Product type | Professional wrestling Sports entertainment |
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Owner | WWE |
Produced by | Paul "Triple H" Levesque Bruce Prichard |
Country | United States |
Introduced | March 25, 2002 (first split) July 19, 2016 (second split) |
Discontinued | August 29, 2011 (first split) |
Related brands | SmackDown ECW NXT 205 Live NXT UK |
Tagline | Must be Monday [1] |
Raw is a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was established on March 25, 2002. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers assigned to Raw primarily appear on the brand's weekly television program, Monday Night Raw , also referred to simply as Raw. It is one of WWE's two main brands, along with SmackDown, collectively referred to as WWE's main roster. The brand was discontinued between August 2011 and July 2016.
In addition to Raw's main television program, less-utilized wrestlers also appear on the brand's supplementary show, Main Event . Raw's wrestlers also perform on the branded and co-branded pay-per-view and livestreaming events. During the first brand split (2002–2011), Raw wrestlers also competed on the former supplementary show, Heat , and on ECW under a talent exchange program with the former ECW brand, while during the second brand split (2016–present), the brand's wrestlers have appeared in the interbrand Worlds Collide , Mixed Match Challenge , and annual Tribute to the Troops events. Additionally during the second split, Raw's cruiserweight wrestlers competed on 205 Live when WWE's revived cruiserweight division was exclusive to Raw from 2016 to 2018 before 205 Live became its own brand.
In early-to-mid-2002, then World Wrestling Federation (WWF) underwent a process they called the "brand extension". [2] The WWF divided itself into two de facto wrestling promotions with separate rosters, storylines and authority figures. [2] Raw and SmackDown! would host each division, give its name to the division and essentially compete against each other. The split came about as a result of the WWF purchasing their two biggest competitors, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW); and the subsequent doubling of its roster and championships. The brand extension was publicly announced by Linda McMahon during a telecast of Raw on March 25 and became official the next day.
At the time, this excluded the WWE Undisputed Championship and the original WWE Women's Championship as those WWE titles would be defended on both shows. In September 2002, then WWE Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar refused to defend the title on Raw, in effect causing his title to become exclusive to SmackDown!. The following week on Raw, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff awarded a newly instated World Heavyweight Championship to Raw's designated number one contender Triple H. Because the WWE Undisputed Championship was now a SmackDown! exclusive title, it was no longer referred to as "undisputed". Following this, the original WWE Women's Championship soon became a Raw exclusive title as well. As a result of the brand extension, an annual "draft lottery" was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups.
Raw was the home brand for many top WWE stars including Triple H, Ric Flair, R-Truth, Batista, Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, CM Punk, Goldberg, Booker T, Chris Jericho, Christian, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Kane, Cody Rhodes, Trish Stratus, Lita and Stacy Keibler.
The 2005 draft was held on the June 6 episode of Raw. The first draft lottery pick was then WWE Champion John Cena, thus moving the WWE Championship to Raw and having two titles on the brand. Eventually, then World Heavyweight Champion Batista was drafted to SmackDown! as the last draft pick, leaving only the WWE Championship on Raw. In the 2008 draft lottery, CM Punk got drafted to Raw and then won the World Heavyweight Championship from Edge, who was a SmackDown wrestler. Triple H, who was the WWE Champion at the time, got drafted to SmackDown while Kane, who was the then ECW Champion, got drafted to Raw. After the draft lottery in 2009, the WWE Championship was brought back to Raw when Triple H was drafted from SmackDown while the World Heavyweight Championship was brought back to SmackDown when Edge defeated John Cena to win the title at Backlash.
On the August 29, 2011, episode of Raw, it was announced that performers from Raw and SmackDown were no longer exclusive to their respective brand. [3] Subsequently, championships previously exclusive to one show or the other were available for wrestlers from any show to compete for—this would mark the end of the brand extension as all programming and live events featured the full WWE roster. [4] In a 2013 interview with Advertising Age , Stephanie McMahon explained that WWE's decision to end the brand extension was due to wanting their content to flow across television and online platforms. [5]
On May 25, 2016, it was announced that WWE would be reintroducing the brand split in July, with distinctive rosters for both Raw and SmackDown. [6] On the July 11 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon named Stephanie McMahon the Commissioner of Raw. [7] The draft took place on the live premiere of SmackDown on July 19, with the General Managers of the respective brands hand-picking the wrestlers for their brands. [8] Raw's Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and General Manager Mick Foley created a new championship—the WWE Universal Championship. This championship would be exclusive to the Raw brand, as the WWE World Championship had become exclusive to the SmackDown brand. [9] Clash of Champions was scheduled as the reintroduction of the cruiserweight division and the first Raw-exclusive pay-per-view since January 2007, whereas Elimination Chamber was scheduled as the final Raw-exclusive pay-per-view two years later. Subsequently, this saw all upcoming pay-per-views interbranded after WrestleMania 34.
After SmackDown moved to Fox in October 2019, Raw lost its status as the main "A" Show. [10] Following WrestleMania 38 it also didn't have a world title and tag team title, although raw superstars were allowed to challenge for them.
Beginning in December 2021, talents from Raw begin to appear on NXT 2.0 . Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio reported that a Raw-NXT crossover between their talents as a way to help boost NXT 2.0 ratings as both shows air on the USA Network. [11]
Initially, the WWE Undisputed Championship and the original WWE Women's Championship were available to both brands. [12] [13] [14] The other championships were exclusive to the brand the champion was a part of. [12] [13] [15] When the brand extension began, Raw received the Intercontinental Championship and the European Championship when their respective holders were drafted. [16] In September 2002, the WWE Undisputed Championship became the WWE Championship again and was moved to SmackDown, prompting Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff to create the World Heavyweight Championship for Raw. [17] Shortly thereafter, Raw became the exclusive brand for the World Tag Team Championship, the Intercontinental Championship and the original WWE Women's Championship. [18] [19]
On July 19, 2016, the brand extension was brought back and for the first time ever the draft was held on SmackDown Live. Raw drafted the WWE Women's Championship, the United States Championship, and the WWE Tag Team Championship. [20] With the WWE Championship being defended exclusively on SmackDown, Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley introduced the WWE Universal Championship to be Raw's world title. [21] At Crown Jewel on October 31, 2019, SmackDown wrestler "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt won the WWE Universal Championship, thus taking the title to SmackDown. [22] On the next night's episode of SmackDown, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar quit SmackDown and moved to Raw, bringing the title with him. [23] A new World Heavyweight Championship was created for Raw after Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns was drafted to SmackDown in 2023.
Raw | ||||||||
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Championship | Current champion(s) | Reign | Date won | Days held | Location | Notes | Ref. | |
World Heavyweight Championship | Damian Priest | 1 | April 7, 2024 | 9 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania XL Night 2. | ||
Women's World Championship | N/A | Vacant | N/A | April 15, 2024 | N/A | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | Former champion Rhea Ripley vacated the title due to injury. | |
Intercontinental Championship | Sami Zayn | 4 | April 6, 2024 | 10 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Defeated Gunther at WrestleMania XL Night 1. | ||
World Tag Team Championship | | The Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) | 1 (5, 2) | April 6, 2024 | 10 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Retrieved the titles in a 6-team Ladder Match at WrestleMania XL Night 1. | |
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship | The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) ‡ | 2 (4, 2) | January 26, 2024 | 81 | Miami, Florida | Defeated Katana Chance and Kayden Carter on Smackdown . | [24] | |
Championship | Time on brand |
---|---|
WWE European Championship | March 25, 2002 — July 22, 2002 |
WWE Hardcore Championship | March 26, 2002 — August 26, 2002 |
ECW Championship | June 23, 2008 — June 29, 2008 |
World Tag Team Championship (original) | July 29, 2002 — December 13, 2008 |
WWE Women's Championship (original) | September 24, 2002 — April 13, 2009 |
Million Dollar Championship | April 5, 2010 — November 15, 2010 |
World Heavyweight Championship (Original) | September 2, 2002 — June 28, 2005 June 30, 2008 — February 15, 2009 April 5, 2009 — April 26, 2009 |
WWE Divas Championship | April 13, 2009 — September 19, 2010 |
WWE Cruiserweight Championship (New) | September 14, 2016 — April 4, 2018 |
WWE Universal Championship | August 21, 2016 — October 31, 2019 |
WWE 24/7 Championship | May 20, 2019 — November 9, 2022 [nb 1] |
WWE Championship | November 4, 2019 — April 28, 2023 |
WWE Women's Championship (New) / WWE Raw Women’s Championship | July 19, 2016 — April 28, 2023 |
WWE United States Championship | April 22, 2019 — May 1, 2023 |
The WWE Championship is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand division. Since April 2022, the title has been jointly held and defended with the WWE Universal Championship as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, but both titles have maintained their individual lineages. It is one of three world titles in WWE, alongside its companion Universal Championship on SmackDown, and the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw. The current champion is Cody Rhodes, who is in his first reign. He won the undisputed title by defeating previous champion Roman Reigns in a Bloodline Rules match at WrestleMania XL Night 2 on April 7, 2024.
The World Heavyweight Championship was a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It was the second world championship to be created by the company, after their original world title, the WWE Championship (1963). The title was one of two top championships in the company from 2002 to 2006 and from 2010 to 2013, complementing the WWE Championship, and one of three top championships from 2006 to 2010 with the addition of the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
The WWE United States Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE Intercontinental Championship on Raw. The current champion is Logan Paul, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Rey Mysterio at Crown Jewel on November 4, 2023.
WWE Night of Champions is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The inaugural event took place in June 2007 and was a crossover with Vengeance titled Vengeance: Night of Champions. In 2008, Vengeance was dropped in favor of Night of Champions and it took over the June PPV slot. The event then moved to July in 2009 before becoming the annual September PPV beginning in 2010. The original concept of Night of Champions was that every championship promoted on WWE's main roster was contested. In 2016, Night of Champions was replaced by the similarly themed Clash of Champions which was discontinued after its final use in 2020. After eight years, Night of Champions was revived to be held in May 2023 as WWE's ninth event in Saudi Arabia. Although the 2023 event was based around championship matches, not all of WWE's main roster championships were contested.
The WWE Draft, alternatively called the WWE Superstar Shake-up from 2017 to 2019, is a process used by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE to refresh its rosters between the Raw and SmackDown brands when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers from the promotion's developmental brand NXT (2016–present) are also eligible to be drafted to Raw and SmackDown. Two of WWE's former brands, ECW (2006–2009) and 205 Live (2019), have also taken part in the draft during the promotion's various brand split periods.
Championship unification is the act of combining two or more separate professional wrestling championships into a single title.
The brand extension, also referred to as the brand split, is the separation of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE's roster of wrestlers into distinct divisions, or "brands". The promotion's wrestlers are assigned to a brand via the annual WWE Draft and exclusively perform on that brand's weekly television show, with some exceptions. Throughout its history, WWE has utilized the brand extension twice. The first brand split occurred from 2002 to 2011, while the ongoing second began in 2016.
An undisputed championship is a professional wrestling term for a world title that is the unquestioned top championship in a promotion, often formed from two world titles being unified or held by the same individual.
The World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship on SmackDown. The current champions are Awesome Truth, who are in their first reign as a team; individually, it is the second for Truth and fifth for Miz. They won the title from previous champions The Judgment Day in a Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder match on Night 1 of WrestleMania XL on April 6, 2024; they won the title as the Raw Tag Team Championship and it was renamed as World Tag Team Championship on April 15, 2024.
The 2016 WWE draft was a professional wrestling event and the tenth WWE draft, the first since 2011, produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between the Raw and SmackDown brands. It took place on July 19 during the live premiere of SmackDown on the USA Network in the United States broadcasting from the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE's main roster, along with the World Tag Team Championship on Raw. The current champions are A-Town Down Under, who are in their first reign, both as a team and individually. They won the title from previous champions The Judgment Day in a Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder match on Night 1 of WrestleMania XL on April 6, 2024.
The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several men's and women's tag team championships since Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1963 to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which was later subjected to various name changes, including World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)—in April 2011, the company ceased using its full name and has since just been referred to as WWE. The first men's tag team title, the Northeast version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, preceded the company's creation, as it was established in 1957 for CWC as a version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, while the first women's tag team title, the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship, was established in 1983. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented, separate tag team championships have been created or allocated for each brand.
WWE Clash of Champions was a professional wrestling event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. It was broadcast live and available only through pay-per-view (PPV) and the livestreaming service, the WWE Network. The event was established in 2016 and replaced Night of Champions in the late September slot of WWE's pay-per-view calendar. The event was moved to December in 2017, but returned to the September slot after the event was reinstated in 2019. An event was originally scheduled for 2021 but was canceled and replaced by that year's Extreme Rules event. Similar to Night of Champions, the theme of the event was that all active WWE championships available to each brand division featured at the event were defended.
SmackDown is a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was established on March 25, 2002. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers assigned to SmackDown primarily appear on the brand's weekly television program, Friday Night SmackDown, also referred to simply as SmackDown. It is one of WWE's two main brands, along with Raw, collectively referred to as WWE's main roster. The brand extension was discontinued between August 2011 and July 2016.
ECW was a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that was established in May 2006 and discontinued in February 2010. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers that were assigned to ECW primarily appeared on the brand's weekly television program, ECW. The brand was established as a relaunch of the former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion, the assets of which WWE acquired in 2003.
The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several men's world championships since Capitol Wrestling Corporation seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance in 1963 to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which was later subjected to various name changes, including World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)—in April 2011, the company ceased using its full name and has since just been referred to as WWE. The company's first world championship was the WWE Championship, which was established along with the promotion's creation in 1963 as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship; it is still active today and is WWE's oldest active title. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented, separate world championships have been created or allocated for each brand.
The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several secondary championships since Capitol Wrestling Corporation seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance in 1963 to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which was later subjected to various name changes, including World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)—in April 2011, the company ceased using its full name and has since just been referred to as WWE. The company's first secondary championship was the NWA United States Television Championship, which was established in 1957 as a version of the NWA Television Championship. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented, separate secondary championships have been created or allocated for each brand.