What episode of Raw made it the “A” Show

[johnnyk9]

In the beginning of 1993 Superstars was still the show where Storylines and character development happened more what episode of Raw do you all feel was the turning point where it became the main show while Superstars took a backseat

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

May 17th, 1993 had both Kid upsetting Razor and Jannetty defeating Michaels for the IC title.

[ppl591]

Hogan returning before mania 9

[David-Arquette was in WCW 2000]

I was always under the impression that once Raw debuted it was immediately the 'A' show. That's how the retrospectives tell it. However, I guess it was an experimental format and a lot of people watching Superstars might not have made the jump to Raw.

Could Raw and Superstars in 1993 be likened to Shotgun and Raw in 1997, in terms of the experimental contrasting with what had become the status quo of the weekly 'A' show format?

[PrimeTyme]

I would say sometime in mid 1995 honestly. I feel like Raw and Superstars were kind of on equal footing from the start through 1994. By the time Challenge was off the air I think Raw was then positioned as the firm A Show and Superstars started to fall into the B Show.

[Celexa Bliss 54]

November 28th, 1994. Why that seemingly random, arbitrary date? Because this was the first Raw after Survivor Series and it was live, something which would become the standard for post-PPV Raws. I would say that was the point where they began treating the show as the "A-show". It also boasted the first appearance of Diesel as World Champion, likely the first time most fans even learned of the title change, which was two days prior to Raw, at a house show. And from there, the company never looked back, as far as Raw being the flagship was concerned.

[thegame415]

Maybe some point in late 1995/early 1996 when they realized Nitro was a legit competitor.

[James Fabiano]

Agree about the Kid/Jannetty episode, which yesteday celebrated its 29th anniversary. Oddly I remember where I was...at the church carnival. When I got home, a friend told me everything that happened that night.

And now I'm wondering...was it a coincidence that Kid and Jannetty get to win the tag team titles on the show's first anniversary? Almost like a "thank you" for creating that first must-see episode?

(OT but yesterday was also the 30th for the Sting vs. Dangerous Alliance War Games!)

[auph10imitated]

May 16, 2022 3:34:55 GMT -5 David-Arquette was in WCW 2000 said:

I was always under the impression that once Raw debuted it was immediately the 'A' show. That's how the retrospectives tell it. However, I guess it was an experimental format and a lot of people watching Superstars might not have made the jump to Raw.

Could Raw and Superstars in 1993 be likened to Shotgun and Raw in 1997, in terms of the experimental contrasting with what had become the status quo of the weekly 'A' show format?

I would say the same, the whole idea of the new look and style and the fact it was being pushed as a fresh format made it the "A" show straight away, plus as a viewer from the UK who didnt get access to RAW until September 1995, it automatically felt like a bigger deal because all we got was highlights of the show on AAW

[Milkman Norm]

Different take. It didn't become the A show. The combination of the syndicated market collapsing & that Superstars/Challenge tapings were often 5 weeks behind the air date compared to 3 for Raw made Raw a slightly fresher show. Now the early 93 episodes were great. But by the middle of the year when they left the Manhattan Center and started to tape in casinos & high school gyms the show was pretty much the same as the others, just usually a little less out of date.

[chronocross]

I agree with the 5/17/93 show having Marty winning the IC Title and 123 Kid's win.

Superstars still had some big angles happening (Tatanka's winning streak ending) but more things were happening on Raw.

[thecrusherwi]

Some good answers in here. I can't pinpoint an episode, but I'm leaning more to the fall of 1994 when Raw became the clear A show. Up until then, Superstars was still getting a lot of the big moments like the end of Tatanka's win streak, the back and forth interviews at the beginning of the Bret & Owen saga, the Diesel Intercontinental Title win over Razor Ramon, Backlund's heel turn on Bret Hart, King of the Ring qualifying matches etc. And if I remember right, Superstars is still where most of the PPV matches were announced for the first time.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

Not one show, more a gradual period for me around late 1993 to mid 1994. Perfect beating Flair, Money Inc attacking Beefcake, Marty beating Shawn and Crush joining Fuji, those felt like “special RAW episodes”. Bret vs. 123 Kid came off like a big deal because my grandparents were watching TV in the living room, and I was miffed because I couldn’t get to see Raw live that night. That’s around when it really felt like the premiere show to me.

[Celexa Bliss 54]

It's really interesting, because I doubt Raw was intended to become THE show. It was just a new show in their pre-existing timeslot. In the beginning, it was no different than the weekend shows, except it was sometimes live and there would be angles shot exclusive to the show.

Contrast that with Nitro, which was always meant to be overtake Saturday Night as WCW's flagship show. From the beginning, they were shooting major angles and it was clear that there was meant to be continuity from week to week, something that didn't really seem to exist with Raw until after WrestleMania XI. I pinpointed the 11/28/94 Raw due to that being where news of Diesel's World Title win broke, but other title changes had been announced first on Raw before, notably HBK regaining the IC Title from Marty. I feel like a better answer is actually 4/3/95. Starting there, Raw felt much more important. Even when stuff happened on Superstars or The Action Zone, it was shown or referenced on Raw, and the stuff happening on Raw had more far-reaching consequences than in the past.