10 Things You Learn Rewatching The First Ever WWE Raw Episode
Live! Uncensored! Raw! Squash Matches!
The big 25-year anniversary celebration WWE have planned for Monday Night Raw on 22 January will mark the return of The Undertaker. This will be the first time 'Taker has been seen since losing to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33, and it could end up being his only appearance in 2018. Unless he goes into the Hall of Fame, that is.
Undertaker certainly deserves that treatment, and his comeback (however temporary) is a nice treat for old-school fans who were there for Raw's humble beginnings. Back on 11 January 1993, the flagship show wasn't quite the big-budget production it is today. In fact, despite the efforts of Vince McMahon and Randy Savage to convince fans otherwise, it felt like just another show.
Whether they called the new weekly something provocative like Raw or not, the then-WWF weren't quite ready to live up to that title in '93. Diving into the show's very first episode on the WWE Network makes that obvious, but out-of-place attempts at raunch aren't the only interesting thing of note when looking back...
10. It Zips By
Admit it, even the most hardcore WWE fans find three hours of Monday Night Raw to be overkill these days. The show's creative team seem to find filling the program difficult too, and who can blame them? Today's entertainment world is jam-packed full of alternatives, and viewers have more ways to consume content than ever before, so it's tough to capture imaginations for a full 180 minutes.
Back when the show started though, Raw was a scant one hour long. Take ad breaks from the equation and the broadcast lasts just 45 minutes on the WWE Network. That's just enough time for McMahon, Savage and co to get the new concept over, but it makes the whole affair feel modest by comparison to the Monday night epic WWE present now.
As it should, Raw's first episode zips by in a flash and leaves those watching with promises to see the likes of Mr. Perfect, Bret Hart and Ric Flair in action the following week. That's right, the reigning WWF Champion wasn't even on the debut edition.