[3] Since its first episode, Raw has been broadcast live from 209 different arenas, 172 cities and towns, and eleven different nations, mostly in the United States; Raw shows have also been broadcast and taped in Canada, Germany,[4] Italy,[5] Japan,[6] Mexico,[7] Saudi Arabia,[8] South Africa,[9] and the United Kingdom, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq as part of Tribute to the Troops.

Debuting on the USA Network television channel, Raw moved in September 2000 to TNN,[10] which rebranded to Spike TV in August 2003.

On October 3, 2005, Raw returned to USA Network, where it remained until January 6, 2025, when it moved to the Netflix streaming platform, which is scheduled to broadcast the program for a period of at least 10 years.

[11][12] The company's own WWE Network ceased operations in the United States on April 5, 2021, with all content being moved to Peacock, which had most previous Raw episodes until the transition to Netflix in 2025.

Raw originated from the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center, a small New York City theater, and aired live each week.

The WWF taped several weeks worth of Raw from the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York in April 1993, and again in June and October.

The first episode produced outside of New York was taped in Bushkill, Pennsylvania in November 1993 and Raw left the Manhattan Center permanently as the show would be taken on the road throughout the United States and had in smaller venues.

Beginning in mid-1996, however, due to the nWo angle, Nitro started a ratings win-streak that lasted for 84 consecutive weeks, ending on April 13, 1998.

The April 13, 1998 episode of Raw Is War, which was headlined by a match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon, marked the first time that Nitro had lost the head-to-head Monday night ratings battle in the 84 weeks since 1996.

[15] On January 4, 1999, Mick Foley, who had wrestled for WCW during the early 1990s as Cactus Jack, won the WWF Championship as Mankind on Raw Is War.

On orders from Eric Bischoff, Nitro announcer Tony Schiavone gave away this previously taped result on a live Nitro and then sarcastically added, "That's gonna put some butts in the seats", consequently resulting in over 600,000 viewers switching channels to Raw Is War to see the underdog capture the WWF Championship.

In March 2002, as a result of the overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline, WWF instituted a process known as the "brand extension", under which Raw and SmackDown!

In February 2022, Raw temporarily moved to Syfy for two episodes due to USA's coverage (as part of NBC Sports) of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

[26] On the February 19 episode of Raw, six days before Elimination Chamber, seven participants of the men's Elimination Chamber match, Braun Strowman, Elias, Finn Bálor, John Cena, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and The Miz, were involved in a Gauntlet match that began with Reigns and Rollins.

From October 7 through December 30, Raw was shortened from three to two hours; wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer stated that this was a request made by USA Network.

In 1997, the WWF changed the color of the ring-ropes to red and began printing Raw Is War along the ring in reference to their rivalry with WCW.

During the July 25, 2005 broadcast of Raw in Cleveland, Ohio, a special stage design was built for the John Cena-Chris Jericho Battle of the Bands concert.

On May 17, 2012, WWE and USA Network announced that Raw would switch to a permanent three-hour format beginning with the 1,000th episode on July 23, 2012.

On July 25, 2016, the ropes returned to red, the announce table moved back to the top of the stage for the first time since 2005, and a new HD set and graphics were debuted.

In February 2022, Raw and NXT temporarily moved to Syfy in the United States due to USA Network broadcasting coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

To differentiate the presentation from SmackDown, since January 6, 2025, Raw introduced a black mat featuring the logos of Netflix, Fortnite, Snickers, Cricket Wireless, Hulk Hogan's Real American Beer, and Riyadh Season.

[76] On June 18, 2008, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office then issued a final decision that found certain wares listed in the trademark application from WWE (No.

The WWE appealed the CIPO's ruling to the Federal Court of Canada, but failed to file the required documents by the deadline.

Others include tributes to various professional wrestlers who have recently died or retired from actively performing, as well as episodes commemorating various show milestones or anniversaries such as Raw 1000, which celebrated the 1000th broadcast.

Wrestlers are portrayed as heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match.

Additional commentary has been provided by Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman, Joey Styles, Tom Phillips, Kevin Patrick, Joe Tessitore and others since its creation.

[91] On September 24, 2012, Hulu signed a multi-year deal with WWE to stream all of the company's TV shows and some of its web series which includes Raw.

[97][98] Due to Rogers holding the rights to the National Hockey League broadcasts, Raw also aired on its OLN channel (now Bravo).

[105] In Germany, Raw airs live and is on-demand on the Website of Bild, only for Bild+ Subscribers and with German commentary on ProSieben MAXX every Wednesday at 10pm.

[126] In India Raw is aired Live and Replays are available via the Over-The-Top Service in SonyLiv which also provides its own section of WWE Network as a Separate Subscription.