A new ring mat seemingly set for the WWE Raw on Netflix premiere has not been well received by the fans.
WWE’s new era officially began on January 3rd with the first 3-hour SmackDown, which will be the standard runtime of the show moving forward. Multiple presentation changes were seen on the show, including former Raw ring announcer Lilian Garcia now on the blue brand as Alicia Taylor will be moving over to Raw beginning January 6th. The most striking presentation change was the new ring mat, which was SmackDown blue in colour and plain. According to a new update, another ring mat has been made for the Raw on Netflix premiere and is much more divisive.
As seen on social media, a black mat will seemingly be in place for the January 6th show and is covered in sponsors, most notably the video game Fortnite being the main logo in the centre of the ring. Other sponsors seen include Snickers, Cricket Wireless, Hulk Hogan’s Real American Beer and Saudi Arabia’s upcoming Riyadh season. With the mat being littered with sponsors, many have taken to social media to voice their opinions and how they are not happy with the new design.
Although WWE working with sponsors is nothing new, the brand integration has become a lot more aggressive since the TKO merger that was completed in 2023. Under the old regime, sponsors would flash up onscreen and would be seen on barricades, but the mat was always kept free of corporate logos. However, beginning at WrestleMania 40 with a Prime sponsorship, more and more logos have made their way onto the ring canvas, which many fans will take some time to get used to.
The Biggest WWE Raw Of 2025 Just A Few Days Away
The January 6th Raw on Netflix premiere will easily be the biggest Raw of 2025 and will likely be one of the most newsworthy shows in decades given the stacked line-up and big names expected to appear for the event. The current announced card for the show is as follows:
- Tribal Combat: Roman Reigns vs. Solo Sikoa
- CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins
- Liv Morgan (c) vs. Rhea Ripley – Single match for the Women’s World Championship [The match was originally announced as a Last Woman Standing match but has now been changed]
- Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso
- John Cena returns to officially begin his retirement tour
Featured image: WWE
