While appearing on the “Tamron Hall” talk show this week, Nikki & Brie Bella explained why they were critical of the women’s representation on Raw’s 30th anniversary episode.
The Bellas did an Instagram live video on Monday night calling out WWE for not showcasing the women’s evolution on Raw’s anniversary show. They mentioned Mercedes Mone (Sasha Banks) and Saraya (Paige) as people who WWE didn’t want to feature.
Nikki & Brie were originally announced for the anniversary show but were pulled from advertising prior to the episode taking place. Madusa was the only women’s legend who appeared.
Hall asked the Bellas what made them want to speak out about the lack of representation.
Nikki: I think what anyone does when you have love and passion for something and you put your heart and your soul in it, you want to be appreciated. And I think that’s in any industry. For us female wrestlers, it was Raw 30, the 30th anniversary. And throughout those 30 years, women have done a whole lot to make Raw what it is. So when you have a three-hour show, and it’s male-dominated and women aren’t being honored, pretty much at all, you just sit back and you’re like, ‘Why aren’t we being appreciated? Like, why don’t you even have a video package showcasing what all these incredible women have done?’
Nikki: I’m someone who they’ve always called ‘No Filter Nikki.’ And I know sometimes my team is like back there like, ‘Oh my gosh, if we could just take her phone.’ But — it made me upset for all the women, because I know that feeling of walking out to the ring. and it happens to some of the men, but where you walk out and you put your body on the line, you give it your all just to entertain the fans and the TV viewers, and you just come back and you want to feel appreciated for that. Some of us have had career-ending injuries. And we shouldn’t go away. And even if I feel that if a wrestler even leaves the company or they’re no longer there, it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be remembered.
Brie: 100 percent.
Nikki: I wished and I hoped, and maybe that will be more in the future, we still have a way to go, but that women will finally be appreciated for what they do.
Brie: I think the biggest thing is that what the women are doing today at WWE is amazing. Like, the present-day women wrestlers are doing incredible things. But it took so many women from the past to pave that road. And it’s okay to say ‘thank you’ and recognize that. And I think when Nikki and I speak, it always makes headlines. But the thing that we love is that we come from passion for women, not from ourselves. The Bella Twins don’t have to be at Raw 30, it’s all the other women that — we can give you a whole long list — that should have been there.
Raw 30 also drew criticism for failing to deliver on a Becky Lynch vs. Bayley steel cage match that was supposed to take place on the show. There was instead an angle where Damage CTRL attacked Lynch and prevented the match from happening. The decision to nix the steel cage match was made after The Bloodline’s Trial of Sami Zayn segment went long.
Last night’s Raw drew the largest audience for the show in almost three years with 2.34 million viewers and a 0.70 rating in 18-49.
The 30th anniversary show was expected to do huge numbers because whenever WWE brings back big stars from the past, and this included Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Undertaker, and DX, the numbers always go up with younger viewers.
Because of going commercial free, the first hour averaged 2.64 million viewers and drew a 0.80 in 18-49. It was actually among the biggest first-to-third hour drops in the history of the show, which sounds terrible, but given how big the numbers were, it’s expected. It shouldn’t be viewed negatively when you have a three-hour show and the first hour is commercial free that there is a big drop. And the third hour was still above two million viewers.
In particular, by hour three, most of the key people advertised that would have led to the huge increase in numbers had already appeared on the show, whether it was Hogan, Flair, Undertaker, or the Bloodline trial of Sami Zayn.
Raw was the number one show on television in 18-49, even beating The Bachelor on ABC and The Neighborhood on CBS in the demo. The number two show on cable, the Kansas vs. Baylor college basketball game on ESPN that went head-to-head, did 1,22 million/0.36, so Raw nearly doubled it.
Raw won every key demo by a huge margin on cable except women 18-49. It won that one, but Below Deck did a very strong number for second place.
In total viewers, Raw was sixth for the night, its best showing in a long time. It trailed only five shows on Fox News.
Coming off last week’s episode which went against a football game that did 30 plus million viewers, Raw was up 60 percent in viewers, up 67 percent in 18-49, and up 63 percent in 18-34.
From one year ago, the first show of last year after football ended, Raw was up 33 percent in viewers, up 51 percent in 18-49, and up 69 percent in 18-34.
It was the most viewers for an episode of Raw since February 17, 2020, at a time when Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre were doing big segment numbers on the show.
During an Instagram live video on Monday night, Nikki & Brie Bella criticized WWE for its lack of women’s evolution representation on Raw’s 30th anniversary episode.
The Bellas were initially among the legends announced for the anniversary show, but they didn’t end up appearing. They were pulled from advertising for the show late last week, with The Bellas tweeting that they wished they could have made it but weren’t available for that date. The Bellas noted that WWE promoted them for the episode before confirming.
Lol no that wasn’t it at all. Wish so bad we could have made it! We couldn’t make that date. They promoted us before confirming that’s all 🙂 Doing an IG Live for the Bella Army about it tomorrow 💋#hatersgonnahatebrllasgonnaball#bellaarmy
Madusa was the only women’s legend who appeared on Raw last night.
While speaking about the lack of women’s evolution representation on Raw 30, The Bellas mentioned Mercedes Mone (Sasha Banks) and Saraya (Paige) as people who WWE doesn’t want to show. “There’s a bunch of us they don’t want to show,” Brie said. “That’s fine.“
Nikki: Another good memory on Raw. How didn’t they showcase anything from the women’s evolution?
Brie: But also the way we did our matches on there.
Nikki: Because Sasha Banks in it and they’re like, ‘We can’t…
Brie: The Bellas, there’s a bunch of us.
Nikki: Mercedes is too over, and we can’t say her name.
Brie: There’s a couple other girls, and [Saraya], there’s a bunch of us they don’t want to show. That’s fine.
Nikki: That’s fine. When you do what they don’t want to do…
Brie: It’s not what you don’t do. It’s what you do do.
The Bella Twins do have a point tho…Not even a Trish Stratus or Lita or Jazz or Victoria…No mention of Sable or AJ Lee…Vickie Guerrero…list goes on…Alundra Blayze you put in a backstage poker game when she has the #WWE women’s championship?! pic.twitter.com/D406DDCJLH#RawXXX
A steel cage match between Becky Lynch and Bayley was supposed to take place on Raw last night, but it turned into an angle where Damage CTRL attacked Lynch and the match never got started. The match was cut for time due to The Bloodline’s Trial of Sami Zayn segment going long.
Nikki & Brie Bella were mentioned by Charlotte Flair last night during a promo where she named some of the opponents who she’s faced during her career.
WWE sent out a tweet today promoting E!’s “Nikki Bella Says I Do” series, which premieres this Thursday. The four-part series chronicles Nikki’s wedding to Artem Chigvintsev.
Monday night’s 30th anniversary edition of Raw set a financial milestone for the show.
WWE has announced that, among episodes that have taken place in the United States, last night’s Raw generated the most money from ticket sales in Raw’s 30-year history. The show was held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“The @WWEUniverse in Philadelphia showed up and showed out last night,” WWE wrote. “#RAWXXX at @WellsFargoCtr had the highest domestic gate in the 30-year history of #WWERaw!”
The @WWEUniverse in Philadelphia showed up and showed out last night 👏#RAWXXX at @WellsFargoCtr had the highest domestic gate in the 30-year history of #WWERaw!
The Undertaker, D-Generation X, Kurt Angle, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Madusa, Teddy Long, Ron Simmons, Diamond Dallas Page, Jimmy Hart, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Ted DiBiase, and IRS were the legends who appeared on last night’s anniversary show.
Last night’s Raw was also the go-home show for the Royal Rumble, which is taking place at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas this Saturday.
Some of the biggest legends in WWE history were on hand to help Raw celebrate its 30th anniversary last night.
The Undertaker, D-Generation X, Kurt Angle, Hulk Hogan, and more all played roles in last night’s Raw. The episode was also the go-home show for the Royal Rumble.
Brock Lesnar made his return to WWE ahead of Saturday’s pay-per-view. Lesnar attacked Bobby Lashley during last night’s no disqualification main event, costing him a chance to win the United States Championship. Lesnar gave Austin Theory an F5 onto Lashley and the referee counted the pin for Theory to retain his title.
Sami Zayn was put on trial by The Bloodline and was declared not guilty (for now) after Jey Uso came to his defense. A steel cage match between Becky Lynch and Bayley never got started after Lynch was attacked by Damage CTRL. And one last video hyping Cody Rhodes’ return aired before the Royal Rumble.
*Performer and match of the week *Details of the settlement of the Rita Chatterton case *McMahon suing Chatterton 20 ears ago and details behind that *What role Vince McMahon has played since returning and what was originally said that has been accurate and things that have already changed, including new office people back and old ones being gone *The latest lawsuit against WWE for bringing back Vince *Analysts look at the different sale possibilities *More on Stephanie leaving *Nick Khan talks the company and hat he said that does and doesn’t make sense *Where Dwayne Johnson stands *Tony Khan talks about his interest in buying WWE *Dwayne Johnson talks the sale of WWE *A look at how UFC’s talks with Francis Ngannou fell through and where Ngannou could go next and whether he can return *Royal Rumble update, who is in, how tickets are moving *Details on the new MLW TV title with Reelz *Impact Hard to Kill coverage including PPV numbers *Saturday’s UFC coverage *AAA announces big show schedule or 2023 and return of Alberto with Konnan explaining why and we talk about it *Cage match and Wrestling Observer’s list of the best in-ring wrestles of 2022 based on matches *What wrestlers were in the most great matches and to 50 of modern times as well as what cities have had the best wrestling. *Dana White’s Power Slap debut and how it was received *The most detailed look at te ratings for all the national shows and segment by segment Numbers *What promotions drew the most fans in Japan n 2022 *Update on another date for Mercedes Mone in New Japan and the Sakura Genesis highlights *New Japan and Stardom quarterly business numbers *More on death of Black Warrior *Ric Flair new endorsement deal *One of the biggest feuds of the 70s comes alive through each man’s son this past week *Lots of WrestleMania week news *How AEW got Kushida *Danielson talks Takeshita *More on CM Punk and Colt Cabana in AEW *AEW gets international TV upgrade *New documentary on former AEW star *Streaming numbers *Dana White talks punishment *Mike Swick talks cancer battle *PPV numbers for the shows over the weekend *Cena WrestleMania note *News no three major WWE cuts *What independent promotion has not yet been dropped by WWE for Peacock *International TV rights
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Monday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking the latest pro wrestling and MMA news, Steve Austin at WrestleMania, Raw, and much more. You can send questions to the show but please limit them to current topics to [email protected]
Raw is tonight from Philadelphia. They are doing a commercial free first hour. Usually these commercial free hours are because of fear of low ratings and that is not the case here. My gut is they are looking for a bragging point of a giant number of viewers whether it be for the sale, the next investment call, or something else. But with all the stars from the past and the bounce back of being the first show with no football opposition, the show should be one of its biggest if not its biggest number of the year. Also on the show is Austin Theory vs. Bobby Lashley for the U.S. title in a no DQ match, Becky Lynch vs .Bayley in a cage match, Usos vs. Damien Priest & Dominik Mysterio for the tag titles and The Bloodline Tribal court with Sami Zayn. The show was sold out with just under 14,000 fans as of this morning.
The big draw is the legends with Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, HHH, Undertaker, The Bellas, Jerry Lawler, Sean Waltman, Ron Simmons, Teddy Long, Kurt Angle, Road Dogg, Jimmy Hart, Madusa, IRS, Ted DiBiase, DDP and Godfather announced. Lita was reported as being there as well. Nobody had seen Vince McMahon at the show.
We’re looking for reports from the show with anything not on the TV show such as Main Event bouts, dark matches, etc., to [email protected] We’re also looking for reports on last night’s WWE show in Binghamton, NY and Saturday’s show in Erie, PA as well.
We are doing polls for this weekend on: Wrestle Kingdom from Saturday in Yokohama UFC 283 from Saturday Great Muta Bye Bye from Sunday in Yokohama We’re looking for a thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected]
Benny Galant, who was a star in Europe in the 50s and became a huge star in Mexico from 1962-68, passed away this past week at the age of 93. He was also featured in a number of movies and was a major rival of El Santo during that period, both at live shows around the country and in the movies.
Luke Rockhold was on the MMA Hour earlier today and said that he is coming out of retirement, has gotten his release from the UFC, and will fight again within the next four months.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced an exhibition boxing match against former Bellator fighter and reality show star Aaron Chalmers on 2/25 at the O2 Arena in London.
This was a big weekend for great matches. Ones to go out of your way to see are Volador Jr. vs. Rocky Romero from Friday’s CMLL show (yesterday’s update has more and how to watch it), Shingo Takagi vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima from Saturday’s Wrestle Kingdom show and the All Japan tag title change from yesterday with Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura over Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura were said to be the best matches. I saw the former two and they were great. The biggest spectacle was the Great Muta retirement show from yesterday, although the ring entrances and post-match were the best part of that presentation.
Ric Flair was announced as one of the people featured at the Gasparilla Pirate Fest on 1/28 in Tampa. The Gasparilla festival has been a big thing in the city since forever, as they used to have one of the biggest shows of the week on the Tuesday of the festival. Flair is the Grand Marshal at 2 pm.
AEW will be taping Dark on Saturday and much of the tapings goes head-to-head with the Royal Rumble. The tapings are 2-5 p.m. Eastern (before Rumble) and 7-10 p.m. Eastern (during Rumble)
Other Notes
Sage Northcutt, once thought of as the future star of UFC, will have his first fight in four years for ONE on 5/5 in Broomfield, CO in the first ONE show ever in the U.S., airing on Prime Video. He faced Ahmed Mujtaba (10-2).
Defy results from Friday night in Tacoma, WA: Judas Icarus & Travis Williams b Voros Twins, Danika Die Hard (formerly Dannika Della Rogue) b Amira, Evil Uno & Alex Reynolds b Sebastian Wolfe & Miles Deville, Marina Shafir b Cat Power, Guillermo Rosas b Levi Cooker (Tucker in WWE) in a hair vs. hair match, Artemis Spencer b Davey Richards. Next show is 2/11 in Seattle at Washington Hall with Jon Moxley & Schaff vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Davey Richards plus Swerve Strickland and Eddie Kingston appear. Top Flight will appear on 3/11 in Seattle at Washington Hall.
UFC did end up with 500,000 searches on Sunday putting it No. 2 for the day behind the Cincinnati Bengals, which is actually very impressive given it was an NFL playoff Sunday. That is still very low for a UFC PPV show.
WGN TV news brought up it being the 39th anniversary of Hulk Hogan beat Iron Sheik for the WWF title and talked about crazy wrestling names mentioning Spanky, Bastion Booger and Beaver Cleavage (thanks to Matt Schreiner)
Rich Swann vs. Moose vs. Rhino vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan vs. Chris Sabin in an elimination match to determine the top contender for the Impact title will air on Thursday’s Impact show. 73-year-old Mike Jackson will also face Trey Miguel for the X title.
Bellator announced a 3/31 show in Temecula, CA at the Pechanga Resort and Casino with Marcelo Golm (10-3) vs. Daniel James (14-6-1), Cat Zingano (13-4) vs. Leah McCourt (7-2),. John Salter (18-6) vs. Aaron Jeffrey (13-3) and Jaleel Willis (16-4) vs. Rustam Khabilov (24-4) as the main card.
There are auditions for the play “Master of Puppets. The play will run 5/25 to 6/11 at the Legacy Theater in Connecticut. For more info go to LegacyTheaterCT.org
WWE has made a couple of announcements for tonight’s 30th anniversary edition of Raw.
Ahead of tonight’s Raw, WWE uploaded a video with Byron Saxton announcing that the first hour of the show will air commercial-free. It was also announced that a no disqualification stipulation has been added to Austin Theory and Bobby Lashley’s United States Championship match tonight.
EXCLUSIVE: @ByronSaxton is joined by a couple of legendary friends with some huge news ahead of #RawisXXX tonight!
The first hour will be COMMERCIAL-FREE and the #USTitle encounter between @_Theory1 & @fightbobby will now be a No Disqualification Match!
Tonight’s anniversary show is taking place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and will include appearances by several WWE legends. The Undertaker, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, Madusa, Teddy Long, Ron Simmons, Road Dogg, X-Pac, Diamond Dallas Page, Jimmy Hart, Jerry “The King” Lawler, The Godfather, Ted DiBiase, and IRS have been announced for the episode.
Here’s the updated lineup for Raw:
No DQ match: United States Champion Austin Theory defends against Bobby Lashley
Raw Tag Team Champions The Usos defend against The Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio)
Steel cage match: Becky Lynch vs. Bayley
The Bloodline will hold Tribal Court for Sami Zayn
Diamond Dallas Page, and five more returning stars have been added to the lineup for Monday’s WWE Raw 30th anniversary episode.
In a graphic on Friday’s SmackDown show, WWE announced that DDP, Ted DiBiase, Mike “Irwin R. Schyster” Rotunda, Alundra Blayze, The Godfather, and Jimmy Hart will appear on Monday’s Raw is XXX 30th Anniversary show.
Earlier on Friday, the company confirmed that Hulk Hogan would return to WWE television for the first time since WrestleMania 37 on Monday’s show, and also advertised Paul “Triple H” Levesque for the episode.
Former stars Rikishi and Samu are also set for the show as part of the Bloodline acknowledgment ceremony.
WWE Hall of Famers The Bella Twins are no longer shown on the graphic advertising the legends appearances.
Here’s the updated lineup for the show:
WWE United States Champion Austin Theory defends against Bobby Lashley
Raw Tag Team Champions The Usos defend against The Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio)
Steel cage match: Becky Lynch vs. Bayley
Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Hulk Hogan is making his return to WWE television this coming Monday.
WWE.com now lists that Hogan will be appearing at Raw’s 30th anniversary episode, which is taking place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Monday (January 23). It will be Hogan’s first appearance on WWE TV since co-hosting WrestleMania 37 in 2021.
“The historic Raw 30 celebration will feature a slew of WWE Legends including The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Road Dogg, X-Pac, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler, Teddy Long, Ron Simmons, and Kurt Angle,” WWE wrote. “Be a part of history on Raw 30, next Monday at 8/7 C on USA.”
Paul “Triple H” Levesque is also now included on WWE.com’s graphic for Monday’s anniversary edition of Raw.
In addition to celebrating Raw’s 30th anniversary, Monday’s episode is also the go-home show for the Royal Rumble.
WWE Raw 30th anniversary episode (Monday, January 23) —
United States Champion Austin Theory defends against Bobby Lashley
Raw Tag Team Champions The Usos defend against The Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio)
Steel cage match: Becky Lynch vs. Bayley
Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Two members of the Samoan Dynasty have been confirmed for Raw’s 30th anniversary episode.
An article published by The Daily Item in Sunbury, Pennsylvania on Tuesday revealed that Samu Anoa’i and his cousin Rikishi will both be at Raw’s 30th anniversary episode next Monday. There will be an “Acknowledgement Ceremony” for Roman Reigns on the show. The segment will feature every generation of The Bloodline.
“I want to thank the WWE for everything they have done for myself and my family,” Samu told The Daily Item. “I look forward to next week when I can see a lot of familiar faces and be reunited with a lot of my family members.”
“I have not been around the WWE much since I left years ago, but to be able to return is something I wanted for my children and grandchildren,” Samu added. “I am thankful for the support of all my fans especially those that have become family in Sunbury and the Valley.”
Samu & Rikishi were formerly WWF Tag Team Champions as The Headshrinkers.
Rikishi’s sons, Jimmy & Jey Uso, are defending their Raw Tag Team titles against The Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio) on the 30th anniversary episode of Raw.
The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Kurt Angle, The Bellas, Road Dogg, X-Pac, Ron Simmons, Teddy Long, and Jerry “The King” Lawler are among the legends who will be appearing on the anniversary episode. Tatanka previously announced that he would be on the show but noted on his Facebook page today that he won’t be there because his son’s wrestling team is going to the state championship.
Here’s the updated lineup for the episode:
WWE United States Champion Austin Theory defends against Bobby Lashley
Raw Tag Team Champions The Usos defend against The Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio)
Steel cage match: Becky Lynch vs. Bayley
Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Bobby Lashley will get a chance at Austin Theory next week on the 30th anniversary edition of Raw.
In the main event of Monday’s Raw, Bobby Lashley defeated Seth Rollins in a six-man elimination match to become the new number one contender for the United States title. The show closed with Theory, who had been at ringside, holding the United States title as Lashley stared him down.
MVP and Omos came to ringside towards the finish of the match. Theory struck Lashley with the United States title, causing Omos to attack Theory. Rollins laid out Omos with a stomp on the announce table and threw Theory over the barricade. He went back to the ring and laid out MVP but then walked into a spear by Lashley.
Last week, MVP had attempted to reconcile with Lashley, pointing out that Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin had recently reunited. Lashley thus far has not been receptive to a Hurt Business reunion.
Here is the updated lineup for Raw’s 30th anniversary:
WWE Raw is XXX, Monday, January 23 —
WWE United States Championship: Austin Theory (c) vs. Bobby Lashley
Raw Tag Team Championship: The Usos (c) vs. Dominik Mysterio & Damian Priest
Steel cage match: Becky Lynch vs. Bayley
Bloodline acknowledgement ceremony with Roman Reigns
WWE legends appearing: The Undertaker, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Jerry Lawler, The Bella Twins, Road Dogg, X-Pac, Theodore Long, Ron Simmons
Two title bouts, a steel cage match, WWE legends appearing, and a Bloodline acknowledgment ceremony are set for Raw is XXX on Monday, January 23.
Bobby Lashley won a six-way elimination match on Monday’s Raw to determine a number one contender to Austin Theory’s United States Championship, and will challenge Theory for the title next week at Raw is XXX.
The Raw Tag Team titles will also be on the line in Philadelphia, as The Usos will defend against Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest of The Judgment Day. Mysterio and Priest won a gauntlet match on last week’s Raw to become top contenders to the titles. After months of defending the Raw and SmackDown titles as a unified Tag Team Championship, The Usos will defend each title separately going forward.
In another match set for Raw is XXX, Becky Lynch will face Bayley inside a steel cage. Lynch issued a challenge to Bayley for the bout on Monday’s Raw, and Bayley accepted.
A Bloodline acknowledgement ceremony has also been announced for next week, with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns appearing on the show.
Appearances from WWE legends including The Undertaker, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Road Dogg, X-Pac, Ron Simmons, Kurt Angle, The Bella Twins, Jerry Lawler, and Theodore Long are also set for Raw is XXX.
The announced lineup for Raw’s 30th anniversary show:
WWE Raw is XXX, Monday, January 23 —
WWE United States Championship: Austin Theory (c) vs. Bobby Lashley
Raw Tag Team Championship: The Usos (c) vs. Dominik Mysterio & Damian Priest
Steel cage match: Becky Lynch vs. Bayley
Bloodline acknowledgement ceremony with Roman Reigns
WWE legends appearing: The Undertaker, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Jerry Lawler, The Bella Twins, Road Dogg, X-Pac, Theodore Long, Ron Simmons
WWE is advertising two of its biggest stars for an important show later this month.
Roman Reigns and Ronda Rousey are currently advertised on WWE.com for the Raw 30th Anniversary show from Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on January 23, 2023.
Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, and Bobby Lashley are also advertised to appear.
Our own Dave Meltzer reported in October that WWE was working to make the anniversary show a special event.
Meltzer wrote:
They’ve started on plans for a major Raw episode in January to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the show. The first episode was January 11, 1993. Raw will in January 2032 become the longest running pro wrestling television show in the U.S. The current record is Portland Wrestling from January 10, 1953 to the end December 1991
Ric Flair also mentioned recently on his podcast that he has been invited to the show.
Flair said:
“I have been invited and it’s a f–king big deal. And for all the people out there who go why? Because it’s Raw and it’s a big f–king deal. Hell yeah, are you kidding me? 30 years, you think about that. Remember when Nitro was just going to destroy Raw?”
WWE has revealed the date and location for Raw’s 30th anniversary episode.
Raw will celebrate its 30th anniversary when the show takes place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Monday, January 23, 2023. The episode will also be Raw’s go-home show for the 2023 Royal Rumble.
🛎️ @WWE ANNOUNCEMENT: #WWERAW returns to Wells Fargo Center on January 23 to celebrate RAW's 30th Anniversary. Tickets go on sale Friday, November 18. pic.twitter.com/CW5dn6Z8kN
They’ve started on plans for a major Raw episode in January to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the show. The first episode was January 11, 1993. Raw will in January 2032 become the longest running pro wrestling television show in the U.S. The current record is Portland Wrestling from January 10, 1953 to the end December 1991
WWE celebrated Raw’s 25th anniversary in 2018 with a special episode that took place across two locations. The episode was held in New York City at both the Barclays Center and the Manhattan Center, the latter of which was the original home of Raw when the show launched in 1993.
Along with the 30th anniversary episode of Raw, WWE has announced a full slate of live events for the winter of 2023:
Monday, January 2: Raw – Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Saturday, January 7: Saturday Night’s Main Event – Mississippi State Fair Coliseum in Jackson, Miss. Sunday, January 8: Sunday Stunner – Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala. Monday, January 9: Raw – Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala. Friday, January 13: SmackDown – Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis. Saturday, January 14: Saturday Night’s Main Event – Berglund Center Coliseum in Roanoke, Va. Sunday, January 15: Sunday Stunner – The Corbin Arena in Corbin, Ky. Monday, January 16: Raw – Heritage Bank Arena in Cincinnati, OH Friday, January 20: SmackDown – Little Caesars Arena in Detroit Saturday, January 21: Saturday Night’s Main Event – Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, Pa. Sunday, January 22: Sunday Stunner – Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton, N.Y. Monday, January 23: Raw 30th Anniversary – Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia Friday, January 27: SmackDown – Sames Auto Arena in Laredo, Texas Monday, January 30: Raw – BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. Monday, February 13: Raw – Barclays Center in Brooklyn Friday, February 17: SmackDown – Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec Saturday, February 18: Elimination Chamber – Bell Centre in Montreal Quebec Monday, February 19: Raw – Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ONT Friday, February 24: SmackDown – Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. Saturday, February 25: Road To WrestleMania Tour – State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. Sunday, February 26: Road To WrestleMania Tour – BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, Ill. Monday, February 27: Raw – Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. Saturday, March 4: Road To WrestleMania Tour – Upstate Medical Arena at The Oncenter War Memorial in Syracuse, N.Y. Sunday, March 5: Road To WrestleMania Tour – CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, N.J. Sunday, March 5: Road To WrestleMania Tour – The Aud in Kitchener, ONT Saturday, March 11: Road To WrestleMania Tour – Covelli Centre in Youngstown, OH Friday, March 17: SmackDown – T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. Saturday, March 18: Road To WrestleMania Tour – Fargodome in Fargo, N.D. Sunday, March 19: Road To WrestleMania Tour – Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. Sunday, March 19: Road To WrestleMania Tour – Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield, Ill. Monday, March 20 – Raw – Enterprise Center in St. Louis Friday March 31: SmackDown/2023 Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony – Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles Saturday, April 1: NXT Stand & Deliver – Crypto.com Arena in Angeles Monday, April 3: Raw – Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles
WWE is working on putting together a special episode to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Raw.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE has started working on plans for Raw’s 30th anniversary. The episode is scheduled to take place this coming January.
Meltzer wrote:
They’ve started on plans for a major Raw episode in January to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the show. The first episode was January 11, 1993. Raw will in January 2032 become the longest running pro wrestling television show in the U.S. The current record is Portland Wrestling from January 10, 1953 to the end December 1991
WrestleVotes first reported that plans were in motion for the 30th anniversary episode. Their report noted that having the show take place at the Manhattan Center was being considered under WWE’s previous regime. It’s not known if that’s still the case with new leadership in place.
New York City’s Manhattan Center was the home of Raw when the show launched. In January 2018, Raw’s 25th anniversary episode took place at both the Barclays Center and Manhattan Center.
