WWE Wrestling concert WWE began their 2009 year with a new HD set, which consisted of more than 1,000,000 LEDs. The introduction of this new set retired the old set, which was used from April 2002 to January 2009. Raw's first show in HD was held in the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia.
The most recent theme song for SmackDown was "Rise Up!" by Drowning Pool, a remake of SmackDown's fifth anniversary instrumental theme song. It was performed by then-lead singer Jason "Gong" Jones and featured on the WWE Wrestling ThemeAddict: The Music, Vol. 6 album. Currently however, the theme song for the SmackDown! brand is "Rise Up 2006" by Drowning Pool, a new version of "Rise Up!" performed by new lead singer Ryan McCombs and featured as a bonus downloadable track on the WWE Wrestling Wreckless Intent album.
The show currently airs live on USA Network (and on tape delay Wednesdays on mun2, and Sundays on Telemundo (in Spanish) in the United States, and in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland on Sky Sports 3. It also currently broadcasts on tape delay in Canada on The Score and Global Quebec, in Australia on FOX8, in Portugal on SIC Radical,in Italy on Sky Italia in Finland on MTV3 MAX, in Malaysia on Astro Super Sport, in New Zealand on The Box, in Greece on Supersport 3, in India and Pakistan on Ten Sports, in the Philippines on Jack TV and RPN (through its alliance with C/S), in Chile on Chilevisión, in Mexico on 52MX, in Bulgaria on GTV, in Panama on RPC Canal 4, in Peru on ATV, in Saudi Arabia and Middle east on ART SPORT, in Romania on TV Sport, in Serbia on FOX Televizija, in South Korea on XTM, in Spain on Cuatro, in France on NT1 and RTL9, in Argentina on Canal 9 (Argentina) and on AFN Xtra. Raw is also currently being aired on Etv in South Africa. It airs on Canal VTV in El Salvador and on Premiere in Germany and in Honduras on Canal 5. Occasionally, Raw is aired on same-day tape delay when WWE Wrestling is on an overseas tours.
WCW's sharp decline in revenue and ratings led to Time Warner's sale of the company to the WWF in 2001. The final edition of Nitro aired on March 26, 2001. The show began with Vince McMahon making a short statement about WWE Wrestling's recent purchase of WCW and ended with a simulcast on Raw and on TNN with an appearance by Vince's son Shane McMahon on Nitro. Shane interrupted WWE Wrestling's father's gloating over the WCW purchase to explain that Shane was the one who actually owned WCW, setting up what become the WWF's "Invasion" storyline.
WWE Wrestling concert WWE began their 2009 year with a new HD set, which consisted of more than 1,000,000 LEDs. The introduction of this new set retired the old set, which was used from April 2002 to January 2009. Raw's first show in HD was held in the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia.
