WWE will take an unprecedented step next week for one of their biggest weekly programs of the year when Monday Night Raw airs live from Brussels, Belgium on March 17.
Instead of airing at their normal 8 p.m. ET time slot on tape delay, Raw will air live around the world with a special start time of 3 p.m. ET and Noon p.m. PT. It also happens to be the first time that John Cena will appear on WWE television since the heel turn heard round the world at Elimination Chamber as he is advertised to be on the show along with WWE champion Cody Rhodes.
When Monday Night Raw aired on USA Network and linear television, WWE would always air the shows in their normal timeslot on tape delay. Of course, for plugged in fans this meant that spoilers would run rampant online, sharing what happened in the show before it was aired on television.
However, WWE is now in a brand new era thanks to their new deal with Netflix. With Raw airing globally and not designated for any particular timeslot (or even having a regular end time each week), WWE is free to air the show whenever they want to a worldwide audience. They’ve done similar things with early start times on the weekends for Premium Live Events in Europe, but it’s obviously different doing it on a weekday.
But if you’re a fan who is thinking to themselves that you can’t watch in the middle of the afternoon because of work, school, or other obligations… you can just watch it at its normal time or any other time on demand.
The early Monday Night Raw start times will likely continue over the next three weeks as WWE does a European tour on their road to WrestleMania. On March 24, Raw will air from Glasgow, Scotland and on March 31, it will emanate from The O2 in London. It may be an interesting scheduling quirk, but it’s symbolic of the new streaming era and WWE’s global Netflix audience taking centerstage.
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