<P> Beginning as WWF's Monday Night Raw, the program first aired on January 11, 1993 on the USA Network as a replacement for Prime Time Wrestling, which aired on the network for eight years . The original Raw was sixty minutes in length and broke new ground in televised professional wrestling . Traditionally, wrestling shows were taped on sound stages with small audiences or at large arena shows . The Raw formula was considerably different from the taped weekend shows that aired at the time such as Superstars and Wrestling Challenge . Instead of matches taped weeks in advance with studio voice overs and taped discussion, Raw was a show shot and aired to a live audience, with angles playing out as they happened . </P> <P> Raw originated from the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center, a small New York City theater, and aired live each week . The combination of an intimate venue and live action proved to be a successful improvement . However, the weekly live schedule proved to be a financial drain on the WWF . From Spring 1993 up until Spring 1997, Raw would tape several week's worth of episodes after a live episode had aired . 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 (from 1984--1986, the Civic Center was the home of another WWF TV show, Championship Wrestling). 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 . </P> <P> On September 4, 1995, the WWF's chief competitor World Championship Wrestling (WCW) began airing its new wrestling show, Monday Nitro, live each week on TNT, which marked the start of the Monday Night Wars . Raw and Nitro went head - to - head for the first time on September 11, 1995 . At the start of the ratings war in 1995 through to mid-1996, Raw and Nitro exchanged victories over each other in a closely contested rivalry . 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 . On February 3, 1997, Raw went to a two - hour format, to compete with the extra hour on Nitro, and by March 10, it was renamed to Raw Is War . After WrestleMania XIV in March 1998, the WWF regained the lead in the Monday Night Wars with its new "WWF Attitude" brand . 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 WCW had lost the head - to - head Monday night ratings battle in the 84 weeks since 1996 . </P> <P> 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 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 . This was also the night that Nitro aired a WCW World Heavyweight Championship match in which Kevin Nash lay down for Hollywood Hogan after Hogan poked him in the chest . </P>

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