For decades, Louisiana has been a major pro wrestling state. From Shreveport to New Orleans, and Monroe to Lake Charles, the state has hosted some of the most historic wrestling events in history. Not just major shows, like WWE's Wrestlemania, but television debuts of legendary wrestlers like Shawn Michaels.

That's right, the legendary Shawn Michaels made his TV debut in Shreveport, Louisiana. Taking on the iconic Dr. Death Steve Williams and Hercules Hernandez in a tag-team match, with Jim Horton as his partner.

Back in the 1980s, Shreveport was home to Mid-South Wrestling, with TV shot live on the State Fairgrounds, and promos cut at a local TV station. While New Orleans has consistently welcomed major pro wrestling super shows through the 80s, and Wrestlemania extravaganzas over the last decade. Not to mention all of the live TV in between, from Bossier to Baton Rouge. Lafayette and Lake Charles have even hosted major events in the past.

Over the last 4 decades, with the growth of nationally televised wrestling, Louisiana continued to contribute to the pro wrestling world. Hosting events for essentially every major US promotion over the decades.

The biggest of the nationally televised pro wrestling shows is WWE's Monday Night Raw.

WWE Monday Night Raw In Las Vegas
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
loading...

Monday Night Raw debuted on January 11th, 1993 from the WWF (now know as WWE). It started as a 1 hour live wrestling show broadcast nationally from New York City. Over the years, the show expanded in runtime, and moved into becoming a traveling show.

There have since been over 1,600 episodes of the show. It has continued to air through major weather events, national tragedies, and even the pandemic...Monday Night Raw continued. Providing live entertainment for millions every week.

Raw and Louisiana have become consistent dance partners since the 1990s. As the state has hosted numerous broadcasts of the historic show, from various cities.

So which Louisiana cities have hosted Monday Night Raw? Here are the answers:

Lafayette, Louisiana
Raw broadcast from Lafayette for the first time in August of 2000

Bossier City, Louisiana
Raw had one broadcast from Bossier City, and it took place in January of 2007

Baton Rouge, Louisiana
While Baton Rouge has hosted half a dozen broadcasts of WWE's Smackdown, they only hosted one Raw in October of 2001

New Orleans, Louisiana
Not shockingly, New Orleans has hosted most of the Monday Night Raw broadcasts in Louisiana. Starting all the way back in the Attitude Era in 1997.

While we can expect New Orleans to host more Monday Night Raw events, the company's recent move to hosting Raw on Netflix might move the events out of any other Louisiana market. With Baton Rouge not hosting a Monday Night Raw since 2001, its unlikely they will host another. Bossier City is the only other city that has hosted a Raw in the state since then, and its been 18 years since that happened.

51 Big Pro Wrestling Stars Who Worked In Shreveport-Bossier

Gallery Credit: Getty Images

More From K945, The Hit Music Channel