Late Night = Great Night! (WWE Raw)

Member Name: Smark1985

Product:	WWE Raw
Date:	14/02/01 (261 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Where Most Storylines Unfold

Disadvantages: Too Many Adverts?

Raw Is War first appeared on T.V back in early 1993, it was then known as Monday Night Raw. The show suddenly became Raw Is War when the WWF: Attitude era was ushered in.

For the past year or so, WWF has toned down Raw amid claims that it was too raunchy and not suitable for children. That argument does not really make the grade anymore as it has been proved that the main audience core of Raw Is War viewers are male, aged between 16 and 35. Believe it or not, that is exactly the age they are aiming for.

In 1999, Raw was the most watched show on Sky Sports, which is incredible when you think about it. 1999 was also Raw's most controversial year. Violence was taken to new extremes as chair shots and tables were commonplace. Nudity was now no longer a taboo word as bikini contests were regular features on the show. The WWF had no real reason to tone down because not only was it Sky Sports most watched show, it was also America's highest rated T.V show, the equivalent of Eastenders or Coronation Street over here!

The toning down was largely due to the PTC (Parents Television Council) who began protesting and pulling advertisers away from WWF programming.

Even after this, Raw is still a must watch programme for any wrestling fan.

All the major storylines take place on Raw, SmackDown aswell, but to a lesser extent. If title changes do not happen at a Pay Per View, then they will happen on Raw. Raw is the type of show that if you don't watch it, then you will be wondering what is happening with your favourite wrestler(s). Whilst Eastenders can say the same, that has an omnibus, Raw does not.

In 2000, many HUGE stories happened on Raw.

<> Rikishi was revealed as the driver who ran down Stone Cold Steve Austin

<> Triple H defeated Big Show to become the WWF World champion

<> Billy Gunn made his return

<> D-Generation X split up

<> Mick Foley was fire
d

<> Many, many titles changed hands

Those are just some of the reasons why you simply must watch Raw.

Of course, Raw has its bad points. It tends to show a lot of what happened earlier on the same night on the same broadcast, which can be very frustrating when that time could be used to develop more storylines. Adverts are also a problem. Sometimes, it doesn't seem like the adverts are squeezed in the show, it feels like the show is squeezed between the adverts. Raw is also heavily criticized for not being a true sport show anymore. But that is obvious, wrestling is barely a sport anyway, yes, the wrestlers are tremendous athletes. But at the end of the day, it is a male soap opera.

In my mind, Raw is the best programme on any channel, anywhere.

Miss it at your own risk!!

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