List of WWE Raw on-air personalities
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
This is a list of on-air personalities from the professional wrestling television series WWE Raw. On-air personalities include the wrestlers themselves, ring announcers, commentators and on-screen authority figures. The show also features recurring on-air segments hosted by various personalities.
Contents
Authority figures
| Authority figures | Position | Date started | Date finished | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mr. McMahon | Owner | January 11, 1993 | June 15, 2009 | Was owner before Raw began production. Wasn't known onscreen as owner until late 1996. Co-owner (ran SmackDown) with Ric Flair from November 19, 2001 to June 10, 2002. |
| Jack Tunney | President | January 11, 1993 | July 12, 1995 | Was President before Raw began production. Forced out by Vince McMahon. |
| Gorilla Monsoon | President | July 12, 1995 | August 4, 1997 | Relinquished role because of declining health. Title was retired. |
| Sgt. Slaughter | Commissioner | August 4, 1997 | November 23, 1998 | Relinquished role to Shawn Michaels. |
| Shawn Michaels | Commissioner | November 23, 1998 | June 26, 2000 | Relinquished role to Mick Foley. |
| Mick Foley | Commissioner | June 26, 2000 | December 18, 2000 | Fired by Mr. McMahon. |
| Ric Flair | Owner | November 19, 2001 | June 10, 2002 | Lost his position as per stipulation in a match against Mr. McMahon. |
| Eric Bischoff | General Manager | July 15, 2002 | April 28, 2003 | The WWE Board of Directors appointed Steve Austin as Co-General Manager of Raw after Bischoff repeatedly abused his power. |
| Eric Bischoff and Steve Austin | Co-General Managers | April 29, 2003 | November 16, 2003 | Austin lost his position of co-GM when his team lost to Bischoff's team at Survivor Series. |
| Eric Bischoff | General Manager | November 16, 2003 | December 1, 2003 | Mick Foley appoints himself as Co-GM after being given an outside consultant job from Linda McMahon and the board of directors. |
| Eric Bischoff and Mick Foley | Co-General Managers | December 1, 2003 | December 15, 2003 | Mick Foley walked out on a match with Randy Orton for the WWE Intercontinental Championship and gave up the position as Co-GM based on the match stipulations. |
| Eric Bischoff | General Manager | December 15, 2003 | December 5, 2005 | Steve Austin served as "Sheriff" periodically through Bischoff's term. Fired by Mr. McMahon in December 2005 when he was tossed into the garbage truck. |
| Jonathan Coachman | General Manager | June 11, 2007 | August 6, 2007 | Served as "Executive Assistant" from May 2006 to June 2007 and from August 2007 to January 2008. |
| William Regal | General Manager | August 6, 2007 | May 19, 2008 | Lost his position as general manager due to being fired by Mr. McMahon after losing a match to Mr. Kennedy. Jonathan Coachman served as executive assistant from August 2007 to January 2008. |
| Mike Adamle | General Manager | July 28, 2008 | November 3, 2008 | Resigned in November 2008. |
| Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon | Co-General Managers | November 3, 2008 | November 24, 2008 | Control reverted to the McMahons. The position was then claimed by Stephanie McMahon. |
| Stephanie McMahon | General Manager | November 24, 2008 | April 6, 2009 | Took leave of absence on February 23, 2009. Vickie Guerrero served as "Interim General Manager" until April 2009. |
| Vickie Guerrero | General Manager | April 6, 2009 | June 8, 2009 | Opted to fully take over the position on Raw and resigned as General Manager of SmackDown. Resigned in June 2009. |
| Donald Trump | Owner | June 15, 2009 | June 22, 2009 | It was announced that Trump had purchased the Raw franchise from Mr. McMahon on June 15, 2009.[1] |
| Mr. McMahon | Owner, Chairman and CEO | June 22, 2009 | present | |
| Various guest hosts | Guest Host | June 29, 2009 | May 10, 2010 | An initiative established during Donald Trump's brief period of ownership. The guest host position held authoritative control over the brand until May 10, 2010. |
| Vickie Guerrero | General Manager | May 10, 2010 | May 10, 2010 | Resigned following the first day of tenure. |
| Bret Hart | General Manager | May 24, 2010 | June 21, 2010 | Removed of position by Mr. McMahon. |
| Anonymous Raw General Manager (revealed to be Hornswoggle) | General Manager | June 21, 2010 | July 18, 2011 | Communications from the General Manager were received via email through a laptop on a podium and occasionally Michael Cole's iPad. The General Manager stopped sending emails when Triple H became COO. The laptop and podium were removed after October 2, 2011. On the July 9, 2012 edition, it was revealed that Hornswoggle was behind the gimmick.[2] |
| Triple H | Chief Operating Officer (Storyline), Minority owner, Executive Vice President of talent, live events and creative | July 18, 2011 | present | The Board of Directors removed Vince McMahon from day to day power and handed the duties to his son-in-law. However, his authoritative control powers as general manager of running Raw are no longer needed and still remained as COO (see below). Lost position in November 2014 after The Authority lost at Survivor Series. Triple H also served as Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative. |
| Theodore Long | Assistant to the COO | September 5, 2011 | October 10, 2011 | Long was appointed by COO Triple H to aid him in running Raw Supershows, due to his being General Manager of Smackdown!. |
| John Laurinaitis | General Manager | October 10, 2011 | June 17, 2012 | Won position, Team Johnny vs Team Teddy at WrestleMania XXVIII. Fired at No Way Out by Mr. McMahon as per pre-match stipulation when John Cena defeated Big Show in a Steel cage match. Laurinaitis also served as Executive Vice President of Talent Relations. |
| David Otunga | Legal Advisor | October 11, 2011 | June 17, 2012 | Lost the position following Laurinaitis' firing. |
| Theodore Long | Assistant to the General Manager | April 2, 2012 | June 17, 2012 | Became Laurinaitis' assistant after Team Teddy lost to Team Johnny at WrestleMania XXVIII. |
| Eve Torres | Executive Administrator | April 23, 2012 | June 17, 2012 | Lost the position following Laurinaitis' firing. |
| Interim General Managers | Guest GM | June 18, 2012 | July 16, 2012 | Following Laurinaitis' firing, the Board of Directors would invite past Raw GMs and Commissioners to run both Raw and SmackDown on a weekly basis until a new full-time GM is named. |
| AJ Lee | General Manager | July 23, 2012 | October 22, 2012 | Was named the new Raw GM by Mr. McMahon. Was forced to step down due to allegations of fraternizing with an unnamed superstar, later revealed to be John Cena by Vickie Guerrero. |
| Vickie Guerrero | Managing Supervisor | October 22, 2012 | July 8, 2013 | Mr. McMahon named Guerrero as the Managing Supervisor after AJ Lee resigned. Fired on July 8, 2013 edition of Raw after failing a performance evaluation by the McMahons. |
| Brad Maddox | Assistant to the Managing Supervisor | February 18, 2013 | July 8, 2013 | Named by Guerrero as a reward for revealing that Paul Heyman and CM Punk were working with The Shield. Was promoted to General Manager after Vickie Guerrero failed her performance evaluation. |
| Brad Maddox | General Manager | July 8, 2013 | May 26, 2014 | Named by Mr. McMahon on the July 8th edition of Raw. Fired on May 26, 2014 edition of Raw for not following Triple H's orders. |
| Stephanie McMahon | Minority Owner/Chief Brand Officer | August 19, 2013 | present | |
| Kane | Director of Operations | November 4, 2013 | October 25, 2015 | Not officially announced until Michael Cole conducted an interview with Triple H uploaded onto WWE.com and YouTube on November 6, 2013.
Lost position after losing to Team Cena at Survivor Series 2014 where the stipulation stated that The Authority would lose power if they lost. Kane would eventually lose his job for good after losing at Hell in a Cell 2015 in a match which put Seth Rollins's title against Kane's job. |
| John Cena/Guest Hosts/Anonymous Raw General Manager | General Managers/Coordinator | November 24, 2014 | December 29, 2014 | The concept returned after The Authority briefly lost power at Survivor Series. The concept ended when John Cena brought back The Authority on the December 29, 2014 episode of Raw. |
| Shane McMahon | General Manager | April 4, 2016 | April 25, 2016 | Mr. McMahon originally put Shane in charge of Raw for one night only following the loss inside Hell in a Cell match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania. However, due to overwhelming social media support, Shane was put in charge of Raw once again. |
| Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon | Co-General Managers | May 2, 2016 | present | Mr. McMahon announced at Payback that Shane and Stephanie would both share control of Raw. |
Commentators
| Commentators | Dates |
|---|---|
| Vince McMahon, Randy Savage and Rob Bartlett | January 11, 1993 – April 19, 1993 |
| Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan and Rob Bartlett | March 15, 1993 |
| Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan and Randy Savage | April 26, 1993 – October 18, 1993 |
| Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan | October 25, 1993 – December 6, 1993 |
| Vince McMahon and Various Guest Commentators[1] | December 13, 1993 – February 28, 1994 November 7, 1994 – November 28, 1994 |
| Gorilla Monsoon and Randy Savage | June 20, 1994 – July 4, 1994 |
| Jim Ross and Randy Savage | July 11, 1994 – July 25, 1994 |
| Vince McMahon and Randy Savage | March 7, 1994 – June 13, 1994 August 1, 1994 – October 31, 1994 |
| Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels | December 5, 1994 – February 6, 1995 June 26, 1995 |
| Vince McMahon and Jim Cornette | February 20, 1995 – April 3, 1995 |
| Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler | April 10, 1995 – August 12, 1996 |
| Kevin Kelly, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler | August 19, 1996 – October 14, 1996 |
| Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler | October 21, 1996 – November 3, 1997 |
| Vince McMahon, Jim Cornette, Jim Ross and The Honky Tonk Man | April 14, 1997 |
| Jim Ross and Jim Cornette | November 3, 1997 - December 1, 1997 December 22, 1997 April 26, 1999 |
| Jim Ross, Jim Cornette and Jerry Lawler | November 10, 1997 |
| Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler | December 8, 1997 – November 30, 1998 April 12, 1999 – February 26, 2001 November 19, 2001 – September 15, 2003 September 29, 2003 - June 19, 2005 May 8, 2006 – June 23, 2008 November 14, 2011 |
| Michael Cole, Jim Ross and Kevin Kelly[2] | December 8, 1997 – March 17, 1998 |
| Jim Cornette and Shane McMahon | September 21, 1998 |
| Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Terry Taylor | March 1, 1999 |
| Jim Ross and Michael Hayes[3] | December 20, 1999 |
| Jim Ross and Paul Heyman | March 5, 2001 – July 9, 2001 July 30, 2001 – November 12, 2001 |
| Jonathan Coachman and Al Snow[4] | September 22, 2003 - September 29, 2003 |
| Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler and Jonathan Coachman | June 26, 2005 – October 10, 2005 |
| Jonathan Coachman and Jerry Lawler | October 17, 2005 – October 31, 2005 |
| Joey Styles, Jerry Lawler and Jonathan Coachman | November 7, 2005 – April 24, 2006 |
| Joey Styles and Jerry Lawler | December 5, 2005 April 24, 2006 – May 1, 2006 |
| Todd Grisham and Jerry Lawler[5] | May 1, 2006 |
| Jim Ross and Todd Grisham | November 13, 2006 March 19, 2007 |
| Jim Ross and Tazz | August 20, 2007 |
| Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Matt Striker | December 14, 2009 April 26, 2010 |
| Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and CM Punk | November 22, 2010 – December 20, 2010 |
| Michael Cole, Josh Mathews, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler[6] | April 4, 2011 – April 18, 2011 |
| Michael Cole, Josh Mathews, Jerry Lawler and Booker T[7] | April 25, 2011 |
| Michael Cole, Josh Mathews and Jerry Lawler[8] | December 27, 2010 – March 28, 2011 May 2, 2011 – May 23, 2011 |
| Michael Cole and Josh Mathews | January 3, 2011 September 19, 2011 August 27, 2012 |
| Michael Cole, Jim Ross and Booker T[9] | September 26, 2011 – October 3, 2011 |
| Michael Cole, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler | November 15, 2010 July 25, 2011 – September 12, 2011 October 10, 2011 July 23, 2012 |
| Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Booker T | June 13, 2011 – June 20, 2011 November 21, 2011 March 26, 2012 |
| Michael Cole and The Miz | September 3, 2012 |
| Michael Cole, Jim Ross and John "Bradshaw" Layfield[10] | September 17, 2012 October 8, 2012 |
| Michael Cole and Jim Ross | March 17, 1998 – July 6, 1998[11] July 16, 2001 – July 23, 2001 September 24, 2012 – October 1, 2012[12] October 15, 2012 – November 12, 2012[13] |
| Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler and John "Bradshaw" Layfield[14] | January 14, 2013 |
| Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler | December 7, 1998 – April 12, 1999 August 23, 1999 June 30, 2008 – November 15, 2010 May 30, 2011 – July 25, 2011 October 10, 2011 – September 10, 2012 November 12, 2012 – March 25, 2013 July 29, 2013[15] |
| Michael Cole and John "Bradshaw" Layfield | December 9, 2013 December 23, 2013 January 6, 2014[16] |
| Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and John "Bradshaw" Layfield | December 17, 2012 January 14, 2013 January 28, 2013 April 1, 2013 – December 29, 2014 |
| Byron Saxton and Jerry Lawler[17] | March 30, 2015 |
| Byron Saxton, John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Booker T[18] | April 6, 2015 |
| Michael Cole, John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Booker T | January 5, 2015 – March 30, 2015 April 13, 2015 – June 1, 2015 |
| Michael Cole, John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Byron Saxton[19] | June 8, 2015 – present |
- ^ Following the firing of Bobby Heenan by the WWF Commissioner, Gorilla Moonson, on the December 6, 1993 edition of Raw, Vince McMahon was joined by various guest commentators until March 7, 1994 when Randy Savage became the permanent color commentator. Randy Savage would remain part of the commentary team until October, 1994 when he left the World Wrestling Federation for World Championship Wrestling. Post Savage's departure, Vince McMahon was once again accompanied by guest commentators until the December 5, 1993 edition of Raw when Shawn Michaels became the permanent color commentator. The following is a list of the guest commentators who joined Vince McMahon first from December 13, 1993 to February 28, 1994 and from November 7, 1994 to November 28, 1994:
| Commentator | Dates |
|---|---|
| Jim Cornette | December 13, 1993 November 21, 1994 |
| Shawn Michaels | December 20, 1993 |
| The Quebecers | December 27, 1993 |
| Johnny Polo | January 3, 1994 |
| Randy Savage | January 10, 1994 February 21, 1994 |
| Crush | January 17, 1994 |
| Jim Ross | January 24, 1994 |
| Irwin R. Schyster | January 31, 1994 |
| Bastion Booger | February 7, 1994 |
| Harvey Wippleman | February 28, 1994 |
| Jerry Lawler | November 7, 1994 November 28, 1994 |
| Ted DiBiase | November 14, 1994 |
- ^ From December 1997-July 1998, Jim Ross served as color commentator for the first hour, and play by play commentator for the second hour of Raw Is War, with the Michael Cole tandem as play by play commentator (later just Cole), and Kevin Kelly as the alternate color commentator for the first hour ("Raw"), with Jerry Lawler taking over for the second hour ("The War Zone").
- ^ Filled in for Jerry Lawler who was absent due to the premiere of Man on the Moon.
- ^ Defeated Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross in a tag team match at Unforgiven to become the announce team for Raw. The following week, Jim Ross defeated Jonathan Coachman to win his and Jerry Lawler's jobs back.
- ^ Filled in for Joey Styles who quit the WWE in storyline, and Todd Grisham sat in for him to call the main event.
- ^ Mathews became the alternate color commentator on Raw beginning December 27, 2010, due to Lawler's increased in-ring schedule (Lawler would continue as commentator when he was not wrestling). On March 14, 2011, Raw began using a full-time three man team with Michael Cole announcing from his own separate table ("The Cole Mine"). Ross has also returned to the broadcast table since making his broadcast return at WrestleMania XXVII and the four announcers worked in rotating three man shifts. This ended on the May 23, 2011 edition of Raw when Michael Cole returned to the normal announce table.
- ^ Filled in for Jerry Lawler, who was recovering from injury.
- ^ Filled in for Jerry Lawler, who was recovering from a heart attack.
- ^ Ross sat in for Michael Cole, who allowed him to call the main event.
- ^ JBL was absent at the time, so only Cole and Lawler called the event.
- ^ Lawler was sick during the day, so only Cole and JBL called the event.
- ^ Filled in for Michael Cole, JBL, and Booker T after they were assaulted by Brock Lesnar.[3]
- ^ Filled in for Michael Cole, who was continue to recovering from injury.
- ^ Filled in for Booker T who was away filming WWE Tough Enough.[4]
Ring announcers
| Ring announcers | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Howard Finkel | January 11, 1993 – August 26, 2002 | Sporadically appears on Raw as a guest ring announcer. |
| Tony Chimel | April 1997 – August 16, 1999 May 30, 2011 September 9, 2013 December 28, 2015 |
Made one night returns on May 30, 2011, September 9, 2013 and December 28, 2015. |
| Lilian Garcia | August 23, 1999 – September 21, 2009 October 20, 2014 – present |
Made a one night return on April 19, 2010, filling in for Justin Roberts when the Raw roster was stuck in Europe after the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption, resulting in the first-ever Monday Night SmackDown; also returned at the June 25, 2012 edition of Raw, Raw 1000 on July 23, 2012, at Raw's 20th Anniversary on January 14, 2013, as well as at the January 13, 2014 episode of Raw. Made her official return to Raw on October 20, 2014, taking over for Justin Roberts who had been released. Took time off starting in April 2015 to recover from knee surgery. |
| Jonathan Coachman | April 17, 2006 | One night only. |
| Justin Roberts | June 5, 2006 February 19, 2007 March 2007 – June 2007 September 2009 – October 2014 |
Filled in for Lilian Garcia on the June 5th, 2006, who was inadvertently knocked down by Charlie Haas for the rest of Raw. Took over the announcing duties in 2009 before being released and Garcia being reinstated in 2014. |
| Todd Grisham | April 16, 2007 | One night only. |
| Eden Stiles | January 5, 2015 April 13, 2015 – May 25, 2015 October 12, 2015 November 2, 2015 May 2, 2016 – May 9, 2016 |
Filled in for Lilian Garcia on January 5, 2015, October 12, 2015, November 2, 2015 and May 2, 2016 until May 9, 2016 for one night. Also filled in for an extended period of time starting in April 2015 while Garcia was recovering from knee surgery. |
Recurring segments
| Segments | Hosts | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The King's Court | Jerry Lawler | 1993 – 1995 | In-ring interview segment. |
| The Heartbreak Hotel | Shawn Michaels | 1994 | In-ring interview segment. |
| The Brother Love Show | Brother Love | 1995 – 1996 | In-ring interview segment. |
| The Pillman XXX Files | Brian Pillman | 1997 | Video segment. Discontinued following Pillman's death. |
| The Love Shack | Dude Love | 1998 | In-ring interview segment. |
| Randy News Network (RNN) | Randy Orton | 2002 – 2003 | A weekly vignette featuring Orton talking about his condition during his injury. |
| Highlight Reel | Chris Jericho | 2003 – 2005 2008 – 2010 2012 – 2014 2016 |
In-ring interview segment. |
| White Boy Challenge | Rodney Mack Theodore Long |
2003 | Five minute match challenge to Caucasian talent. Discontinued following Mack's defeat by Goldberg. |
| WWE Diva Search | Jonathan Coachman The Miz Todd Grisham |
2004 – 2007 | WWE Diva Search competition segment.[5] |
| Masterlock Challenge | Chris Masters | 2005 – 2007 2010 |
Submission challenge to break Masters' Masterlock hold. Discontinued after Bobby Lashley broke the hold. |
| Kurt Angle Invitational | Kurt Angle | 2005 | Three-minute match challenge for Angle's gold medals. Discontinued after Angle moved to SmackDown. |
| Carlito's Cabana | Carlito | 2005 2007 – 2008 |
In-ring interview segment. Discontinued after Carlito moved to SmackDown. |
| Piper's Pit | Roddy Piper | 2005 2010 2012 2014 |
In-ring interview segment. |
| The Cutting Edge | Edge | 2005 – 2007 2010 – 2011 2013 |
In-ring interview segment. Discontinued after Edge moved to SmackDown and was forced to retire from professional wrestling. Returned one night only on Sept. 9, 2013 as Edge was the guest on Raw. |
| VIP Lounge | Montel Vontavious Porter | 2009 – 2010 | In-ring interview segment. Discontinued after MVP was drafted to SmackDown and released from WWE. |
| Khali Kiss Cam | The Great Khali | 2011 | In-ring fan interaction segment. |
| Miz TV | The Miz | 2012 – present | In-ring interview segment. |
| The Cutting Edge Peep Show | Edge and Christian | 2014 | In-ring interview segment. A crossover between The Cutting Edge and The Peep Show. |
| John Cena's U.S. Open Challenge | John Cena | 2015 | A United States Championship match challenge pitting anyone on the roster against John Cena. Ended due to Cena losing the United States Championship to the returning Alberto Del Rio at Hell in a Cell and took time off from wrestling. |
| The Rose Bush | Adam Rose | 2015 | A weekly vignette featuring Rose gossiping about other wrestlers. |
| The Ambrose Asylum | Dean Ambrose | 2016 – present | In-ring interview segment |
See also
- List of WWE Smackdown on-air personalities
- List of current champions in WWE
- List of WWE Raw guest stars
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
