10 Reasons WWE's Worst Era Is Secretly Its BEST Era

We may have recently seen what many are referring to as the absolute worst episode of WWE Raw in history, but Raw wasn't always such a headache-inducing beast.

At a time when wrestling TV shows consisted of taped matches often filmed a month or two prior and with studio voiceovers attached, Raw really was revolutionary upon its launch.

First airing on 11 January 1993, Raw began life as a one-hour live broadcast that was vastly different to the likes of Wrestling Challenge, Superstars, Prime Time Wrestling and even the oft-lauded Saturday Night's Main Event. Rather than a meticulously recorded offering that had been put together in an editing studio, Raw had an unique energy to it thanks to its live setting, with the action playing out as it happened in real-time.

The Manhattan Center also provided a welcome, intimate, usually rabid setting for the early Raws, too, with that venue nowadays cemented as a huge favourite of many a wrestling fan.

Of course, the WWF would eventually start to tape back-to-back Raws ahead of time due to the financial struggles back then of running weekly live television. Still, in a pre-internet age, Raw had an element of 'what will happen this week?!' to it that WWF shows of yesteryear rarely captured.

Now, here we are 30 years later, and Raw is an utter behemoth in terms of what it's done for the company - and for pro wrestling TV, period - over the decades.