10 Things You Learn From Watching 1993 On The WWE Network
Monday Night Raw's debut changes everything.
1993 was a year that promised so much for the WWF, but ended up being another transitional 12 months for the company. Vince McMahon had seemingly elected to move away from muscled-up beasts such as Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior, but he couldn't decide on a clear direction.
Bret Hart became WWF Heavyweight Champion on October 12, 1992, beating Ric Flair on a house show in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Entering the new year, Hart seemed poised to have a lengthy reign with the belt, but his tenure would be cut short by management's indecisiveness at key moments.
Throughout the rest of '93, McMahon and his cohorts appeared to struggle with an internal battle. Did they put everything they had into smaller, more athletic workers like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels? Or, did they once again rely on Hulk Hogan to carry the workload?
In the end, it was a curious mix of both. At one point, McMahon even attempted to replicate Hogan's success, using Lex Luger as his next pet project. Meanwhile, Hart steadily had the best matches on TV and pay-per-view.
There's much to be gleaned, so here are 10 things you learn from looking back to 1993 on the WWE Network...
10. Monday Night Raw Re-Energised The WWF
Before the advent of Monday Night Raw, WWF programming boiled down to relatively non-descript shows like Superstars, Prime Time Wrestling and even the age-old Wrestling Challenge. Competitive, pay-per-view quality matches were rarely (if ever) aired on these shows. That was saved for the big events, ones fans were expected to pay for.
Raw started to change that in early-1993, but things didn't start out with the immediate bang WWE's revisionist history might suggest. On the first few episodes, there were still some enhancement/squash matches, but that changed as time progressed.
Arguably, it wasn't until WCW introduced Monday Nitro in 1995 that a real sea-change became noticeable, but it's true that the WWF presented several pay-per-view worthy bouts on their new flagship show years before that. In short, Monday Night Raw completely re-energised the company when it debuted on January 11, 1993. The show felt vibrant and lively, elements that had previously been missing from the weekly lineup.
Raw was tame compared to what it would evolve into years later, but in 1993 it represented something different on the scene. Vince McMahon must have known he was onto a winner.