2002 was a year of great change in WWE, with the dawn of the “Ruthless Aggression” era signalling the true end of the “Attitude Era”. This came with the brand split and the debut of an epic new Raw theme song, which debuted 21 years ago this month.
The song became synonymous with Raw during this era, opening the show for four years straight, and was the perfect setup for what was ahead for viewers. It was hard-hitting, high-tempo, exciting and was the definition of Raw itself.
Take a look at the original WWE video for “Across the Nation” by Union Underground below (shared on Twitter by @WrestleClips)
21 years ago today, WWE debuted this new intro for Monday Night RAW.
One of the best intros of all time. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nQR4LnrZoj
— Wrestling Pics & Clips (@WrestleClips) May 6, 2023
While most people look back on the Attitude Era as the best in WWE history and rightly so, given the all-time impact of the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, as well as the iconic Monday Night Wars with WCW, the Ruthless Aggression Era saw the emergence of Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton and Batista amongst others.
It also would see Rey Mysterio join the company and Shawn Michaels make a return from a four-year injury absence.
It’s a shame WWE don’t seem to view opening theme music as a key part of their presentation anymore as it really added a great deal to their programming in its heyday.