With it being a new year, WWE decided to make a slight change to the presentation of "WWE SmackDown" for its 2025 debut on January 3 by changing the ring mat from the traditional white to blue to coincide with the color scheme of the show. This has led some people to wonder whether a similar change will be made for "WWE Raw" when it premieres on Netflix on January 6, and the answer is potentially, but not in the way one might initially think. Before "SmackDown" aired, Fightful Select were told that there was a second ring mat in place that was vastly different to the one used on January 3, and even further away from what has traditionally been used on "Raw." The mat was black and had a number of different sponsors scattered in various places.

These sponsors included the video game "Fortnite," placed in the middle, WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan's beer "Real American Beer" was in two corners, and Riydah Season, relating to their Saudi Arabia partnership, in the other two corners. In addition, Cricket Mobile's logo appears twice, facing opposite each other on either side of the ring, with the other two sides being taken by a logo for Snickers, and Netflix, the latter of which has people presuming that the mat will be used for "Raw's" debut on the platform, but that has yet to be confirmed. Since Fightful's report, a picture of the black mat has appeared online:

Ahead of SmackDown there was a black ring mat out in the ring which had the following logos on it, presumably will be used for RAW on Netflix:

• Fortnite (in the middle) • Riyadh Season • Hulk Hogan's 'Real American Beer' • Cricket • Netflix • Snickers

(📸: @gbates5533) pic.twitter.com/0wioFhVbQw

— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) January 4, 2025

One thing many have noticed is the absence of the Prime Hydration logo, the company founded by former United States Champion Logan Paul, which has appeared on the ring canvas since March 2024. However, it's not confirmed at the time of writing if these sponsors will be permanent.