10 Things We Learned From Bruce Prichard’s Creation Of WWE Raw Podcast

9. The Working Title Was ‘Down, Dirty, Gritty, Raw’

monday night raw first episode
WWE.com

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.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.