10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 1993
How to lose (old) friends and alienate people.
45 episodes.
That's how many the then-WWF produced for their brand spanking new, bold and daring TV product in 1993. Monday Night Raw debuted on 11 January and concluded the year's business on 27 December, but did it do so with a bang or a whimper? Was Raw, a show which would go on to become the promotion's flagship, essential viewing 27 years ago?
The answer is very much a bit of 'yes' and 'no'. WWF business was hardly red hot when Vince McMahon decided to complement existing programming like Superstars and Wrestling Challenge with a live offering from New York's Manhattan Center every Monday. Raw, teething problems aside, did help usher in change for an organisation that badly needed it though.
Throughout '93, McMahon tried some new things every now and then, but very much relied on old habits to shore up his top telly output and try to convince fans that this was the same rocking, rolling WWF product they remembered from the late-80s.
Here's everything one can learn from sitting through close to 45 hours from the year that started it all...