Earlier this year, after WWE celebrated 25 years of their flagship show Monday Night Raw being on the air, the creative team gave the program a bit of a facelift. A red-on-white color scheme replaced the previous, red-on-black layout, and a number of graphics were touched up with new fonts and designs.
Most notable, however, was the retirement of Shinedown’s “Enemies,” Raw’s theme song from July 2016 until January 2018. The song was replaced by “Born For Greatness” by Papa Roach, the second time the band had been tapped to provide Raw’s theme. (Previously, their song ” … To Be Loved” soundtracked Raw from October 2006 to November 2009.)
Of course, that song has only been heard in fits and spurts since it assumed the mantle on January 29, mainly because Raw has not had a proper opening video since Raw 25. But all that changed tonight, as WWE Raw officially has a new look at the top of the show:
We’re thrilled to be premiering the @WWE #RAW Opening Sequence. Tune in every Monday at 8pm on @USA_Network. pic.twitter.com/50BZuiT7Bx
— Papa Roach (@paparoach) March 12, 2018
Of course, this is still hypothetical, because if you watched Raw tonight from the beginning, you probably noticed there still wasn’t an opening video. (They really needed that extra 45 seconds for Roman Reigns to call out Vince McMahon, I guess.) But last-minute rewrites be damned, Papa Roach was going to liberate this thing come hell or high water.
Raw being Raw, this opening sequence is already a little bit out of date. Included are Asuka (who is presumably being moved to Smackdown as she is challenging Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania), Jason Jordan (who is out indefinitely as he recovers from neck surgery) and Samoa Joe (who is also out with a foot injury). Plus, the very first clip is of Brock Lesnar wearing the Universal Championship, which is prooooobably not gonna be accurate come the day after WrestleMania 34.
