January 11, 1993. It was freezing in New York City. If you were looking for glitz and glamour, you weren’t going to find it at the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center. This wasn't a cavernous stadium filled with 60,000 screaming fans. It was a smoky, cramped theater that barely fit 1,000 people. But the first episode of WWE Raw didn't need a massive footprint to change wrestling forever. It just needed to be live. Or, at least, it needed to feel like it was.
Honestly, looking back at the footage, it’s kind of gritty. The lighting is slightly yellow. The ring looks small. You can see the breath of the fans in the front row because the ventilation wasn't exactly top-tier. Before this moment, wrestling fans were fed a steady diet of Superstars and Wrestling Challenge, shows taped weeks in advance in front of "studio audiences" who were told when to cheer. Raw changed the math. It was raw. It was uncut. It was—as the tagline famously screamed—uncooked.
Setting the Stage for the First Episode of WWE Raw
The WWF (as it was known then) was in a weird spot in early 1993. The golden era of Hulk Hogan was fading. The company was transitioning toward smaller, more technical workers like Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Vince McMahon, wearing a very 90s tuxedo-style headset, sat ringside alongside Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Rob Bartlett. If you don't remember Rob Bartlett, you aren't alone. He was a comedian brought in to give the show a "Late Night" vibe, but he mostly just made Howard Stern-lite jokes that aged like milk.
The show kicked off with Sean Mooney standing outside the theater, trying to hype up the crowd while fans literally pushed past him to get inside. It felt like a riot was about to break out. Inside, the energy was frantic. This wasn't the polished, corporate product we see today on Netflix or the USA Network. This was a high-wire act.
The Matches That Defined the Night
The very first match in Raw history featured Koko B. Ware taking on Yokozuna. It wasn't a classic five-star clinic. It was a squash. Yokozuna was being built as an immovable force, and poor Koko was the sacrificial lamb. He took a Banzai Drop, the three-count was made, and history was written. Simple. Effective.
But then we got the Steiner Brothers. Rick and Scott Steiner were fresh out of WCW and they looked like absolute tanks. They faced The Executioners in a match that was basically a showcase for Scott Steiner's overhead belly-to-belly suplexes, which, at the time, were revolutionary. People hadn't seen that kind of athleticism from guys that size on a weekly basis.
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The main event featured Max Moon—a guy in a neon blue cyborg suit that allegedly cost a fortune—challenging Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship. HBK was still in his "Sensational Sherri" era, though she wasn't at ringside that night. The match was actually pretty solid, proving that even with a goofy gimmick like Max Moon, the work rate was shifting. Michaels won, obviously, but the real story was the "interruption" by Doink the Clown.
Why the Manhattan Center Was the Secret Sauce
Location matters. If the first episode of WWE Raw had debuted in a mid-sized arena in the Midwest, it might have felt like just another episode of Prime Time Wrestling. The Manhattan Center gave it an "off-broadway" edge. The crowd was vocal, cynical, and loud. They weren't just fans; they were New Yorkers.
When Razor Ramon gave an interview during the show, the atmosphere felt dangerous. He was the "Bad Guy," and the intimacy of the room made his charisma pop off the screen. You could hear individual fans shouting insults. You could see the sweat flying off the wrestlers' bodies. That proximity created a sense of urgency that taped shows lacked.
The Bobby Heenan "Locked Out" Gag
One of the most human elements of the night was the recurring bit where Bobby "The Brain" Heenan tried to get into the building. He had been "fired" or "suspended" (depending on which segment you watched), and he spent the whole night trying to sneak in using various disguises. He tried to go in as a woman; he tried a fake beard. It was classic Heenan.
This subplot served a purpose. It broke up the action and made the show feel like a continuous narrative rather than a series of disconnected matches. It felt like a "show" in the theatrical sense. It’s a trope WWE still uses today, but back then, it felt fresh. It made the viewer feel like anything could happen outside the ring, not just inside it.
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The Cultural Shift and the Monday Night Wars
Most people think the Monday Night Wars started the second Raw went on the air. That’s not quite true. In 1993, WCW was still doing its own thing, often taped and somewhat traditional. The first episode of WWE Raw was a shot across the bow, but the real war wouldn't ignite until Eric Bischoff launched Monday Nitro in 1995.
However, the seeds were planted here. Raw proved that there was an audience for "Prime Time" wrestling on a weeknight. It moved wrestling out of the Saturday morning cartoon slot and into the adult world of 9:00 PM television. Without that first hour in Manhattan, we never get the Attitude Era. We never get Stone Cold Steve Austin. We never get the rock-and-roll presentation that defines modern sports entertainment.
Basically, Vince McMahon bet the farm on the idea that people would stay up on a Monday night to watch guys in tights. It was a huge gamble. Remember, cable TV wasn't what it is now. USA Network was taking a massive risk by giving up a prime slot for a "low-brow" sport. But the ratings were there. The buzz was undeniable.
Debunking Myths About the Premiere
People often misremember the first Raw as being this massive, star-studded affair. It really wasn't. Hulk Hogan wasn't there. Ric Flair was there, but he only appeared in a brief recorded promo. The Undertaker appeared in the main event segment but didn't wrestle a full-length classic. It was a "transition" roster.
Another misconception? That the show was an instant, polished success. It was actually kind of a mess. The audio levels were inconsistent. Rob Bartlett’s Mike Tyson impression was legitimately terrible and widely hated by the audience. The transitions between segments were clunky. Yet, that clunkiness is exactly why it worked. It felt "live" even in the moments it wasn't perfect. That authenticity is something modern WWE sometimes struggles to recapture with its $100 million production values.
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Key Takeaways from the 1993 Debut
If you go back and watch the first episode of WWE Raw today on the WWE Network or Peacock, look past the graininess. Look at the faces in the crowd. They weren't looking at their phones. They were leaned in.
- The Format Change: It moved from a 2-hour variety format to a 1-hour "event" format.
- The Commentary: It was the first time we heard the "Raw" style of three-man booths, for better or worse.
- The Stakes: Titles were defended. Real storylines were advanced. It wasn't just "jobber" matches anymore.
The most important thing to realize is that Raw wasn't meant to be a secondary show. It was designed to be the flagship from minute one. When Sean Mooney was shivering outside that door, he was standing at the entrance of a multi-billion dollar future.
How to Watch and Analyze It Today
If you’re a student of the game, or just a nostalgic fan, don't just watch the matches. Watch the commercials (if you can find the original broadcasts). Watch the way the ring announcers carry themselves.
- Observe the pacing. Notice how little "dead air" there is compared to modern 3-hour Raws.
- Listen to the crowd. They react to everything, even the boring stuff, because the environment is so intimate.
- Compare the characters. Look at the transition from the "cartoon" characters like Doink and Max Moon to the "real" athletes like the Steiners and Bret Hart.
Actionable Insights for Wrestling History Buffs
To truly appreciate the first episode of WWE Raw, you have to understand the context of the era. The business was reeling from scandals and a general dip in popularity. Raw was a "hail mary" pass.
- Visit the Manhattan Center: If you're ever in NYC, walk past 311 West 34th Street. It’s still there. It still hosts events. You can feel the ghost of 1993 in the architecture.
- Research the "Raw Bowl" and "Raw Hope": To see how far the show evolved, compare the first episode to the 100th or 1,000th. The DNA is the same, but the scale is unrecognizable.
- Follow the Timeline: Watch the episodes leading up to WrestleMania IX. You can see the writers realizing that they had a tiger by the tail with the live format.
Wrestling changed on that Monday in January. It stopped being a circus that came to town once a year and started being a television show that lived in your living room every week. The grit, the New York attitude, and the sheer unpredictability of that first hour set a benchmark. We’re still living in the world that Vince, Macho Man, and a bunch of rowdy New Yorkers built in a cramped ballroom three decades ago.