Backlash France was a 2024 professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE . It was the 19th Backlash event and took place on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at the LDLC Arena in Décines-Charpieu in the Metropolis of Lyon , France . The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions . This was WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event to be held in France, and the first Backlash held outside of North America. The concept of the event was based around the backlash from WrestleMania XL .
169-528: Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Cody Rhodes defeated AJ Styles to retain SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship . The referee for the match was Jessika Carr , who became the first woman to referee a WWE world title main event. In other prominent matches, Damian Priest defeated Jey Uso to retain Raw's World Heavyweight Championship and Bayley defeated Naomi and Tiffany Stratton in
338-558: A mustache , he and Sandow worked as a tag team, facing the champions Team Hell No twice: one at Main Event and another at the Royal Rumble . They would also be joined by The Bella Twins , as they began feuding with Tons of Funk (Brodus Clay and Tensai) and The Funkadactyls ( Cameron and Naomi ). The two teams were originally booked to face each other in an eight-person mixed tag team match on April 7 at WrestleMania 29 , but their match
507-601: A sophomore . As a junior , he won the Georgia state tournament at 189 lb (86 kg) in 2003 and repeated as champion his senior year. He had planned to wrestle collegiately at Penn State University , but decided to become a professional wrestler instead. During his time in high school, Rhodes also acted as a referee in his father's Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling promotion . After graduating high school, Rhodes attended Howard Fine Acting School in Los Angeles for
676-436: A trash can and then hit Sikoa with a kendo stick . Owens set up a table, placed Tonga on it and delivered a frog splash through the table. Owens attempted a Stunner to Sikoa, but Sikoa escaped and delivered a lariat. Sikoa delivered two headbutts and a Samoan Drop to Owens through a table. Tonga attempted to hit a chair on Orton but Orton ducked an delivered a snap powerslam. Orton performed a draping DDT and then connected with
845-521: A triple threat match to retain SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship . The event was also notable for the WWE in-ring debut of Tama Tonga , as well as the return of his adopted brother (biological cousin), Tonga Loa , who previously performed in WWE as Camacho from 2009 to 2014. The event received highly positive reviews, with the main event and the Street Fight being deemed highlights of the night, as well as
1014-617: A two-time Intercontinental Champion and a prolific tag team wrestler, winning eight world tag team championships ( three World Tag Team Championships , four WWE/Raw Tag Team Championships , and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship ) with five separate partners; his fourth Raw Tag Team Championship and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship were held together as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship . Following his departure from WWE in May 2016, Rhodes began wrestling on
1183-548: A 2003 episode of WWE Confidential , the show utilized 13 cameras at the time at a cost of $ 85,000. On October 3, 2005, as Raw returned to USA Network, the 2002 set was retained but the beams and lighting on the sides were modified. The Spike TV logo was removed from the bottom side of the TitanTron. On October 9, 2006, the show debuted a new logo and opening intro featuring " ...To Be Loved " by Papa Roach as its theme song. This logo and intro were retained until November 9, 2009,
1352-545: A 27-hour tape delay, but has started airing live as of February 4, 2014. Syfy in the United States started airing a 2-hour replay of Raw on May 20, 2016. On June 26, 2018, WWE and USA Network announced a five-year contract extension for Raw . The new agreement for the live, weekly three-hour block commenced in October 2019. Clips from some WWE shows have also been shown on Fox Sports.com. On September 24, 2012, Hulu signed
1521-456: A Lionsault, but Cody got his knees up. Cody performed a suicide dive on Styles, a snap powerslam and a Disaster Kick for a two-count. Cody attempted the Cody Cutter, but Styles blocked and used a roll-up pin for a two-count. Cody attempted a suplex on the apron, but Styles reversed it into an apron brainbuster. Styles attempted a sliding knee strike, but Cody reversed it and powerbombed him through
1690-496: A Spanish Raw on Telemundo . On the same week as Raw ' s return to USA Network, Spike TV scheduled Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)'s live Ultimate Fight Night in Raw 's old timeslot in an attempt to go head-to-head with Raw . Since the return to USA Network, Raw has been pre-empted during the U.S. Open , which aired on USA , resulting in Raw to be moved to SciFi , a sister channel to USA, for three years. Since 2016,
1859-444: A crowd can often impact a show in good and bad ways, but this show saw nothing but positivity and excitement. However, it was the men's and women's WWE Championship matches that gave us the best bell-to-bell action. Bayley, Naomi, Stratton, Styles and Rhodes all deserve praise for their performances on Saturday. As a whole, Backlash was a huge success." John Canton of TJR Wrestling.net gave the show an 8 out of 10, saying "I thought it
SECTION 10
#17328920168692028-434: A double foot stomp. Stratton delivered a double handspring elbow to both Bayley and Naomi for a two-count. Stratton delivered a lariat and a cartwheel Alabama Slam to Bayley for a two-count. Naomi then delivered a spear to Stratton on the outside and a blockbuster from the barricade to Bayley. Naomi performed a Heatseeker and a split-legged moonsault on Stratton for a two-count. Naomi delivered a sit-out powerbomb to Stratton for
2197-527: A feud between the two couples. On the October 6 episode of Impact Wrestling , Cody cut a promo where he put over the company and said he has a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship , but Bennett and Maria interrupted and the segment ended with a brawl. On the October 13 episode of Impact Wrestling , Cody made his in-ring debut by defeating Bennett. On the October 20 episode of Impact Wrestling , Cody challenged Eddie Edwards for
2366-544: A full 16:9 letterbox widescreen presentation, with a down-scaled version of the native HD feed on a 4:3 SD feed. In conjunction with this, Raw updated its graphics package, with the new WWE logo (first used with the WWE Network's launch in February) now on the lower-right corner of the screen, right next to the word, "Live". At this time, the new WWE logo began appearing on the ring's turnbuckle covers, and USA Network logo moved to
2535-500: A judge on the competition series Go-Big Show and starred with his wife Brandi Rhodes on the reality show Rhodes to the Top . After an amateur wrestling career that earned him two Georgia state championships, Rhodes joined WWE in 2006 and was initially assigned to its developmental territory , Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he became a Triple Crown Champion . He joined WWE's main roster in 2007 and throughout his WWE career, became
2704-638: A match between Goldust and Stardust at Fastlane , which Goldust won. The brothers tried to have a match at WrestleMania, but the WWE Chairman Vince McMahon did not book the match, since he felt the match was not good enough for WrestleMania. The Stardust character eventually evolved to resemble a comic book supervillain , which led to him entering a storyline rivalry with actor Stephen Amell , renaming his finishing maneuver The Queen's Crossbow , after Oliver Queen , Amell's character from Arrow . At SummerSlam , he and Barrett were defeated in
2873-597: A match, and the duo also attacked Matt Hardy , forming an alliance. At Night of Champions in September, Rhodes and McIntyre captured the WWE Tag Team Championship in a Tag Team Turmoil match . At Bragging Rights , Rhodes and McIntyre lost the championship to The Nexus (John Cena and David Otunga ). On the October 29 SmackDown , after losing a tag team match, Rhodes and McIntyre dissolved their partnership. On January 21, 2011, Rhodes faced Rey Mysterio in
3042-412: A match, during which Mysterio hit Rhodes in the face with his exposed knee brace and legitimately broke Rhodes' nose, which led to Rhodes declaring he was no longer dashing and had required facial reconstructive surgery. Rhodes was off television for several weeks. Upon his return, he wore a clear protective mask over his face and colluded with his father to attack Mysterio and remove Mysterio's mask on
3211-826: A much better show because of it". Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter rated the following matches: the Street Fight 4.75 stars, the WWE Women's Championship match 4.5 stars, the World Heavyweight Championship match 3.5 stars, the Women's Tag Team Championship match 3 stars and the Undisputed WWE Championship match 5 stars; marking WWE's first 5 star rating of 2024. Cody Rhodes Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (born Cody Garrett Runnels ; June 30, 1985)
3380-532: A multi-year deal with WWE to stream all of the company's TV shows and some of its web series which includes Raw . Episodes of Raw are available for viewing the following day as a condensed 90-minute version is available, not the full version as shown the previous night on USA Network. As of December 9, 2016, all episodes of Raw are available on demand on the WWE Network. Recent episodes are available for on-demand viewing 30 days after their original air date. After WrestleMania 32 in 2016, WWE began with airing
3549-410: A new narcissistic gimmick , claiming to be the best-looking wrestler in WWE and demanding to be called "Dashing" Cody Rhodes. As part of the gimmick, vignettes began airing in which Rhodes gave "grooming tips". He was extremely protective of his face during matches; if he was hit in the face, he threw a fit and checked his mirror. In September, he attacked Christian along with Drew McIntyre after
SECTION 20
#17328920168693718-880: A one-hour version airs on MBC Action at 8 PM Egypt Standard Time . It also airs on FM1 in Iran and on Sport 1 and Sport 1 HD in Israel. Raw further began airing on S Sport and S Sport Plus in Turkey. In Germany, Raw airs live and is on-demand on the Website of Bild , only for Bild+ Subscribers and with German commentary on ProSieben MAXX every Wednesday at 10pm. In Belgium, Raw airs on ABXplore (in French) and on Play6 . In Czech Republic, Raw airs on Nova Sport . In France, Raw airs on AB1 every Wednesday with French commentary. In Italy, Raw airs live on Discovery Plus and with
3887-580: A one-time ROH World Champion . He would later become a one-time IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion in NJPW and a one-time ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion (with Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson ). In 2018, Rhodes, along with the Jacksons, promoted an independent pay-per-view event called All In that took place in September, where he won the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship , marking
4056-472: A period that also saw the changeover to broadcasting Raw in high-definition , which occurred on January 21, 2008. From November 16, 2009, to July 16, 2012, the theme song for the Raw brand was " Burn It to the Ground " by Nickelback . Prior to this, the theme song for Raw was " ...To Be Loved " by Papa Roach , which had been used since October 9, 2006 and "Across The Nation" by The Union Underground which
4225-422: A roundhouse kick to Belair and a flying crossbody from Sane for a two-count. Sane and Asuka then performed a Sliding D/Sliding Knee strike combination for a two-count. Asuka delivered a spinning back kick, but Belair responded with a vertical suplex. The Kabuki Warriors performed a Codebreaker/Blockbuster combination on Belair for a two-count. Cargill delivered a double springboard crossbody to Asuka and Sane and then
4394-559: A short statement about his recent purchase of WCW and ended with a simulcast with Raw on TNN and Nitro on TNT including an appearance by Vince's son Shane . The younger McMahon interrupted his father's gloating over the WCW purchase to explain that Shane was the one who actually owned WCW, setting up what became the WWF's " Invasion " storyline. Following the purchase of WCW and the September 11 attacks ,
4563-447: A sign of disrespect. Cody Rhodes made his main roster in-ring debut losing to Randy Orton via pinfall on the July 16, 2007, episode of Raw. Rhodes appeared at The Great American Bash to prevent Orton from further attacking his father. The next night on Raw, Rhodes challenged Orton to a rematch from the previous week, only to lose again. Orton followed this up by kicking Rhodes' father in
4732-479: A six-man tag team match, and they attacked Orton the following week in retaliation. This led to a triple threat match at WrestleMania XXVI , in which Orton defeated Rhodes and DiBiase. As part of the 2010 WWE supplemental draft , Rhodes was drafted to the SmackDown brand. He made his debut for the brand on the April 30 SmackDown , by defeating John Morrison . The following week on SmackDown , Rhodes participated in
4901-513: A spear to Jey for a two-count. Priest then told McDonagh that he doesn't need his help, which gave way to Jey delivering two superkicks to McDonagh and Priest and then an Uso Splash to Priest for a two-count. Priest then delivered a Razor's Edge to Jey for a two-count. Priest attempted the South of Heaven chokeslam, but Jey escaped and delivered a spear to Priest for a two-count. Jey attempted another Uso Splash, but Finn Bálor distracted him from performing
5070-521: A spinebuster to Sane for a two-count. Belair and Cargill the performed a DDT/release wheelbarrow suplex on Sane for a two-count. The Warriors performed a backbreaker/InSANE elbow combination on Belair, but Cargill broke up the pinfall. Cargill then transitioned from a powerbomb into the Jaded on Sane, followed by a KOD from Belair on Asuka and then Belair pinned Asuka to win the titles. With this win, Cargill captured her first championship in WWE, while Belair become
5239-437: A storyline with his brother against Triple H. After Rhodes was defeated by Orton, he was fired in storyline. This was put in place to give Rhodes time off for his marriage and honeymoon to Brandi Reed . Over the next few weeks, Rhodes' brother Goldust also lost to Orton with Cody's reinstatement on the line, while his father Dusty Rhodes was knocked out by Big Show while pleading for his sons to get their jobs back. In return,
Backlash France - Misplaced Pages Continue
5408-587: A successful improvement. However, the weekly live schedule proved to be a financial drain on the WWF. From spring 1993 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. The first episode produced outside of New York
5577-643: A superkick. Styles attempted a clothesline, but Cody ducked and delivered a Super Cody Cutter and then the Cross Rhodes for the win. Backlash France held the largest gate for any arena show in WWE history, until it was broken at Clash at the Castle: Scotland in June 2024, which was then broken by Bash In Berlin in August 2024. Backlash France also broke the record for the lowest amount of pay-per-view buys for any WWE event in history. Journalists and wrestlers praised
5746-411: A tag team match by Amell and Neville. Then, he began to work with The Ascension , forming the faction "The Cosmic Wasteland". At Night of Champions , they defeated Neville and The Lucha Dragons in a six-man tag team match in the pre-show. From September until May, he worked on television and PPV in minor storylines and losses. At WrestleMania 32 , Stardust competed in a seven-man ladder match for
5915-445: A team. At Hell in a Cell , they successfully retained against The Usos. They lost the title to Damien Mizdow and The Miz in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving The Usos and Los Matadores the next month at Survivor Series , while also losing a rematch the next night on Raw . At TLC they lost to the newly formed team The New Day . On February, the team disbanded after Cody executed Cross Rhodes on Goldust. This led to
6084-509: A ten thousand seat arena in the United States. Rhodes, along with The Young Bucks , challenged the idea by planning a show specifically for the purposes of drawing ten thousand fans. In May 2018, it was announced that the show would be named All In . On May 13, 2018, tickets to "All In" sold out in 30 minutes. At the event on September 1, Cody defeated Nick Aldis to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship . Cody lost
6253-497: A three-way match also involving Kota Ibushi at King of Pro-Wrestling on October 8. On October 24, Cody announced that he was no longer affiliated with Bullet Club, and he would continue teaming with Omega, The Young Bucks, Hangman Page and Marty Scurll as The Elite . At Wrestle Kingdom 13 on January 4, 2019, Cody lost the United States Heavyweight Championship back to Robinson. On February 7, his profile
6422-534: A tournament for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship , but lost to Christian in the semi-finals. Rhodes mentored Husky Harris , a third-generation wrestler, in the second season of NXT . Rhodes would participate in the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match at the first ever Money in the Bank pay-per-view event but was unsuccessful as the match was won by Kane. On the June 25 SmackDown , Rhodes began
6591-442: A two-count, followed by Bayley delivering a diving elbow drop to Naomi for a two-count. Stratton delivered a cartwheel Alabama Slam again to both Bayley and Stratton on the announce table and attempted a double Prettiest Moonsault Ever, but Naomi and Bayley ducked and performed a 3D on Stratton. Naomi performed a La Magistral cradle for a two-count; Bayley reversed it into a La Magistral for the win. After that, Damian Priest defended
6760-486: A year. Rhodes credits his father for starting to train him as a wrestler from the age of 12, which was limited mainly to simple fundamentals. From there, his training was provided by Al Snow , Danny Davis , Randy Orton , and Ricky Morton . Using his birth name Cody Runnels, he began wrestling in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) on May 13, 2006. He formed a tag team with Shawn Spears in mid-August 2006 and won
6929-450: Is a real one. He's not asking for more money. He's not asking for a title shot. Nothing would matter at this point." I let the burn get too bad before I said anything, if that makes any sense. Despite that, Rhodes consistently spoke highly of WWE following his departure, adding that there were no grudges between him and the company and that any decisions the company makes regarding him are largely business-based. This included WWE redesigning
Backlash France - Misplaced Pages Continue
7098-566: Is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE since March 2022 , where he performs on the SmackDown brand and is the current Undisputed WWE Champion , recognized as both the WWE Champion and WWE Universal Champion in his first reign with each, as well as the inaugural WWE Crown Jewel Champion . He is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he
7267-793: Is broadcast live on ESPN 4 for Central America and on Fox Sports 2 in South America, in Mexico it is broadcast on Fox Sports, in Argentina on Fox Sports 3, in Chile on Fox Sports 1 and in Brazil on Fox Sports 2 and ESPN Extra, (also available on Star+ for Central and South America). The show also airs live on Supersport in South Africa on Tuesdays at 02:00 am CAT. Raw had aired in Australia on Fox8 since 2003, usually on
7436-514: Is considered to be one of WWE's two flagship programs, along with Friday Night SmackDown . In September 2000, Raw moved from USA Network to TNN, which rebranded to Spike TV in August 2003. On October 3, 2005, Raw returned to USA Network, where it will remain until January 6, 2025 when it moves to the Netflix streaming platform, which is scheduled to broadcast the program for a period of at least 10 years. The WWE Network ceased operations in
7605-404: Is the nephew of professional wrestlers Jerry Sags and Fred Ottman , and the godson of professional wrestler Magnum T. A. , who was present at both Rhodes' birth and baptism. He legally changed his surname to "Runnels Rhodes" as a teenager. Rhodes attended Lassiter High School and had a successful high school wrestling career. He placed sixth in the 171 lb (78 kg) division as
7774-604: The Wrestling Observer wrote that following his run with Legacy, Rhodes was "used as more of a lower and mid-card wrestler in a number of changing roles", adding that "his career had gone nowhere and he hadn't been used well". James Caldwell of Pro Wrestling Torch wrote that Rhodes "had been floundering as the Stardust character over the past year or so, mostly landing on Superstars or Main Event ". Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net commented that Rhodes choosing to leave
7943-479: The 2022 Winter Olympics . A similar arrangement occurred in August 2024 for the 2024 Summer Olympics . The name for Raw was disputed in June 2009 when Muscle Flex Inc., a Los Angeles -based fitness company, had taken legal action against the WWE after a court ruled that some of WWE's trademarks related to Raw were similar enough to the In the Raw trademark that they caused confusion among Canadians . On June 18, 2008,
8112-424: The 3-Minute Warning assaulting Kitana Baker). These actions are supposed to be in order to meet Canadian broadcast standards, with repeat broadcasts often more heavily edited . This move had disappointed many wrestling fans over the years, and is unusual since the violence of wrestling scenes are not significantly different from other television programs aired on regular Canadian networks. Due to Rogers holding
8281-503: The Amway Center in Orlando. On May 21, 2021, WWE announced that they will return in front of live fans with a 25 city tour, therefore the July 12, 2021 edition of Raw would be the final WWE ThunderDome show. In September 2023, USA Network announced that SmackDown would return to the network in October 2024 after the expiration of its contract with Fox ; it was concurrently reported that
8450-646: The Canadian Intellectual Property Office then issued a final decision that found certain wares listed in the trademark application from WWE (No. 1,153,018) were confusingly similar and thus lacked distinctiveness from the Muscle Flex trademark, which Muscle Flex is in the process of acquiring. The WWE appealed the CIPO's ruling to the Federal Court of Canada , but failed to file the required documents by
8619-573: The Extreme Rules pay-per-view in May, which was won by Mysterio. On subsequent episodes of SmackDown following WrestleMania XXVII, Rhodes, with the help of assistants, would hand out paper bags to the audience during his promos . Rhodes demanded the audience to put on the paper bags on their heads to cover their ugliness and imperfections, because they offended him. Rhodes also put paper bags over several of his opponents' heads after matches with them. Rhodes reformed his alliance with Ted DiBiase on
SECTION 50
#17328920168698788-701: The IWGP Tag Team Championship . Cody faced Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 12 on January 4, 2018, in a losing effort. At The New Beginning in Sapporo , he attacked Kenny Omega with the help of Page, eventually being stopped by Ibushi. This led to a match at the G1 Special in San Francisco on July 7, where Cody unsuccessfully challenged Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. After
8957-630: The OVW Southern Tag Team Championship twice. He also won the OVW Heavyweight Championship and the OVW Television Championship . On the July 2, 2007, episode of Raw , Runnels made his television debut as a face , using his family's wrestling last name, Rhodes, in a backstage segment with his father Dusty Rhodes and Randy Orton, where Orton introduced himself to Rhodes and then slapped Dusty as
9126-586: The September 11 attacks , the first hour was referred to as Raw instead of Raw Is War , and the second hour was rebranded from the War Zone to the Raw Zone within the show's on-screen graphics. The Monday Night War had ended months earlier with the WWF's purchase of the competing WCW brand. Monday Nitro , which had once gone head-to-head with Raw , aired its final show in March. WWF announcers began generally referring to
9295-724: The Spike TV logo on August 11, 2003, upon network relaunch. During the July 25, 2005 broadcast of Raw in Cleveland , Ohio , a special stage design was built for the John Cena - Chris Jericho Battle of the Bands concert. The 2002 set was designed by Production Designer Jason Robinson. It featured a larger TitanTron with dimensions of 55 feet wide by 25 feet tall. The expanded structure weighed about 4,000 pounds and requiring three 18,000-watt projector screens to power itself. According to Eric Bischoff on
9464-670: The WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida without an audience until further notice beginning with the following day's episode of SmackDown due to the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in the suspension of many professional sports leagues. On the May 25 episode of Raw, NXT trainees were added into live crowds at the Performance Center. In August, all programming was moved to the new, state-of-the-art WWE ThunderDome inside of
9633-494: The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against Belair and Cargill at Backlash France. Following his loss on Night 2 of WrestleMania XL, The Bloodline 's leader Roman Reigns went on hiatus. Solo Sikoa then began taking charge of the group by removing Jimmy Uso and then introducing the debuting Tama Tonga on the April 12 episode of SmackDown , much to the dismay of the faction's special counsel Paul Heyman . The following week,
9802-509: The independent circuit and making several appearances in TNA, where he wrestled under the mononym Cody due to WWE owning the "Cody Rhodes" name until giving it up in 2020. From early 2016 to early 2017, he competed at WWE's WrestleMania , NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom , and ROH's Final Battle events, as well as appearing for TNA's Bound for Glory event. In September 2017, he wrestled in ROH, where he became
9971-522: The ring name Camacho. Tonga Loa then hit both Owens and Orton with a steel step, allowing Sikoa to deliver the Spinning Solo to Owens onto a seated chair and then the Samoan Spike for the win. In the second match, Bayley defended the WWE Women's Championship against Naomi and Tiffany Stratton in a triple threat match. In the opening stages, Bayley attempted a sunset flip, but Stratton countered it into
10140-523: The "WWF Attitude" banner on the sides. By 1999, the WWF placed a "WWF.com: 'Download This!'" logo on the bottom of the TitanTron and added two vertical sides on the stage. Raw moved to TNN from USA beginning with the September 25, 2000 episode. The TNN network logo was added atop the TitanTron on the December 11, 2000 episode. Chyron graphics were added to the bottom beginning with the July 2, 2001 episode. Beginning October 1, 2001, in direct response to
10309-573: The 1000th broadcast. Raw also celebrated its thirtieth anniversary on RAW IS XXX on January 23, 2023. The wrestlers featured on WWE take part in scripted feuds and storylines . Wrestlers are portrayed as heroes , villains , or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match. The primary commentators for Raw are Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett . Additional commentary has been provided by Jim Ross , Michael Cole , Joey Styles , Tom Phillips , Kevin Patrick and others since its creation. In
SECTION 60
#173289201686910478-462: The 1830s and exhibitions of Greco Roman wrestling in circuses. In the 1930s, French wrestling moved from Greco Roman to Catch wrestling . Between the early 1950s and late 1980s, France was one of two European countries, along with the United Kingdom, to have regular national television coverage of professional wrestling. As with British wrestling on ITV , French TV likewise made household names of wrestling stars. Some French wrestlers, notably André
10647-457: The Bank and on Raw . On the August 18 Raw , Stardust and Goldust defeated the WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos in a non-title match. This led to a rematch on the August 25 Raw , where Stardust and Goldust defeated The Usos via countout, but did not win the titles. After the match, both Stardust and Goldust attacked The Usos. At Night of Champions , Stardust and Goldust defeated the Usos to become WWE Tag Team Champions for their second reign as
10816-399: The Bank contract to win Raw's World Heavyweight Championship . The next night on Raw , Jey Uso won a fatal four-way match to become the number one contender for the title, which was scheduled for Backlash France. On Night 2 of WrestleMania XL, Bayley won SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship . On the following episode of SmackDown , Bayley said she wanted to give new opportunities to
10985-408: The February 25 SmackDown . Rhodes then regularly used his protective mask as a weapon during matches by headbutting opponents and using it to hit his opponents. In 2020, Rhodes said his time as Undashing Cody Rhodes was his second most successful work as a pro wrestler. Rhodes defeated Mysterio in a match at WrestleMania XXVII on April 3. The duo also faced off in a Falls Count Anywhere match at
11154-433: The French announce table. Styles delivered a clothesline and an Ushigoroshi for a two-count. Cody performed the Bionic Elbow on Styles for a two-count. Styles delivered a gutbuster and a springboard 450° splash on Cody for a two-count. Cody delivered the Cody Cutter for a two-count and attempted the Cross Rhodes, but Styles reversed it and delivered a Pele Kick. Styles attempted the Phenomenal Forearm, but Cody countered it into
11323-602: The Giant and Edouard Carpentier , went on to have successful American wrestling careers. By the mid-1980s, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed WWE in 2002) had invaded France and soon eclipsed local wrestling in popular culture. The event included five matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown . On Night 2 of WrestleMania XL, LA Knight defeated AJ Styles , while later that night in
11492-490: The Impact World Heavyweight Championship, but lost the match. On the October 27 Impact Wrestling , Cody and Brandi defeated Bennett and Maria. After the match, Cody was attacked backstage by Lashley , and this was done to write him off television. Cody returned on the February 23, 2017, episode of Impact Wrestling , calling out Moose to thank him for helping his wife Brandi while he was away. After learning Brandi had Moose's phone number, Cody attacked Moose, turning heel. On
11661-499: The Intercontinental Championship belt (whose 2011–2019 design was introduced in storyline by Rhodes) in 2019 around the same time AEW launched being a coincidence as opposed to trying to separate themselves from Rhodes, as Rhodes himself acknowledged that the physical belt was due for a redesign anyway. After he left WWE, Rhodes continued working under his real name on the independent circuit, but often dropped his last name in order to avoid conflict with WWE. Rhodes' first post-WWE match
11830-501: The Intercontinental Championship to the returning Christian. He would go on to lose to Christian in a rematch for the title at No Way Out . On the June 29 SmackDown , Rhodes and David Otunga were defeated by Christian and United States Champion Santino Marella in a Money in the Bank qualification match for the World Heavyweight Championship, due to Otunga being pinned. Afterwards, Rhodes claimed that he had not lost and demanded another chance. Four days later on Super SmackDown Live ,
11999-550: The Intercontinental Championship, which was won by Zack Ryder. On May 21, 2016, Rhodes revealed on Twitter that he had requested his release from WWE, which was officially granted the following day. Rhodes cited frustrations with WWE's creative department and his position within the company as the reasons for requesting his release, noting that he had "pleaded" with writers to end the Stardust gimmick for over six months and pitched numerous storyline ideas which had been ignored. Reflecting on Rhodes' WWE career, Dave Meltzer of
12168-675: The January 18 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling , Cody defeated Corino. At the Supercard of Honor XI event on April 1, Cody was defeated by Jay Lethal in a Texas Bullrope match . Later in the night, he attacked former ROH World Champion Christopher Daniels . On May 12 at War of the Worlds , Cody unsuccessfully challenged Christopher Daniels for the ROH World Championship in a three-way match also involving Jay Lethal. On June 23 at Best in
12337-527: The Lyon crowd for their overwhelming reception throughout the event. Doc-Chris Mueller of Bleacher Report graded the overall show an A, saying "For the second year in a row, WWE has hosted one of the best crowds of the year by taking Backlash somewhere outside the continental United States. The fans in Lyon helped make this an unforgettable PPV for the Superstars in the ring and everyone watching at home. The energy of
12506-718: The Manhattan Center. On the February 19 episode of Raw , six days before Elimination Chamber , seven participants of the men's Elimination Chamber match, Braun Strowman , Elias , Finn Bálor , John Cena , Roman Reigns , Seth Rollins and The Miz , were involved in a Gauntlet match that began with Reigns and Rollins. Strowman won the Gauntlet match by pinning The Miz in what was the longest match in WWE history, lasting nearly two hours. From March 12, 2020, to August 18, 2020, WWE announced that all of its live programs would air from
12675-666: The March 30 episode of Impact Wrestling , Cody unsuccessfully faced Moose for the Impact Grand Championship . Rhodes' contract with the promotion ended shortly after. On December 10, 2016, Rhodes, billed as "The American Nightmare" Cody, appeared at New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's (NJPW) World Tag League finals via video package, announcing himself as the newest member of Bullet Club . On January 4, 2017, Cody defeated Juice Robinson in his debut match at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome . Cody returned to NJPW in February during
12844-542: The May 20 SmackDown , and the duo went on to feud with Sin Cara and Daniel Bryan . At the second annual Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Rhodes participated in the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match, but was unsuccessful as Bryan won the match. At the August 9 tapings of the August 12 SmackDown , Rhodes defeated Ezekiel Jackson to win the Intercontinental Championship, his first singles title with
13013-488: The NEW Heavyweight Championship. On December 1, 2017, Rhodes lost the NEW Heavyweight Championship to Flip Gordon in a triple threat match. On October 6, 2016, he made his debut with What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) at the iPPV Refuse to Lose under the ring name Cody Rhodes, defeating Doug Williams . The following day at the 14th episode of Loaded , Rhodes unsuccessfully challenged Joseph Conners for
13182-705: The NJPW and ROH co-produced Honor Rising: Japan 2017 shows. After defeating Michael Elgin at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall on June 11, Cody challenged Kazuchika Okada to a match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship . The match took place on July 1 at G1 Special in USA , with Okada winning. During the finals of the G1 Climax 27 on August 13, Cody and Bullet Club stablemate Hangman Page unsuccessfully challenged War Machine ( Hanson and Raymond Rowe ) for
13351-548: The November 16, 2015, episode of Raw , WWE had a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorist attack in Paris , France, on November 13, 2015. Another moment of silence was held months later in June for the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting . On July 25, 2016, the ropes returned to red, the announce table moved back to the top of the stage for the first time since 2005, and a new HD set and graphics were debuted. The new set
13520-497: The RKO on Tonga, but Sikoa broke up the pinfall. Sikoa then attempted a Samoan Spike to Orton on the announce table, but Orton countered it into an RKO. Owens then delivered multiple chair shots to Tonga and then performed a fisherman buster to Tonga onto a pile of seated chairs. As Owens was going for the pin, the returning Tonga Loa pulled the referee out of the ring, marking Tanga Loa's first WWE appearance since 2014 when he performed under
13689-580: The ROH World Championship to Dalton Castle . On July 21, 2018, he and fellow Bullet Club members The Young Bucks defeated The Kingdom to win the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship , marking his first reign. Cody and The Bucks lost the titles at Survival of the Fittest to The Kingdom on November 4 after a 106-day reign and two successful title defenses. Cody faced Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship at Final Battle, but he lost
13858-425: The Raw brand Basil. At the pay-per-view event, Night of Champions on June 29, Rhodes turned on Holly by revealing himself as Ted DiBiase's partner to help DiBiase win the match and also become a two-time World Tag Team Champion, turning heel in the process. After holding the championship for just over a month, they dropped it to John Cena and Batista on the August 4, 2008, episode of Raw, but regained it
14027-484: The September 24 Raw . The team, now known as "Rhodes Scholars", won a Tag Team Championship tournament to become the number one contenders to the Tag Team Championship, but they were defeated by the champions twice. Rhodes suffered a concussion and a strained shoulder, resulting in him being removed from his traditional five-on-five tag team match at Survivor Series . After he returned from injury, sporting
14196-457: The September 9 SmackDown , but Rhodes defeated Orton on the September 12 Raw SuperShow when Mark Henry distracted Orton. On the September 23 SmackDown , Rhodes defeated Orton by disqualification when Orton took Rhodes' mask off and hit him with it. Post-match, Orton attacked Rhodes with the timekeeper's bell, legitimately cutting Rhodes and causing him to bleed. The following week on SmackDown , Rhodes claimed he needed nine staples to close
14365-655: The United States on April 5, 2021, with all content being moved to Peacock , which currently has most previous Raw episodes, excluding content that was censored or removed by Peacock's standards and practices department. Recent episodes are still available for on-demand viewing 30 days after the original air date. Since its first episode, Raw has been broadcast live from 209 different arenas, 172 cities and towns, and eleven different nations: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Afghanistan in 2005 , Iraq in 2006 and 2007 , South Africa, Germany, Japan, Italy, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. Beginning as WWF's Monday Night Raw,
14534-552: The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Latin America, with other territories to be added in the future. The agreement also includes international rights to WWE content outside of the United States, including SmackDown and NXT , live events, and other shoulder content. While USA Network's contract for Raw was to expire in October 2024, WWE reached a short-term extension of its agreement with NBCUniversal to keep Raw on
14703-578: The United States, the show airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network. Occasionally, Raw is aired on same-day tape delay when WWE is on an overseas tour. Raw is also shown live on TNT Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland , in a deal which began January 2020. Raw airs live in India at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesdays on Sony Ten 1. Since October 6, 2014, Raw has been airing live throughout Latin America on Fox Sports . Currently, Raw
14872-558: The WCPW Championship. Rhodes faced Kurt Angle at True Legacy in a losing effort. After the match, Rhodes issued a challenge to El Ligero for the WCPW Internet Championship, which Ligero accepted. On November 30 at Delete WCPW, Rhodes defeated El Ligero for the WCPW Internet Championship and retained his GFW NEX*GEN Championship at the same time in a title for title match. On April 29, 2017, at No Regrets, Rhodes lost
15041-419: The WCPW Internet Championship to Gabriel Kidd in a triple threat match also involving Joe Hendry . Later that night, Rhodes took part in a battle royal for the WCPW Championship but was eliminated by Joe Coffey. The following day, Rhodes defeated former WCPW Champion Drew Galloway in his final match with WCPW. In May 2017, Dave Meltzer suggested that an independent wrestling show would be unable to sell out
15210-556: The WWE Board of Directors granted Rhodes another shot and he defeated Christian to earn a spot in the match. At Money in the Bank , he was unsuccessful as the match was won by Dolph Ziggler . On September 16 at Night of Champions , Rhodes failed to capture the Intercontinental Championship from The Miz in a fatal-four-way match, also involving Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara. Rhodes then aligned himself with Damien Sandow , attacking Tag Team Champions Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) on
15379-425: The WWE Women's Championship against both Naomi and Stratton in a triple threat match at Backlash France. On Night 1 of WrestleMania XL, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill 's team defeated Damage CTRL ( Dakota Kai , Asuka , and Kairi Sane ) in a six-woman tag team match by way of Cargill pinning Sane. On the April 26 episode of SmackDown , it was announced that The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Sane) would defend
15548-470: The WWE's most recent reported financial quarter in 2009, combined sales of WWE's consumer products and digital media business segments produced $ 40 million in global revenues. In previous quarters, these numbers were even higher. Similarly, in June 2017, the WWE issued a legal order to Raw Motors, an automobile repair company in Colwick , UK, over a logo that it claims infringes on one of its logos for Raw that
15717-443: The WWF changed the color of the ring-ropes to red and began printing Raw Is War along the ring in reference to their rivalry with WCW . The stages was updated to feature a 70-foot tall large screen video wall known as the " TitanTron ", which consisted of a projection screen with several metal stage trusses and a video projector . The set also initially featured curtains on each side with truss beams and lighting later bearing
15886-489: The WWF was legally required to change the name of the company to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). On March 10, 2005, Viacom and WWE decided not to go on with the agreement with Spike TV (formerly TNN), effectively ending Raw and other WWE programs ' tenure on the network when their deal expired in September 2005. On April 4, 2005, WWE announced a three-year deal with NBCUniversal to bring Raw back to its former home, USA Network, with two yearly specials on NBC and
16055-625: The World , Cody defeated Daniels to become the new ROH World Champion, marking the first world title of his career. Cody was also billed as the first member of the Rhodes family to capture a world title in 31 years. Cody and Dusty are the second father-son combination to win major world championships in the United States after Fritz and Kerry Von Erich . On September 23, it was confirmed that Cody had signed an exclusive contract with ROH. On December 15 at Final Battle , Cody, now with bleached blond hair, lost
16224-428: The World Heavyweight Championship against Jey Uso. In the opening stages, Priest attempted a discus lariat, but Jey dodged and delivered a belly-to-back suplex. Jey then delivered an enzeguiri and a diving crossbody to Priest for a two-count. Jey performed a suicide dive to Priest and brought him back in the ring. The Judgment Day member JD McDonagh then attacked Jey behind the referee's back, allowing Priest to deliver
16393-436: The World Heavyweight Championship and attacking him. At Vengeance , Rhodes was defeated by Orton in a non-title match. On the November 4 SmackDown , Orton defeated Rhodes in a Street Fight to end the feud; in the process, Orton broke Rhodes' mask. On the November 14 Raw SuperShow , Rhodes reappeared without his mask, claiming that Orton had set him free, signalling the end of his masked gimmick. At Survivor Series , Rhodes
16562-514: The air. On May 25, 2016, WWE reintroduced the brand split , and a new set with red ring ropes, a brand new stage, used at SummerSlam . Furthermore, the broadcast table was moved to the entrance ramp similar to how it was in 2002–2005. On January 22, 2018, WWE celebrated the 25th anniversary of Raw with a simulcast show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the home of the first Monday Night Raw,
16731-609: The annual Elimination match. The three of them created a stable with Orton called The Legacy . As part of the Legacy, Rhodes entered the Royal Rumble match in order to help Orton win, and lasted until the final three, before being eliminated by Triple H. Rhodes and DiBiase became involved in Orton's scripted rivalry with the McMahon family , helping him to attack Shane and Stephanie McMahon , and Stephanie's real-life husband, Triple H. Rhodes
16900-569: The championship back to Aldis in a two-out-of-three falls match at the NWA 70th Anniversary Show on October 21. On July 19, 2016, Rhodes announced that he would appear at Ring of Honor 's (ROH) Final Battle pay-per-view on December 2. ROH made the official announcement the following day. At the event, Rhodes, who was simply billed as Cody, defeated Jay Lethal following a low blow , then proceed to attack Lethal, senior referee Todd Sinclair, taunted ROH fans and shoved ROH commentator Steve Corino . On
17069-611: The company announced that the 19th Backlash would be held in France , but in Décines-Charpieu , in the Lyon Metropolis , on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at the newly constructed LDLC Arena , which opened that same month. This subsequently marked WWE's first pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event to be held in the country, with the event in turn titled Backlash France, as well as the first Backlash held outside of North America. The event
17238-406: The company. The following week, Rhodes and DiBiase had a verbal confrontation with Orton. The following week, Rhodes attacked DiBiase after the latter lost a singles match to Orton, ending their alliance and resulting in an Intercontinental Championship match between the two at Night of Champions , which Rhodes won. Simultaneously, Rhodes had begun a feud with Orton, with Orton defeating Rhodes on
17407-430: The deadline. In August 2009, the court ruled in favor of Muscle Flex, Inc. that it was successful in defending its In the Raw trademark against the WWE. In a press release date issued on July 20, 2009, Muscle Flex Inc. disclosed that it was in possession of WWE Raw -labeled items that it believes directly infringe on its In the Raw trademark such as various CDs, VHS tapes , and a number of apparel items. According to
17576-600: The duo viciously assaulted Kevin Owens . On the April 26 episode, when The Bloodline again attempted to attack Owens, one of Owens's WrestleMania opponents who also had previous issues with The Bloodline, Randy Orton , made the save. Later that night, it was announced that Orton and Owens would face The Bloodline (Sikoa and Tonga) in a tag team match at Backlash France, marking Tonga's WWE in-ring debut. The event opened with Kevin Owens and Randy Orton facing The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga, accompanied by Paul Heyman). The match
17745-469: The entire two-hour block as Raw on-air. Raw updated to a new, industrial-inspired, parallelogram -shaped TitanTron in 2002. Ring apron lettering that had once born Raw Is War slogan was replaced with an advertisement for the WWF website. Around this time, black ring-ropes were occasionally used. Like the previous set, the TNN logo was relocated to the bottom side of the TitanTron. It was subsequently replaced by
17914-404: The entrance ramp along with LED ring posts. On the January 29, 2018 episode of Raw, new graphics and an updated logo were introduced, which lasted until September 23, 2019. In September 2021, the ring-ropes changed color from red to white, which was also reflected on SmackDown . On November 22 of that year, an updated version of the 2019 logo was introduced, alongside new graphics. The theme song
18083-523: The extra hour on Nitro (which had been expanded to two hours in the spring of 1996), and by March 10, it was renamed to Raw Is War . It was also during the time Raw would be aired live more often. After WrestleMania XIV in March 1998, the WWF regained the lead in the Monday Night War 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
18252-415: 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
18421-512: The first time that Nitro had lost the head-to-head Monday night ratings battle in the 84 weeks since 1996. 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 Eric 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
18590-402: The first time the championship had been won by both a father and son. This event marked a significant moment in professional wrestling history by becoming the first non-WWE or World Championship Wrestling (WCW) promoted event in the United States to sell 10,000 tickets since 1993. The success of All In was instrumental in inspiring the formation of AEW in January 2019. In January 2019, Rhodes
18759-535: The following pay-per-view, Breaking Point in a submissions count anywhere match , but were defeated in a Hell in a Cell match at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in October, when Rhodes was pinned following a sledgehammer shot to the head. Rhodes represented Team Raw at the first Bragging Rights pay-per-view in October, reluctantly teaming with DX. The match would go on to be won by Team SmackDown . At Survivor Series , having aided Orton in his feud with Kofi Kingston,
18928-555: The fourth wrestler to achieve back-to-back victories at the event and the first since "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (who won in 1997 and 1998 ). At WrestleMania XL , Rhodes won his first world championship in WWE: winning two world heavyweight championships simultaneously; as well as ending Roman Reigns ' WWE Universal Championship reign of 1,316 days, in the process becoming a WWE Triple Crown winner. Rhodes topped Pro Wrestling Illustrated ' s PWI 500 list of top 500 male wrestlers in
19097-518: The head. On September, he began a feud with Hardcore Holly and lost three consecutive matches to him. Later, they would work as a tag team and they defeated Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch on the Raw 15th Anniversary special episode for the World Tag Team Championship , marking Rhodes' first championship in WWE. In May 2008, Ted DiBiase began feuding with the duo, threatening to take their titles in his first match as part of
19266-507: The lawsuit action against WWF from USA Network. The new television contract and the subsequent purchase of competitor WCW led to many changes in WWF's programming content. Raw Is War premiered on TNN on September 25, 2000. WCW's sharp decline in revenue and ratings led to AOL Time Warner selling selected assets such as the WCW name, tape library, and contracts to the WWF in March 2001 for $ 3 million. The final episode of Nitro , which aired on March 26, 2001, began with Vince McMahon making
19435-457: The loss at WrestleMania, Rhodes went on a brief losing streak, due to Big Show distracting him during matches. Four weeks after losing the title, Rhodes regained it at Extreme Rules by defeating Big Show in a Tables match. On the May 7 episode of Raw SuperShow , Rhodes retained his title against Big Show in a rematch after getting himself counted out. Two weeks later at Over the Limit , Rhodes lost
19604-433: The lower-left hand corner of the screen. Additionally, Raw ' s theme song ("The Night") was modified. On March 23, 2015, WWE added a small LED board to the left side of the ring on Raw . This LED board was also used at WrestleMania 31 . The LED board has since been featured on a sporadic basis, appearing in some weeks and being absent in others. On the 1,000th episode of Raw , "The Night" by Kromestatik debuted as
19773-593: The main event causing the structure to not be perfect. Every single match had their stories, and advanced them. Man In Black of Wordpress.com simply said "Taking the PLE overseas is proving to be quite the good ideas as international crowds are clearly starved of live WWE wrestling and let it known by being so insanely vocal about it. I don’t know what this French crowd were saying or singing, or if they were going into business for themselves like US “smart” crowds but they were into everything all night long and made this come across as
19942-540: The main event, Cody Rhodes won SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Universal Championship . On April 12, it was announced that Rhodes's first challenger for the title would be determined by a tournament that would begin on that night's SmackDown . Knight and Styles subsequently won their respective triple threat matches . The following week, Styles defeated Knight to earn a shot for the now renamed Undisputed WWE Championship match against Rhodes at Backlash France. On Night 2 of WrestleMania XL, Damian Priest cashed in his Money in
20111-462: The match, Bálor and McDonagh attacked Jey, until Priest shoved them both and told them to instead celebrate with him. In the penultimate match, The Kabuki Warriors ( Asuka and Kairi Sane ) defended the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill . In the opening stages, Belair delivered a handspring moonsault to Sane for a two-count. Belair attempted a slingshot Pescado to Sane, but Sane ducked, allowing Asuka deliver
20280-545: The match, as the "BC Firing Squad" of King Haku, Tanga Loa, and Tama Tonga attacked Omega and the rest of Bullet Club, Cody refused to aid the attackers and embraced the Bullet Club members afterward. At Fighting Spirit Unleashed , Cody defeated Robinson to win the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship , his first championship in NJPW. Cody again failed to defeat Omega for the championship in
20449-501: The match. On the February 15 Raw , Orton took on Sheamus in a non-title rematch, but was again disqualified after Rhodes and DiBiase interfered. During the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match pay-per-view, Rhodes interfered, passing a lead pipe through the cage to DiBiase. DiBiase hit Orton with the pipe and eliminated him from the match. The next night on Raw , Orton attacked Rhodes and DiBiase during
20618-465: The match. The following night on Raw , Rhodes attacked Sandow and dissolved Team Rhodes Scholars, turning face for the first time since 2008. They feuded over the briefcase, which Rhodes threw into the Gulf of Mexico . On August 18 at SummerSlam , now no longer sporting a mustache, Rhodes defeated Sandow in a singles match, and did so again the following night on Raw . In September 2013, Rhodes started
20787-456: The match. The next day, Cody left ROH. Rhodes was expected to work events for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) while simultaneously working in ROH, both deals being non-exclusive. On September 22, TNA confirmed Rhodes, billed as Cody, would be debuting for the promotion on October 2 at Bound for Glory . At Bound for Glory, Cody, alongside his wife Brandi Rhodes, made his debut as a face, attacking Mike Bennett and his wife Maria to begin
20956-609: The move. Jey then superkicked Bálor and attempted another spear to Priest, but Priest impeded it with a lariat and then the South of Heaven chokeslam for another two-count. Jey delivered three superkicks, a leg lariat, a spear and then the Uso Splash again to Priest for a two-count, as McDonagh put Priest's foot on the bottom rope. Jey delivered a suicide dive to McDonagh on the outside and a spear to Bálor. Jey attempted another Uso Splash, but Priest blocked him and delivered an avalanche South of Heaven and pinned him to retain his title. After
21125-594: The network through the end of the year. From October 7 through December 30, Raw will be shortened from three to two hours; wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer stated that this was a request made by USA Network. Raw ' s original set featured red, white, and blue ring-ropes, a blue ring-apron, blue steps, and a small stage made of neon light tubes. In 1995, the entrance way was changed to feature "Raw" in giant letters. Beginning on March 10, 1997, broadcasts of Raw were split into two hour-long blocks, each given its own name for television ratings purposes . The first hour
21294-496: The newest episodes of Raw and SmackDown on YouTube for countries that do not air WWE programming on traditional TV for free in less than 24 hours after the original broadcast (The links are blocked in countries where the shows are traditionally available). The 90-minute Hulu version gets put on YouTube for international audiences. From 1995 to 2006, Raw was shown on The Sports Network (TSN) until it moved to rival sports broadcaster The Score (now renamed Sportsnet 360 ) after it
21463-454: The next episode, but ended in a no-contest after Stratton attacked both Bayley and Naomi. Another match between Naomi and Stratton was then scheduled for the next episode to determine who would challenge Bayley for the championship at Backlash France, but ended in another no-contest after interference from Nia Jax , who had been drafted to SmackDown earlier that night. SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis then announced that Bayley would defend
21632-471: The next week. Rhodes and DiBiase were then joined by Manu , the son of Afa , in September, forming a stable of multi-generational wrestlers. On the October 27 Raw, Rhodes and DiBiase lost the World Tag Team Championship to Kofi Kingston and CM Punk . On November they began a storyline with Orton and, at Survivor Series , Rhodes, along with Orton, was a survivor, for Orton's team, in
21801-450: The ninth WWE Women's Triple Crown Champion . In the main event, Cody Rhodes defended the Undisputed WWE Championship against AJ Styles, with Jessika Carr as the referee; Carr became the first female referee to officiate a WWE world championship main event match. In the opening stages, Cody performed a gourdbuster and a back body drop on Styles for a one-count. Styles performed a step-up enzeguiri and an electric chair drop. Styles attempted
21970-417: The on-screen copyright notice shown near the end of each hour). In 2010, WWE retired the red ropes for Raw after thirteen years for an all white scheme, which in 2012 became standard for all WWE programming. In 2012, Raw updated their HD set. Beginning in mid-2014, this set would also be featured in pay-per-views . From late September through the end of October 2012, the middle rope at all WWE programming
22139-446: The other women on the roster to challenge her for the title. Tiffany Stratton interrupted to accept the opportunity; however, Bayley said that she was talking about giving Naomi a chance. Stratton then insulted Naomi, prompting her to come to the ring. After a discussion between Naomi and Stratton, they faced each other in a match to determine who would challenge Bayley for the championship, which Naomi won. The title match took place on
22308-547: The pre-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 and matches playing out as they happened. 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
22477-472: 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 pre-taped on sound stages with small audiences or at large arena shows. The Raw formula was considerably different from
22646-577: The program was retitled as Raw on October 1, 2001, permanently retiring the Raw Is War moniker in prelude to the upcoming United States invasion of Afghanistan . In March 2002, as a result of the overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline, WWF instituted a process known as the " brand extension ", under which Raw and SmackDown! would be treated as two distinct divisions, each with their own rosters and championships. Shortly thereafter,
22815-415: The rights to Raw and NXT were on the market with heavy interest among linear networks and digital properties. On January 23, 2024, TKO Group announced that Netflix would acquire the rights to Raw beginning in January 2025, in what was reported to be a 10-year deal worth $ 500 million per-year (roughly double the value of WWE's current agreement with NBCUniversal). The agreement will initially cover
22984-570: The rights to the National Hockey League broadcasts , Raw also airs on its OLN channel. All archived broadcasts of Raw are available on the WWE Network . Rogers Media secured the rights to Canadian WWE programming until 2024, after which in January 2025 the rights go to Netflix . Raw airs live in the MENA region on Shahid streaming platform Tuesday mornings, and later on the same day,
23153-540: 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 laid down for Hollywood Hogan after Hogan poked him in the chest . On June 28, 2000, Viacom won the landmark deal with the WWF to move all of its WWF programs stemming from
23322-477: The strong crowd reactions similar to Backlash from the previous year. WWE reported that the event set the record for the largest arena gate in company history. The main event was awarded a 5-star rating from Dave Meltzer . Backlash is a recurring professional wrestling event that was established by the American promotion WWE in 1999. It was held annually from 1999 to 2009, but was then discontinued until it
23491-492: The theme for Raw . "Energy" by Shinedown served as the secondary theme-song until August 18, 2014, when it was replaced with "Denial" by We Are Harlot . On the September 14, 2015 season premiere of Raw , the middle rope was colored gold. Throughout the month of October 2015, the program once again partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month , with various stage elements being made pink. On
23660-555: The titles for months, over opponents which included the former champions The Shield, until they lost them at the Royal Rumble to The New Age Outlaws . On the June 16 Raw , Rhodes debuted a new character called Stardust (a ring name also previously used by his father during his time in American Wrestling Association ), with face paint, a bodysuit and mannerisms similar to those of Goldust. He teamed with his brother to defeat RybAxel that night and then at both Money in
23829-553: The tournament. The following day, Rhodes was eliminated from the tournament in the quarterfinals by eventual winner Marty Scurll . On November 26 at WrestleCade's Showcase of Champions, Rhodes defeated Sonjay Dutt for the GFW NEX*GEN Championship . On March 3, 2017, Rhodes appeared for Northeast Wrestling (NEW) in Connecticut, defeating Kurt Angle in a steel cage match. On March 18, 2017, Cody defeated Mike Bennett for
23998-571: The two-hour version of that week's Raw has aired on Syfy. In February 2022, Raw temporarily moved to Syfy for two episodes due to USA's coverage (as part of NBC Sports ) of the 2022 Winter Olympics . On the August 29, 2011 episode of Raw , it was announced that performers from Raw and SmackDown were no longer exclusive to their respective brand, thus effectively dissolving the brand extension. On July 23, 2012, Raw aired its 1,000th episode , which also began its permanent three-hour format. On January 14, 2013, Raw celebrated its 20th year on
24167-494: The vengeful Rhodes brothers gatecrashed Raw by attacking The Shield . On October 6 at Battleground , Rhodes and Goldust defeated the WWE Tag Team Champions, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a non-title match with the stipulation that they would be resigned again. On October 14 episode of Raw , they defeated The Shield in a No Disqualification match to become Tag Team Champions. The Rhodes brothers then retain
24336-489: The world in 2024. Rhodes was born Cody Garrett Runnels in Charlotte, North Carolina , on June 30, 1985, the son of Michelle Rubio and professional wrestler Dusty Rhodes . He is of Cuban descent through his maternal grandfather. He has a sister named Teil in addition to his paternal half-brother and fellow professional wrestler Dustin and a paternal half-sister named Kristin, who is a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader . He
24505-431: The wound. At the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 2, Rhodes debuted a new design for the Intercontinental Championship, which included a white strap and plates similar to the title's classic 1980s design, before successfully defending it against John Morrison. Throughout October, Rhodes continued feuding with Orton, explaining that Orton had mistreated him during their time together as part of Legacy , costing him
24674-488: Was "surprising in the sense that Cody and his family have worked for WWE for so long". Meanwhile, Dave Scherer of Pro Wrestling Insider wrote: "I can't say I blame him a bit. Not even a little bit. WWE never gave him a real chance, and that's just sad to me". In September 2019, Rhodes revealed WWE Executive Vice President Triple H's reaction to his WWE departure, where Rhodes stated: Hunter [Triple H] took it very personally because he had done so much for my dad at NXT. There
24843-535: Was a very entertaining show that benefited from one of the best crowds I’ve ever seen in my life. This was an all-time great crowd in Lyon, France. Kudos to WWE for doing a PLE in France so those of us in the rest of the world could experience what this amazing crowd is like. It reminds me of the Puerto Rico crowd at Backlash last year as one of the best ever. Anyway, I loved the crowd and I certainly won’t forget it. It really
25012-467: Was almost identical to the set used for SummerSlam 2012 and 2013 . After some fans responded negatively to the redesign, the set was revamped four weeks later with a more elaborate and distinctive arrangement. The new set featured the absence of a traditional TitanTron, which had been part of the Raw staging since 1997. In its place was a curved LED banner with several rows of rectangle LED lights behind it. The new set also introduced LED floor panels on
25181-592: Was an Executive Vice President and co-founder when the company was founded in 2019 until he left in 2022. The son of wrestler Dusty Rhodes and the half-brother of wrestler Dustin Rhodes , he rose to prominence during his first tenure with WWE from 2006 to 2016. He adopted various gimmicks under his real name before being repackaged as a melodramatic spin-off of Dustin's Goldust character named Stardust . He also wrestled for promotions such as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and Ring of Honor (ROH). Outside of wrestling, he served as
25350-747: Was announced that TSN would be carrying Monday Night Football for the 2006 season. This meant that Canadian viewers would have to watch via tape-delay, as The Score did not broadcast Raw live at that time. Around that time, The Score aired Countdown to Raw until May 2013 when Raw is shown live to match the United States airtime. It was also shown on CKVR-TV in Barrie and CKMI-TV in Quebec until 2009. During its run on TSN, which aired live , Raw occasionally had been censored live for extremely violent scenes, or when female wrestlers or characters were assaulted by male wrestlers (particularly one segment that featured
25519-518: Was based around the backlash of WrestleMania XL and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions . It aired on PPV worldwide and was available to livestream on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets. Additionally, the May 3 episode of Friday Night SmackDown was held at the same arena, marking the first time that the program was broadcast from France. Tickets went on sale on January 12, 2024. Professional wrestling in France dates back to
25688-443: Was changed to "Greatness" by Vo Williams, which remained its theme song until November 20, 2023, when it was changed to "Born to Be" by def rebel, the artist behind WWE's music input for its programming, which is performed by Supreme Madness. Bumper themes included "Survival", "Eye of an Warrior" and "Legacy". In February 2022, Raw and NXT temporarily moved to Syfy in the United States due to USA Network broadcasting coverage of
25857-476: Was changed to pink due to WWE's alliance with the Susan G. Komen organization for Breast Cancer Awareness Month . This was repeated in 2013, from late September to early November, and it was repeated in 2014 from September 29. WWE is one of many organizations who provide financial contributions to the organization in addition to raising awareness among its employees and consumers. On August 18, 2014, Raw switched to
26026-493: Was cut due to time constraints. The match instead took place the following night on Raw , where Tons of Funk and The Funkadactyls emerged victorious. On July 14 at Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Rhodes competed in the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by Damien Sandow after Sandow turned on Rhodes and threw him off of the ladder just as Rhodes was about to win
26195-789: Was elevated to main event status as a result of joining the Legacy, competing in handicap and six-man tag team matches against Orton's opponents and rivals. On April 26 at Backlash , Rhodes, DiBiase, and Orton defeated Triple H, Batista, and Shane McMahon in a six-man tag team match, which, per the pre-match stipulation, resulted in Orton winning the WWE Championship . Rhodes suffered a minor neck injury in June, but continued working. Throughout mid-2009, Rhodes and DiBiase continued to compete against and attack Orton's rivals, especially Triple H. This led to Triple H reforming D-Generation X (DX) with Shawn Michaels, and DX defeated Rhodes and DiBiase at SummerSlam . Rhodes and DiBiase defeated DX at
26364-590: Was eliminated by Big Show . At Elimination Chamber Rhodes pinned Big Show in the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match, before being eliminated by Santino Marella. Rhodes spent the following weeks highlighting Big Show's embarrassing moments in previous WrestleManias, often costing Big Show to lose matches in the process. At WrestleMania XXVIII , Rhodes lost the Intercontinental Championship to Big Show, ending his near eight-month reign of 233 days. Following
26533-1234: Was for Evolve in Joppa, Maryland , on August 19 at Evolve 66, defeating Zack Sabre Jr. by submission. After the match, Rhodes called out Drew Galloway . The following day, he lost to Chris Hero . Rhodes wrestled for the Northeast Wrestling promotion from August 25 to 28. On August 25, he beat Brian Anthony in a match with Ricky Steamboat as the guest referee, in Pomona, New York . On August 26, Rhodes beat Mike Bennett in Pittsfield, Massachusetts (the match had been announced on June 3 and their wives were in their corners). On August 27, he beat Kurt Angle in Wappingers Falls, New York . On August 28, Rhodes beat Sami Callihan in Bangor, Maine . On June 6, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) announced that Rhodes would be wrestling in their annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. On September 3, Rhodes, billed as Cody R, defeated Sami Callihan in his first round match in
26702-400: Was named as an executive vice president of the newly formed AEW, where he would also wrestle. While there, became the inaugural AEW TNT Champion . After failing to negotiate a new contract, he departed AEW in February 2022. Two months later, he returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38 and defeated Seth "Freakin" Rollins . He then won both the 2023 and 2024 men's Royal Rumble matches , becoming
26871-436: Was one conversation where he said, "I'm shocked that you feel this way after everything I've done for your family." But I told him, "I'm not my dad. I can't stay here out of loyalty to you for giving my dad a job in 2005. I get it, and the little boy in me really appreciates what you did for my dad. But I'm not him. He's not here anymore. I've got to be me." I think Hunter, he's been in wrestling long enough that he knew, "Oh, this
27040-478: Was one of the best WWE crowds that I have ever heard at a pro wrestling show". Coby Galenzoski of Wrestling Republic gave the show a 4.5/5 stars, saying "WWE Backlash France 2024 is a very enjoyable show from start to finish. With an outstanding crowd that came to chant, it was electric in every single thing that happened. Most of the matches are of a very high quality, the semi main event had some flaws that don’t need to be mentioned again. The strongest match wasn’t
27209-412: Was originally scheduled as a regular tag team match, but the two teams brawled before the bell rang, prompting SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis to make the match a Street Fight . In the opening stages, Owens delivered a superkick and a frog splash from the barricade onto Sikoa. Orton delivered two belly-to-belly suplexes to Tonga and then performed a DDT to Sikoa on the steel steps. Owens hit Tonga with
27378-545: Was part of Team Orton (against Team Kingston) alongside DiBiase. Kingston would lastly eliminate Orton in the match to be sole survivor. Tension within The Legacy became apparent at the 2010 Royal Rumble , when Rhodes attempted to interfere in Orton's match for the WWE Championship. Rhodes was caught by the referee, resulting in a disqualification for Orton, who attacked Rhodes and DiBiase, who had tried to help Rhodes, after
27547-482: Was referred to as Raw Is War , and the second became known as War Zone . These changes were reflected in television listings and, beginning with the June 9, 1997 episode, by the show's on-screen graphics. War Zone initially opened with a repeat of the Raw intro, punctuated with the War Zone logo. On November 24, 1997, the hour received its own distinct opening video, a remixed version of the typical Raw opening. In 1997,
27716-463: Was reinstated in 2016 and has been held every year since, except in 2019. The original concept of the event was based around the backlash from WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania . The events between 2016 and 2020 did not carry this theme; however, the 2021 event returned Backlash to this original concept. In late October 2023, reports emerged that WWE were discussing plans to hold the 2024 Backlash in Paris, France . The following month on November 16,
27885-439: Was removed from NJPW website. Monday Night Raw WWE Raw , also known as Monday Night Raw or simply Raw , is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE . It currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network . The show features characters from the Raw brand , to which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform. It debuted on January 11, 1993, and
28054-581: Was sole survivor alongside Team Captain Wade Barrett in their traditional Survivor Series match against Team Orton. Rhodes then feuded with SmackDown commentator Booker T , attacking him from behind on several occasions and successfully retaining the Intercontinental Championship against him at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs and on the January 6, 2012 SmackDown . In the 2012 Royal Rumble match, Rhodes lasted over 40 minutes and eliminated more wrestlers than other any other competitor with six, before he
28223-566: 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. 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 War . Raw and Nitro went head-to-head for
28392-466: Was used from 2006 to 2012. Throughout its broadcast history, the show has aired episodes that have different themes. Some of them are yearly events such as the Slammy Awards . Others include tributes to various professional wrestlers who have recently died or retired from actively performing, as well as episodes commemorating various show milestones or anniversaries such as Raw 1000 , which celebrated
28561-522: Was used from April 1, 2002, to October 2, 2006. The rap outro of " Thorn In Your Eye " featuring Scott Ian of Anthrax was the theme song from March 31, 1997, to March 25, 2002. On May 17, 2012, WWE and USA Network announced that Raw would switch to a permanent three-hour format beginning with the 1,000th episode on July 23, 2012. Since then, all three hours of the broadcast have been known solely as Raw , though they are still considered three separate programs for Nielsen ratings purposes (as indicated by
#868131