I attended the first live WWE Monday Night RAW broadcast at the Manhattan Center in New York City on a cold evening of January 11, 1993, a new venture for pro wrestling and fans televised on the USA Network.
RAW would become the longest running episode of weekly programming, a flagship for WWE. Stars were born, the beginnings of this new era for superstars that were icons including Hulk Hogan, Razor Ramon, The Undertaker, and many more. It wasn’t supposed to last.
But years later, RAW and the Manhattan Center second floor ballroom was the place to be. Tickets were a hard bargain to find because you could only cram in less than 2,000 fans for a popular show that fed storylines leading to various WWE pay-per-view events.
All of that led to larger indoor venues. WWE was a spectacle, a center of attention for the pro wrestling fan and those perplexed with curiosity about scripted entertainment. RAW was never supposed to last, so said the skeptics.
Little did they know because WWE, a billion-dollar empire can credit RAW as the pioneer towards some of their success, next to yearly spectacles known as WrestleMania and increased revenue earned with pay–per-view streaming was the reason. Embattled former CEO Vince McMahon would build a legacy and no longer involved with WWE, his legacy has been damaged.
Long gone are those days at the Manhattan Center, and the USA venture with Monday Night RAW. Welcome Netflix and over 68 million subscribers to the WWE family, a debut Monday night at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The lineup of superstars and matches are as good as WWE premium live events that are streamed on Peacock. RAW and Netflix will debut as if this was a WrestleMania on Monday night.
“The global side is huge, we know we’re exposed to a way bigger market than we normally would be as a domestic product,” said Brian Fadem, VP and line producer of WWE. “We want to make the show a spectacle the level that we feel like it should be on a new platform like Netflix. The vibe I get around WrestleMania week is very much the vibe I am getting today and the past week.”
Different from the USA Network broadcasts, there will be flexible run times with a three-hour debut special. Less commercials also from the 15 commercial breaks. New technology including a sky cam, drones inside and outside the venues. The TKO Group Holdings group, a conglomerate of WWE and UFC, finalized the deal of 10 years $500 million. That in itself is epic for programming on any level and for pro wrestling.
So this will work. WWE does rival all sports programming and major sports leagues, even during this peak time of the NFL playoff portion of their season. They have always managed to surpass 1.5 million viewers for years on USA Network with Monday Night RAW.
Though the reach now is beyond, and ratings won’t be calculated being that Netflix numbers are based on subscribers and the network expects to gain more with the worldwide audience that tunes into WWE programming, their other weekly episode of Friday Night Smackdown broadcast on USA Network.
But as the years progress, so does the ability to stream via technology. WWE has been among the first to stream live events when they debuted their WWE Network on February 24, 2014, in the United States, a digital successor of classics and demand services that televised pay-per-view events at a reasonable monthly fee.
The network is no longer available as Peacock and Netflix are the official home of WWE special events. Realize, Netflix has changed the entire complexion of an industry that is surpassing the regular cable networks and subscription base.
Through the years, partly attributed to McMahon and his hierarchy of corporate leaders, WWE has always been one step ahead of the competition. They took a chance with RAW at the Manhattan Center, with the WrestleMania concept and pay-per-view events.
Let’s say this Netflix venture won’t be a failure. WWE continues to defy the odds and has expanded their base to an international market with premium events held in London, Australia, Germany, and two a year in Saudi Arabia.
A new era for sure. Let it be known, WWE and pro wrestling is a lucrative industry. Netflix and RAW is a reality and not a script.
Rich Mancuso: X @Ring786 Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso
About the Author
Rich Mancuso
Rich Mancuso is a regular contributor at NY Sports Day, covering countless New York Mets, Yankees, and MLB teams along with some of the greatest boxing matches over the years. He is an award winning sports journalist and previously worked for The Associated Press, New York Daily News, Gannett, and BoxingInsider.com, in a career that spans almost 40 years.