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When news broke that RAW was heading to Netflix for the foreseeable future after over three decades on network television, fans wondered if Paul “Triple H” Levesque and the WWE brass would reconsider which night the show might air in order to no longer compete with the NFL for a third of the year.
On paper, the idea makes all the sense in the world: RAW‘s numbers always go down when they are against an NFL game, and now that the promotion had more freedom with how they could structure the program, a move to, well, any other night might just optimize their ability to get the most eyes on the program as possible.
Well, as it turns out, Levesque and company had that conversation with Netflix but felt that keeping the show on Monday simply made too much sense to change, especially now that they will be in front of millions of new homes, as he explained on to Jimmy Traina of the SI Media podcast,
“One of the things working best in WWE with the team of Nick (Khan), Lee Fitting, and many others, we're all looking at what is the best way to do it. Forget what we have and what's on the table. Let's look at it with fresh eyes and say, ‘If we were building this ground up, what would we do and how would we do it?' Take all the things we know and factor in the whys and hows. Monday night was contemplated. Is that a move off of Monday? Is it stay on Monday? It's also a 30-plus-year tradition. You have to factor that in. Plus, the business model and everything else. I'm a big believer that you can work around all of those things. We weighed all of it out, as we always do, with the partners and ourselves, and we determined what was best and what was best was staying on Monday,” Levesque explained via Fightful.
“You can move and understand the global nature of WWE and Netflix. Yes, Monday is NFL, but that is not a factor in a lot of the world. There were a lot of factors heavily weighed.”
Would it have made sense to move RAW to another night, say, Fridays? Maybe so, but when you consider SmackDown is already on Fridays and routinely draws a lower number, such a major move likely didn't make sense for WWE or Netflix. In the end, better to stay with what's working than force something new.
Brand new SI MEDIA PODCAST with WWE Chief Content Officer, Triple H/Paul Levesque.
– “Monday Night Raw’s” big move to Netflix
– Updates on John Cena, The Rock, Stephanie McMahon
– Does he know the WrestleMania main event
– Bringing CM Punk back to WWE https://t.co/vydYFF8KB4
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) January 4, 2025
Triple H reveals why Joe Tessitore won't be on RAW in 2025
After finding a home in WWE working a booth with Wade Barrett on Monday Nights, Joe Tessitore will be moving to SmackDown with his partner to form a three-man team with Corey Graves.
Asked how he's felt Tessitore has performed in WWE, Triple H celebrated his game, noting that he's done a great job in his new role.
“He's such a massive fan. Even before he was doing anything with us, Joe would text me on stuff,” Levesque explained via Fightful. “We became friends through Nick. He would be telling me, ‘I saw on this podcast,' and I don't even know what he's talking about, and it's my job to know what he's talking about.”
With so many outsiders joining WWE over the years only to leave shortly thereafter, Tessitore looks like the rare commentator who could stick around long-term. And the best part? He seems to really enjoy it, too, which is half of the battle.
