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 2K
Every game in the "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw" series includes a roster of "superstars" and "Divas" based on superstars who compete for WWE. Every year, WWE acquires new superstars and releases old superstars. As a result, every time a "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw" game is released, the new superstars are added into the game and the old released superstars are removed from the game to reflect the changes in the actual WWE. From the release of "WWF SmackDown!" to the release of "WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It", superstars were not divided into brands. In 2002, the WWE split its entire roster into two brands of wrestling, called Raw and SmackDown!, which were named after WWE's television shows. The WWE Brand Extension was first featured in "WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth". In 2006, WWE launched a new brand, called ECW, which was named after the original Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion. The new ECW brand was first featured in "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008". WWE holds an annual draft lottery, in which WWE superstars switch brands. The games in production when the draft occurs include the changes that take place in the draft. For example, when "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008" was in production during June 2007, the 2007 WWE Draft took place, and the draft changes were included in the video game. Another brand of wrestling included in the series is the legends program, which was first included with the release of "WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain". Popular WWE alumni or members of the WWE Hall of Fame have been included since then under the legends program. This was featured up until the release of "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008", as alumni and Hall of Fame members were not featured in "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009" due to production of "WWE Legends of WrestleMania". "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009" was also the first game to feature characters as downloadable content.