By Tufayel Ahmed
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A new era dawns for WWE Monday night with the season premiere of USA Network's Monday Night Raw.
WWE fans are anticipating a brand new look and feel for Raw as the program debuts a new logo, new theme music, new commentary team and—most excitingly for hardcore fans—a brand new stage.
The revamped look comes as WWE's new television deals kick in with USA Network and Fox this week. On Friday, WWE's other mainstay show, SmackDown, makes the move to network television on Fox.
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Monday's Raw, filmed in the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, is promising to be a blockbuster episode with appearances from Brock Lesnar and WWE hall of fame legends Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.
Here's what you need to know about the Raw season premiere:
New WWE Raw stage
WWE is rolling out new stages for both Raw and SmackDown this week, as confirmed by WWE's vice president of television production Kevin Dunn.
Dunn told the New York Post the two programs will have new sets for the first time in three years.
Also returning to WWE television are pyrotechnics—expect "flames, lasers," according to Dunn.
New WWE Raw logo
WWE has already teased its new logos for Raw and SmackDown in various promotional videos and on Twitter.
You can see the new logos in the tweet below from WWE chairman Vince McMahon:
The new Raw logo points downwards compared to the old one.
New WWE Raw theme song
WWE confirmed on Twitter that the new theme song for Raw, or rather, one of them, will be rock band Skillet's "Legendary."
Listen to "Legendary" below:
New WWE Raw announce team
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Not only will Raw get a visual makeover, but it will also sound very different beginning Monday night. WWE announced last week that Raw's announce team will be completely overhauled.
The former Raw announce team of Michael Cole, Corey Graves and Renee Young will move to SmackDown on Fox.
The action on Raw will now be called by Vic Joseph and Dio Maddin, who move over from WWE Network's 205 Live, and veteran broadcaster Jerry "The King" Lawler.
On Twitter, Maddin said he was "excited, nervous, and extremely blessed to have been given this opportunity."
Joseph said the news was a "dream come true."
Lawler, of course, has called Raw in the past with the likes of Jim Ross and Michael Cole.
WWE Raw premiere preview
So far announced for Monday's Raw season premiere are three championship matches, including a Universal Championship bout between champion Seth Rollins and veteran Rey Mysterio.
The WWE United States Championship will also be defended by AJ Styles against Cedric Alexander. And Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode will defend the Raw Tag Team Championship against Heavy Machinery.
Also on tap are appearances from Brock Lesnar, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.
Monday's Raw lineup so far is as follows:
- Universal Championship: Seth Rollins versus Rey Mysterio
- United States Championship: AJ Styles versus Cedric Alexander
- Raw Tag Team Championship: Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode versus Heavy Machinery
- Alexa Bliss versus Sasha Banks
- Brock Lesnar to appear
- WWE Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair appear on "Miz TV" with The Miz
Monday Night Raw airs at 8 p.m. ET on USA.
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