10 Things We Learned From Bruce Prichard’s Creation Of WWE Raw Podcast
9. The Working Title Was ‘Down, Dirty, Gritty, Raw’
As things raced towards a new television program that would replace Prime Time, the WWF suddenly realised they hadn't actually named the project properly. Working titles had been suggested, and the company had been using 'Down, Dirty, Gritty, Raw' to describe the new show. Thank God they didn't settle on that.
It was Basil DeVito, an executive member of company management and hands on part of the production team, who felt the show should simply be called 'Raw'. McMahon chimed in to add the 'Monday Night' part of the name, and that was that. Nobody else could come up with anything better, so Monday Night Raw was born.
Raw was the perfect title because it was totally different to anything else the WWF had ever done. Syndicated shows like Superstars and Wrestling Challenge were slick, and Prime Time Wrestling had been the same. Raw would represent something fresh and depart from the usual WWF sheen.