WWE will bring Raw to the United Center in Chicago, Illinois for the first time in the arena’s history on January 11, 2027. The date is part of WWE’s first announced group of events for the new year and gives one of the company’s most significant wrestling markets another major television stop.
The United Center confirmed the event after teasing a WWE-related announcement on November 4. It was subsequently revealed that the home of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls will stage the January 11 edition of WWE Raw. While WWE has promoted events at the building before, the show will mark the first time the company has held a televised weekly program there.
Chicago has long been a key destination for WWE, and the United Center has already hosted select major events from the promotion. Those include the 1994 SummerSlam pay-per-view and the 2026 Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event. Beyond those shows, WWE had presented house shows at the arena, but Raw will establish a new milestone for the building when the company arrives in January.
View the referenced post on X
A new chapter for WWE in Chicago
The United Center is one of the most recognizable large-scale sports and entertainment venues in the United States, making its absence from WWE’s regular television rotation notable. WWE’s return for Raw comes less than a year after the arena hosted Elimination Chamber, demonstrating the company’s continued interest in presenting major programming in Chicago.
For more background on this topic, read Kevin Nash Sees Challenges in a Potential WWE Creative Role.
There is an important distinction between a live event and a weekly television production. A non-televised WWE house show is built around the in-arena crowd, while Raw requires the full television infrastructure associated with a live broadcast, including the company’s production setup, broadcast positioning, show pacing and the immediate possibility of storyline developments that will shape the road ahead.
That makes the January 11 date more than another stop on a tour. It places Chicago directly into WWE’s early-2027 television plans as the company moves through the opening weeks of the year and toward the Royal Rumble season. No matches, talent announcements or storyline plans were included with the venue confirmation, so the card and featured performers remain to be determined.
WWE’s first announced 2027 dates
The United Center announcement arrived alongside a wider slate of WWE dates across the United States and Canada. Several venues posted the same teaser material before WWE’s initial set of 2027 events was formally laid out, offering an early look at the company’s schedule following the holiday period.
WWE will begin the calendar year with a special New Year’s Day live event on January 1 at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota. The show will conclude WWE’s holiday tour before the company returns to weekly television.
The first Raw of 2027 is scheduled for January 4 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. That will be followed by the first live edition of SmackDown of the year on January 8 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. Three days later, Raw heads to Chicago and the United Center.
- January 1: New Year’s Day live event at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota
- January 4: WWE Raw at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas
- January 8: WWE SmackDown at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee
- January 11: WWE Raw at United Center in Chicago, Illinois
The sequence gives WWE a broad geographic start to the year, moving from Minnesota to Texas, Tennessee and Illinois in less than two weeks. It also means the United Center show will take place very early in the company’s first full month of 2027 programming, rather than serving as a late-tour standalone date.
Late-January swing continues through Portland, Vancouver and Seattle
Following a European tour in late January, WWE’s announced North American schedule resumes with SmackDown at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon on January 29. The following night, WWE will hold a “Road to Royal Rumble” live event at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The final Raw before the 2027 Royal Rumble is scheduled for Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. The exact Royal Rumble date and location were not included among these announced stops, but the Seattle episode will carry obvious importance as the final Monday-night television show before that event.
Royal Rumble season traditionally raises the stakes across WWE programming, with championship rivalries and Rumble-match positioning becoming central focuses. The newly announced venue dates do not reveal what stories will be active by that point, but the timing of the January television run makes each stop part of the buildup to one of WWE’s major annual events.
- January 29: WWE SmackDown at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon
- January 30: “Road to Royal Rumble” live event at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Before Royal Rumble: Final WWE Raw at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington
The Portland, Vancouver and Seattle stretch also illustrates the company’s ability to cluster events by region following an international run. For fans in the Pacific Northwest and western Canada, the schedule brings a televised SmackDown, a live event and a major pre-Rumble edition of Raw into the same late-January window.
Post-Rumble Raw and SmackDown dates announced for February
WWE has also confirmed several February television locations. The first Raw after the 2027 Royal Rumble will air from Honda Center in Anaheim, California. That episode will be the first Monday-night show following the event, positioning it as an important point of transition after the Rumble’s outcomes are known.
On February 12, SmackDown will take place at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Raw will then visit State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on February 15, before returning to the Midwest for a February 22 edition at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
- After Royal Rumble: WWE Raw at Honda Center in Anaheim, California
- February 12: WWE SmackDown at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas
- February 15: WWE Raw at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia
- February 22: WWE Raw at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana
With these events, WWE has set an early framework for its 2027 touring calendar: a holiday-tour conclusion in St. Paul, the first televised shows of the year in Texas and Tennessee, a historic weekly-TV debut at Chicago’s United Center, a late-January western swing, and post-Rumble television in California, Texas, Georgia and Indiana.
What the announcement means
For Chicago fans, the most notable development is straightforward: WWE television is finally coming to the United Center. The arena’s history with WWE has included SummerSlam, Elimination Chamber and live events, yet it has not previously hosted an episode of the company’s weekly programming. The January 11 Raw will change that.
The event also arrives at a time when WWE’s calendar is beginning to take shape for the new year. Although the company has not announced cards or talent lineups for these dates, the locations provide fans with a clear view of where the first major television episodes of 2027 will be staged.
Additional details surrounding ticket availability, event cards and the broader January and February schedule have not been included in the announcement. For now, the confirmed date at the United Center stands as the centerpiece: WWE Raw will make its first-ever visit to the Chicago arena on January 11, 2027.
In pictures
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.