What if WWF debuted Monday Night Raw in 1989 or September 1992?

[GhettoV1]

I wondered if the WWF debuted Raw either in 1989 or September 1992(move the debut of MNR up four months).

WWF Monday Night Raw (September 1989)

World Heavyweight Champion - Hulk Hogan

Intercontinental Champion - Ultimate Warrior

World Tag Team Champions- Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson

Maybe do a title change back to Demolition on a live Raw in this timeframe.

WWF Monday Night Raw (September 1992)

World Heavyweight Champion "Macho Man" Randy Savage

Intercontinental Champion - British Bulldog

World Tag Team Champions - The Natural Disasters

Maybe on the first or second episode of Raw do the title switch back to Ric Flair and weeks later book the Bret Hart title win as well.

 

[relentless1]

the format wasn't ready then, it was perfect timing fo RAW to start when it did as that was the unofficial start of the new generation; the edgy feel they were going for wouldn't have worked had Hogan or any of those guys been the focal part of the show

 

[LibSuperstar]

the format wasn't ready then, it was perfect timing fo RAW to start when it did as that was the unofficial start of the new generation; the edgy feel they were going for wouldn't have worked had Hogan or any of those guys been the focal part of the show

Matter of fact Hogan wasn’t on many of the early RAWs.

 

[relentless1]

Matter of fact Hogan wasn’t on many of the early RAWs.

exactly, imagine RAW being headlined week after week by Hulk and Macho and them guys. RAW was developed as the flagship show of the new generation, the tone that they were after; showing form the Manhattan center, going live, showing competitive matches (sometimes), airing in prime time were all new concepts for a wrestling show and in that way RAW signified the changing of the guard; is it any coincidence that Flairs loser leaves town match was on RAW when it easily could've been held at the Rumble that year? not at all. Out with the old in with the new was the unofficial mantra of Monday Night RAW

 

[GhettoV1]

A 1989 Raw would have the Duggan-Savage match for the King of the WWF crown could be a early MNR main event.

 

[WWEWrestleFest]

Hogan's era had Saturday Night's Main Event. It wasn't weekly, but that was the big TV show that you really looked forward to in those days. The weekly shows at that time were the syndication shows like Superstars and Wrestling Challenge. Also, everything in the Hulkamania era was in big arenas. It would have been weird seeing them in the tiny Manhattan Center.

 

[LibSuperstar]

A 1989 Raw would have the Duggan-Savage match for the King of the WWF crown could be a early MNR main event.

Very likely!

Hogan's era had Saturday Night's Main Event. It wasn't weekly, but that was the big TV show that you really looked forward to in those days. The weekly shows at that time were the syndication shows like Superstars and Wrestling Challenge. Also, everything in the Hulkamania era was in big arenas. It would have been weird seeing them in the tiny Manhattan Center.

Didn't even think of this point.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Weekly TV of that time wouldn't have handled a live wrestling show and more to the point, the talent couldn't have.

In 1989, you had a lot of older workers in the company who, while experts at working a live crowd were only a few years into having to broadcast their matches live. They were used to TV tapings where matches could be done again. While you did have people talented enough to make it work, they were down the card at that time or in other cases, used to a different way of doing things.

Randy Savage for example was known for meticulously planning matches... could you imagine him being put into a live TV situation EVERY WEEK during his title run? It would have exposed him badly as his strength was not calling a match in the ring, it's arguable THIS as much as anything is why he was "benched" by Vince around the time RAW did start... as he didn't want Randy stinking up live TV. Likewise the cost to bring Hogan in EVERY WEEK would have been prohibitive.

By 1992, you had more talent who COULD do it and even guys like Flair and Savage had a little more "Live PPV" experience under their belts... but WWE was trying to expand internationally rather than on TV. For RAW to work, you needed fans around the world to want to see a weekly live show... Summerslam 92 was their priority that year, starting a new show would have diluted the success of that. Ironically, because Davey left a lot of that momentum was lost and may have affected original plans they had in mind for early RAW's in 93.

It's not hard to imagine that a Davey Boy v Bret rematch may have been planned for an early episode of RAW for the World title for example.

As it stands, RAW started at the right time - you had a new champion/s in Bret and Yoko, you had new talent to show in Lex Luger, Razor Ramon and some of the other talents who had the live ability, like Shawn were now much higher up the card so could be showcased effectively.

 

[GhettoV1]

The final Saturday Night's Main Event (until 2006) was two months before Raw debuted.

 

[HBKperfect23]

September 1992 definitely could have worked. It was only a few months before it actually happened. 89 would have been odd, I don't think they were ready for the weekly live show yet.

The reason 92 would have worked was the wrestling business was flipping over its top talent. Guys like Bret, Shawn, and Razor were taking over in the fall of 92. They were in ring performers that could work every week on tv. Hogan and warrior and the guys who weren't known for their in ring work may have been exposed wrestling that frequently.

there was also so much that happened in the fall of 92 at house shows and other events, they could have filled the raw main events.

SNME 92: Warrior/Savage vs Money Inc, Shawn/Bulldog, and Bret/Papa Shango are all RAW main events.

Flair over Savage and Bret over Flair for the title are both obvious main events.

Bret was the first champion wrestling all the time on tv and we'd see the highlights Saturday morning. These could have been on Raw.

Also Yokozuna was debuting around then and could have built weekly on RAW with squash matches

 

[GhettoV1]

Great idea. Even better to debut Raw the Monday after Labor Day (and take advantage of the post-SummerSlam boost the WWF had and even do the Flair-Savage title switch on a taped edition of Raw).