monday night raw went to 2 hours on february 3, 1997.
monday night raw went to 2 hours on february 3, 1997.
when did monday night raw go to 2 hours?
february 3 , 1997
the angle polarized fans and shocked the usa network, which was not accustomed to airing a program with the profanity and level of violence presented in the vignettes. although the wwf (and pillman himself) were forced to issue apologies to avoid "raw" being canceled for breach of contract, the ensuing discussion of the incident in the fan community generated the most attention the wwf had received since the beginning of the monday night war. this prompted the wwf creative team to begin looking into the idea of more adult-oriented storylines and characters and mimicking wcw's metafiction elements. on february 3, 1997, "monday night raw" changed to a two-hour format. in an attempt to break the momentum of "nitro", wwf entered into a cross-promotional agreement with ecw. "raw" commentator jerry lawler insulted and "challenged" ecw on the show's february 17 episode, and in the weeks to come, several ecw wrestlers appeared on "raw" in a story arc similar to the nwo storyline playing out in wcw, with the wwf pursuing the "renegade" ecw. on march 10, 1997, "raw" was officially renamed "raw is war" in reference to the ongoing rating battle.
monday night wars
the show was originally introduced on the usa network on august 2, 1998 in the united states. the one-hour show would be broadcast on sunday nights, being taped earlier in the week after raw. it was the second primary program of the wwf's weekly television show line-up, serving as a supplement to the "monday night raw" program. "heat" would feature a format similar to that of "monday night raw" in that continuing feuds from the previous week would progress during the show, and the following day's "monday night raw" would be heavily promoted. on scheduled wwf pay-per-view event nights, "heat" would also serve as a preview show to the events. the show was initially signed for only 6 episodes but was very popular and was continued.
wwe heat