Raw (WWE brand)
Raw is a brand of the U.S. based professional wrestling promotion WWE. The brand was first established on March 25, 2002, with a draft on "Monday Night Raw" and went into effect one week later on April 1. The brand split was discontinued in August 2011, but was brought back in July 2016. Wrestlers assigned to the Raw brand wrestle predominantly on the "Raw" television program as well as "Main Event", the seasonal "Mixed Match Challenge", and Raw branded or co-branded pay-per-view events and WWE Network events. During the first brand split, they also competed on "Heat" and on "ECW" under a talent exchange program.
WWE Raw
Beginning as WWF's "Monday Night Raw," the program first aired on January 11, 1993 on the USA Network as a replacement for "Prime Time Wrestling", which aired on the network for eight years. The original "Raw" was sixty minutes in length and broke new ground in televised professional wrestling. Traditionally, wrestling shows were taped on sound stages with small audiences or at large arena shows. The "Raw" formula was considerably different from the taped weekend shows that aired at the time such as "Superstars" and "Wrestling Challenge". Instead of matches taped weeks in advance with studio voice overs and taped discussion, "Raw" was a show shot and aired to a live audience, with angles playing out as they happened.