small New York City theater and aired live each week. The combination of an intimate venue and live action proved highly successful. However, the weekly live schedule proved to be a financial drain on the WWF, and taped shows began airing every other week. From early 1994 to September 1999, RAW was shown live on one Monday and then the next day (Tuesday) next Monday's RAW was taped. This meant that RAW was live one week and taped the next.
The storylines and characters during the early years of RAW still had a healthy dose of the old Federation "gimmick-heavy" style. For instance, there were moments such as Irwin R. Schyster tearing up Tatanka's headdress, the various "Undertaker sightings" (during the Undertaker vs. Undertaker storyline, leading up to SummerSlam 1994); and characters like Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, Doink the Clown, or Thurman "Sparky" Plugg.
RAW was also one of a kind, in which they covered the unexpected, exciting moments, a prelude to the "Attitude Era", in which it coined RAW as "Uncut, Uncooked, Uncensored." Some of those moments include Razor Ramon losing a match unexpectedly to Sean "The 1-2-3 Kid" Waltman, who was later known as X-Pac, Marty Jannetty beating Shawn Michaels to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship, and RAW was the first WWF television program of any kind to show footage of Lex Luger bodyslamming Yokozuna at the U.S.S. Intrepid.
The original hosts of RAW were Vince McMahon, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, and Rob Bartlett. Sean Mooney conducted the interviews and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan also helped contribute. Later in 1993, Rob Bartlett was dropped from the broadcasting team and was replaced by Bobby Heenan. Then on December 6, 1993, Gorilla Monsoon "kicked Bobby Heenan out of the WWF forever." In reality, this was a storyline between Monsoon and his close friend Heenan, who decided to leave the World Wrestling Federation in order to lighten his travel schedule and because he didn't want to take a 50% paycut. After about a year, RAW moved out of the Manhattan Center and traveled to various regular Federation venues in the United States.

The Monday Night Wars
The classic Monday Night RAW logo, used from 1993 to 1997.
Main article: Monday Night Wars
In 1995, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) began airing its new wrestling show, Monday Nitro, live each week. Raw and WCW Monday Nitro went head-to-head for the first time on September 11, 1995. Due to RAW's taping schedule on several occasions, WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff, who was also an on-air personality, gave away the results of WWF's taped RAW shows on the live WCW show. Some fans also looked at RAW taping results on the steadily-growing Internet; as a result, this caused the ratings of the taped RAW episodes to be lower.
WWF RAW had a live broadcast every other week to save costs, until September 1999, when ratings and pay-per-view buy rate increased, allowing them to justify doing a weekly live show.
At the start of the ratings war in 1995 through to mid-1996, RAW and Nitro would exchange victories over each over in a closely contested rivalry. However, beginning in mid-1996, thanks primarily to the nWo angle, Monday Nitro started a ratings win-streak that lasted for 83 continuous weeks, ending on April 13, 1998.

"Pillman's got a gun"
On the November 4, 1996 episode of RAW, the WWF aired the infamous Pillman's Got a Gun angle with the feuding Steve Austin and Brian Pillman where Austin visited an injured Pillman at home. Austin was attacked by Pillman's friends as soon as he arrived, but soon subdued them. He then proceeded to break into Pillman's home but Pillman responded by producing a 9mm Glock and pointing it at a hesitant Austin. The camera feed was then disrupted, with the scene fading to black. The on-scene director contacted commentator Vince McMahon and reported that he had heard "a couple explosions." The transmission was restored later showing Pillman's friends dragging Austin from the house in a scene where Pillman screamed "That son of a bitch has got this coming! Let him go! I'm going to kill that son of a bitch! Get out of the fucking way!" The "fucking way" comment was not bleeped and was clearly noticeable which meant that the following week the WWF had to apologize for the incident in order to remain on the USA Network. Pillman also had to apologize for the comment as well, saying that it was not usual for him to say that.

RAW is WAR
The RAW is War logo, used March 10, 1997 to September 10, 2001.
On February 3, 1997, Monday Night RAW went to a two hour format, as the Attitude Era was starting to come in full stream in the WWF. In an attempt to break the momentum of what had turned into ratings domination by WCW's competing Monday Nitro, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was brought in as Jerry Lawler "challenged" ECW on February 17, 1997. In an episode where RAW returned to the Manhattan Center, the "challenge" answered on the following week's show with Taz, Mikey Whipwreck, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, D-Von Dudley, and the Sandman. ECW owner Paul Heyman did a call-in interview on RAW the week after that.
Throughout 1997, there were more and more controversial elements in RAW and WWF programming such as the Nation of Domination, and the D-Generation X "racial graffiti" storyline designed to "implicate Bret Hart's 'Hart Foundation'", and the XXX Files series.
On March 10, 1997, Monday Night RAW officially became RAW is War. The March 17, 1997 episode featured a heated Bret Hart/Vince McMahon ringside altercation (that unknowingly foreshadowed events in November) with profanity normally unheard on TV. Brian Pillman did a series of XXX Files segments with Terri Runnels, which further 'pushed the envelope'. These segments ended prematurely with the September 29, 1997 episode of RAW, after the death of Pillman on October 5, 1997 due to hereditary heart problems.
After WrestleMania XIV in March 1998, the WWF regained the lead in the Monday Night Wars with its new "WWF Attitude" brand, led in particular by rising stars Steve Austin, The Rock and Mankind. The classic feud between the villainous WWF Chairman Vince McMahon (who was re-imagined and re-branded from the color commentator into the evil company chairman character Mr. McMahon after the real-life Montreal Screwjob incident) and fan favorite Steve Austin (who had been released by Bischoff in the summer of 1995 for not being marketable) caught the imaginations of fans. The April 13, 1998 episode of RAW, headlined by a match between Austin and McMahon, marked the first time that WCW had lost the head-to-head Monday night ratings battle in the 84 weeks since 1996.
While RAW was taking a new approach to programming, Nitro would start producing lackluster shows with the same storylines. Older stars such as Hogan and Nash frequented the main events, while younger talent such as Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero were not given opportunities to advance, and the only newcomer elevated to main-event status at this time was Bill Goldberg.
Meanwhile, on RAW, fans were immersed in the feud between WWF owner Vince McMahon and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. New talent such as Triple H and his D-Generation X faction, Mankind and The Rock were elevated to main event status on the WWF's program. Superstars such as Kane, Val Venis, Goldust, etc. were coming through the ranks and exposing the WWF as the place where new talent comes through unlike the WCW counterpart. Things were so heated between the two programs that, when both shows were in the same area on the same night (RAW in Hampton, Virginia, Nitro in Norfolk), D-X was sent to film a "war" segment at the Norfolk Scope where they berated WCW and interviewed fans on camera who stated that they received their Nitro tickets for free (presumably in an attempt by WCW to pack the arena as full as possible due to low ticket sales).

On January 4, 1999. Mick Foley, who had wrestled for WCW during the early 1990s as Cactus Jack, won the WWF Title as Mankind on RAW. On orders from Bischoff, Nitro announcer Tony Schiavone gave away this previously taped result on the live Nitro, and then sarcastically added "that'll sure put some butts in the seats"; over 600,000 viewers changed channels to watch RAW. This was also the night that Nitro aired a WCW World Championship match in which Kevin Nash blatantly laid down for Hulk Hogan after Hogan poked him in the chest. The next week, and for months after, many fans in the RAW audience brought signs which read, "Mick Foley put my ass in this seat!"
RAW won the ratings war against Nitro and never suffered a loss after February 8, 1999.

The end of the Wars
A new television contract with Viacom led to a WWF change in the broadcast. On September 25, 2000, RAW moved network from the USA Network over to TNN (which later became Spike TV).
WCW's sharp decline in revenue and ratings would lead to Time Warner's sale of the company to the WWF in 2001. The final edition of Nitro aired on March 26, 2001. The show began with Vince McMahon making a short statement about his recent purchase of WCW and ended with a simulcast on Raw on TNN with an appearance by Vince's son Shane McMahon on Nitro. Shane would interrupt his father's gloating over the WCW purchase to explain that Shane was the one who actually owned WCW, setting up what would now become the WWF's infamous "Invasion" storyline.
The RAW is WAR logo and name were retired in September 2001, following the September 11, 2001 attacks and sensitivity over the word "war". It also symbolized that professional wrestling's "Monday Night Wars" were over.

Brand Extension
In early to mid-2002, WWE underwent a process they called the Brand Extension. WWE divided itself into two de facto wrestling promotions with separate rosters, storylines and authority figures. RAW and SmackDown! would host each division, give its name to the division and essentially compete against each other. The split was a result of WWF purchasing their two biggest competitors, WCW and ECW.
Wrestlers now would become show-exclusive, wrestling for their specific show only. At the time this excluded the WWE Undisputed Championship and WWE Women's Championship, as those WWF/WWE titles would be defended on both shows. In August 2002, 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, General Manager Eric Bischoff awarded a newly instated (or reinstated) World Heavyweight Title, with a design similar to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship belt, to Raw's designated #1 contender, Triple H.
The WWE Women's Championship is Raw-exclusive, after being mentioned in a backstage skit with then SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon on a September 2002 edition of SmackDown!
Following the Brand Extension, an annual "draft lottery" was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups.
WWE RAW claimed to have earned the distinction of having the most original episodes of any fictional weekly program on August 2, 2005 when it broadcasted the 636th episode. It was said to have took the place of Gunsmoke, which held that distinction. However, under the criteria WWE used to make this claim, the actual record would be held by the show Georgia Championship Wrestling, which ran continuously on Saturday evenings on TBS between 1972 and 1984.

Return to USA Network
On March 10, 2005, Viacom and WWE decided not to go on with the agreement with Spike TV, making it so RAW and other WWE programs on the network would cease when their deal expired in September 2005. On April 4, 2005, WWE announced a 3-year deal with NBC Universal to bring Raw back to its former home, the USA Network, with two yearly specials on NBC and a Spanish Raw on Telemundo.[1] On the same week as Raw's redebut on USA, Spike TV scheduled Ultimate Fighting Championship's live Ultimate Fight Night in Raw's old timeslot in an attempt to go head-to-head with RAW.
The show's first night back on USA was billed as the "WWE Homecoming" and featured the return of former WWE Champions such as Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Triple H and Vince McMahon along with cameos from legends such as Roddy Piper, Jimmy Hart, Jimmy Snuka and Harley Race. The WWE Homecoming was three hours long — the longest an episode of RAW has ever run in its 12-year history. USA also showed RAW Exposed, an hour of the best moments of RAW during its previous run on USA. WWE announced that RAW received its highest ratings in three years, gaining close to six million viewers.
The following week, Vince McMahon fired Jim Ross for not helping after Steve Austin gave him and his entire family the Stone Cold Stunner. Jonathan Coachman was named as Ross's replacement, but after two weeks, he was replaced by former ECW announcer Joey Styles.
Since its return to the USA Network, WWE.com has hosted a new service called WWE Unlimited, which streams live clips of RAW before and after the show along with clips between commercial breaks. The service has shown some exclusive segments including the heel turn of Gregory Helms. Recurring segments include the Kiss Cam, by Diva Maria. During the segment, the camera will show two audience members and they kiss, and WWE Unlimited Trivia, hosted by backstage announcer Todd Grisham, in which he asks three fans in the front row a question about WWE history in that city. Since mid-July 2006, WWE no longer airs WWE Unlimited footage on WWE.com during RAW broadcasts, partially due to complaints by the USA Network that WWE Unlimited would cut into ad revenue made by commercials for the network.
RAW is sometimes taped alongside SmackDown!, in what is called a "WWE Supershow". The November 14, 2005 episode was one such "Supershow" - this was taped on the day Eddie Guerrero died in his Minneapolis hotel room. Because of this, both RAW and SmackDown! events were turned into tribute shows for Guerrero.

2006
On January 9, 2006, RAW claimed they would became the first sports program to air "live sex", between Edge and Lita on a bed placed in the ring. Unfortunately for the two, Ric Flair and John Cena came to ruin the "party". WWE announced that RAW had a 16% ratings boost from the previous week, with the "live sex" segment being the highest rated segment of the night.
On the May 1, 2006 edition of RAW, Joey Styles announced he was quitting by delivering a hard-hitting shoot-style promo in which he bashed Vince McMahon, WWE, sports entertainment, and the fact that people "buy into this crap." His vacating of the announcer position set the stage for Jim Ross to return to Raw's commentary booth, thus ending the storyline where Ross got fired by Linda McMahon. This freed Styles to become a commentator for ECW when it launched in June.
In Canada, after an 11 year run on TSN, RAW moved to rival sports broadcaster The Score after it was announced that TSN would be carrying Monday Night Football for the 2006 season. This also means that Canadian viewers will be watching via a tape-delay, as The Score does not broadcast RAW live, unlike they do in USA on the USA Network and in the U.K. on Sky Sports 3 but one hour (now 15 minutes, after a recap show from the last week) later than the live broadcast. RAW ratings have continued to stay strong, with new fan favorites and foes such as John Cena, Edge,Carlito, Randy Orton, and the reformed D-Generation X.
During the September 25, 2006 episode of RAW - the 696th Episode in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the opening of RAW suffered a blackout. Spotlights were the only lights running in the house. Power in the presentation was later restored. Another similar moment happened back on May 26, 1996 in Florence, South Carolina for WWF In Your House 8: Beware of Dog, when a major thunderstorm hit the Florence Civic Center causing major chaos for the PPV. That Tuesday, Beware of Dog, returned to North Charleston, South Carolina to finish out three matches that were not shown because of the lost power feed.
On October 9, 2006, RAW held a three hour season premiere titled "RAW Family Reunion", where WWE debuted a new logo and theme song for RAW, Papa Roach's "...To Be Loved." The episode also featured wrestlers from WWE's other two brands, SmackDown! and ECW. All the wrestlers who appeared from SmackDown! and ECW have appeared on RAW before the Family Reunion.
On October 23, 2006, RAW celebrated its 700th episode in Chicago. Since the episode, the show has been known as simply WWE Raw.

2007
Benoit controversy
On June 25, 2007, RAW was scheduled in Corpus Christi, Texas to be a three-hour special memorial show for the death of the Mr. McMahon character after he had been presumed dead in a limo explosion. The event was cancelled due to the death of Chris Benoit and his family earlier that day, with a three-hour memorial show being aired instead. This was the first time that RAW had aired with no audience and had Vince McMahon breaking kayfabe to address the viewers at home. Unlike the deaths of Owen Hart and Eddie Guerrero, there was no bell toll and no one from the WWE standing in a line for Benoit. However instead of WWE stars wrestling for a dedication of Benoit, they showed tapes of Benoit's greatest matches thus current and former WWE stars including Stephanie McMahon would talk about him.
However, when the true facts of Benoit's death came to light, WWE pulled this episode from international markets which aired RAW on a tape delay basis. Several channels announced the episode was being withheld for legal reasons. A substitute RAW, hosted by Todd Grisham from the WWE Studios, was created featuring re-caps of big-time championship changes of the past year. The episode started with the 'apology message' from Vince McMahon which originally started the June 26 ECW episode.

Recurring segments
In addition to wrestling matches and backstage vignettes, Raw has also aired several recurring segments as part of its program. From its inception in 1993, the show featured the "RAW Girls"; non-wrestling women who would carry signs around the ring before matches, each with a clever way of promoting the show (For example: "Open wide and say Raw!"); however, the Raw Girls would be eventually phased out, but was later emulated in a way by WCW as the Nitro Girls. From 1993 through 1995, Jerry "The King" Lawler hosted The King's Court, an interview segment inspired by Piper's Pit from years prior. In late 1995, Brother Love returned for a brief stint and once again hosted The Brother Love Show. In 1998, Dude Love hosted a short-lived segment entitled Dude's Love Shack; however, when Steve Austin destroyed the set, the segment was abandoned. In 2003, Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel made it's debut, and after initially appearing regularly, made sporadic reappearances until Jericho took a break from professional wrestling in August 2005. Also in that year, Rodney Mack and Theodore Long hosted the White Boy Challenge, a five minute time-limit challenge for any white wrestler to beat Mack. The challenge was eventually ended by Goldberg in the same year. 2004 saw the addition of an annual RAW Diva Search, however 2006 saw the RAW Diva Search renamed to the WWE Diva Search for all brands to participate. 2005 saw WWE newcomer Chris Masters introduce the Masterlock Challenge soon after his debut, the Masterlock wasn't officially broken until the March 19, 2007 edition of RAW by Bobby Lashley.
The 2005 draft brought Kurt Angle and his Kurt Angle Invitational to the show, which was briefly turned into Eugene's Eugene Invitational. Carlito brought his interview segment Carlito's Cabana from SmackDown! to RAW as well. In the same year, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper made two guest appearances hosting a special edition of his interview segment "Piper's Pit" in which he interviewed Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley in separate segments. In December of that year, Edge launched The Cutting Edge, replacing the Cabana as Raw's interview segment for only special occasions. Matt Striker also hosts a segment occasionally called Matt Striker's Classroom. In this segment, he acts as a teacher (his former real-life profession) and insults the audience's intellectual capacity. The segment transferred to ECW when Striker was moved to that brand.

A.M. RAW
WWE A.M. RAW
Genre
Professional wrestling
Starring
RAW brand
Opening theme
"...To Be Loved" by Papa Roach
Country of origin
United States
Production
Running time
1 hour (42 minutes plus commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel
USA Network
Original run
October 8, 2005 – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
WWE A.M. RAW is a Saturday morning show that airs on the USA Network at 9 a.m. and 2 a.m. ET. It features segments from the latest episode of Raw with a ticker along the bottom section of the screen that provides information about WWE, including trivia and live event news.

The original A.M. RAW logo (2005-2006).
A.M. RAW debuted at its current time of 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, but for a short period, it was moved to Sunday mornings at 2 a.m., until November 11, 2006 when it was returned to its current Saturday morning timeslot while continuing to air at 2 a.m. as well. However, it did gather higher ratings in the Sunday morning timeslot than it had with its previous Saturday 9 a.m. timeslot.

On-air personalities

General managers
For a more descriptive list of authority figures from the Raw brand, see List of authority figures in professional wrestling
Eric Bischoff (July 15, 2002 – December 5, 2005; November 6, 20061)
Stone Cold Steve Austin (as co-general manager, April 28, 2003 – November 16, 2003)
Mick Foley (as co-general manager, December 1, 2003 – December 15, 2003)
Vince McMahon (December 12, 2005 – June 11, 2007)2)
Jonathan Coachman (Executive Assistant/Interim GM) (June 18, 2007 - Present)3
1This was a reward from Mr. McMahon to Bischoff for his refereeing job at Cyber Sunday
2On May 29, 2006, Mr. McMahon made Jonathan Coachman his Executive Assistant. Upon doing so McMahon stated "No one could replace me as GM", in essence giving Coachman GM powers under a new title.
3 Was officially named Interim GM by the McMahon family following Vince McMahon's limo "incident".[2]

Commentators
Vince McMahon (January 1993 – November 1997)
"Macho Man" Randy Savage (January 1993 – October 1993; March 1994 – October 1994)
Rob Bartlett (January 1993 – April 1993)
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan (March 1993 – November 1993)
Johnny Polo (November 1993 – March 1994)
Jerry Lawler (March 1994 – November 1994; February 1995 – February 2001; November 2001 – present)
Shawn Michaels (November 1994 – February 1995; filled in for Jerry Lawler in July 1995)
Jim Cornette (March 1995, December 1997; filled in for Jerry Lawler in April 1999 )
Curt Hennig (filled in for Jerry Lawler occasionally from 1995 to 1996)
Jim Ross (filled in for Vince McMahon in 1994; September 1996 – December 1998; April 1999 – October 2005, May 2006 – present)
Kevin Kelly (September 1996 – October 1996; December 1997 – March 1998)
Michael Cole (filled in for the ill Jim Ross from December 1998 – April 1999; filled in for Paul Heyman in July 2001)
Paul Heyman (February 2001 – November 2001)
Jonathan Coachman (filled in for Jim Ross occasionally from 2003 to 2005; August 2005 – May 2006)
Al Snow (September 2003)
Joey Styles (November 2005 – May 2006)
Todd Grisham (May 2006)

Announcers
Lilian Garcia (August 1999 – present)
Tony Chimel (April 1997 – August 1999)
Howard Finkel (January 1993 – August 1999)
Justin Roberts (March 2007 - June 2007)

Production
The theme tune for WWE RAW is "...To Be Loved" by Papa Roach, (formerly "Across the Nation" by Union Underground), and is blared through the arena in which WWE RAW is being held in moments prior to the live television broadcast. Brief clips from WWE Raw broadcasts and RAW PPV events as well as brief clips of RAW superstars out of the ring are interlaced with scenes of cityscapes of Manhattan, New York. The opening montage is also shown, along with the WWE signature montage that is shown immediately before it, at live RAW events over the TitanTron to give those in the arena a glimpse of what's being aired on live TV.
From its launch in January 11, 1993, the show was known as Monday Night RAW. As of March 10, 1997 though, the two hours of RAW had different names for television ratings purposes, so the then-WWF could demand higher advertising charges for the more-watched second hour. The two hours were known as RAW is War and the War Zone, as "war" is the reverse of RAW. References to war were eliminated on September 17, 2001 after the September 11, 2001 attacks, changing the hour names to RAW and the RAW Zone. When the change was made, the entire program was just referred to as RAW on-camera. However, the hourly names are still referred to on the show's on-screen graphics.
On Monday, October 23 2006; RAW aired its 700th episode, making it the longest running weekly entertainment show, without a hiatus, in television history.