Raw has been stale in the current three-hour format. WWE should put some serious thought into going back to the two-hour format.
There might be some truth to the belief that “more is always better.” More pizza can be better if you have a party. And who doesn’t like seeing more money in their bank account. But when it comes to professional wrestling, there should be more of a focus on quality over quantity. And yet, this seems to be a continuous problem with the WWE product.
Back in July 2012, the WWE made the decision to make Raw a three-hour show. The intention was that superstars from both Raw and SmackDown would compete. However, the roster slowly became one. The brand split was killed off until the most recent brand extension draft took place earlier this year.
So why did Raw stay at three hours instead of going down to the original two-hour format? The roster split provided less story opportunities under the one show. But we all know that the WWE has always focused on trying to fill the time with storylines that don’t involve action in the ring.
The weekly television ratings for Raw has continued to fall since the brand extension, according to the folks from Lords Of Pain. This included the 1.88 rating for this Monday’s episode with less than 1.7 million viewers. Some fans might claim that the return of the NFL’s Monday Night Football is a factor. However, that hasn’t stopped Raw before the regular season kicked off. The Labor Day episode of Raw only had a 2.11 rating.
The numbers have been going down for years and part of the reason is that the quality, not quantity, of the programming on Raw has declined. Fans want to see wrestling matches. A good storyline is needed to help build excitement. But too many interviews and backstage segments can get boring, quick.
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It feels like there isn’t enough time being dedicated to what’s going on in the ring. This isn’t a new problem as fans have had this kind of complaint for several years running. While they consider themselves as “sports-entertainment,” WWE still stands for World Wrestling Entertainment. The keyword is “wrestling.” Not talking or acting. W-R-E-S-T-L-I-N-G.
If the WWE doesn’t want to fill a three-hour show with wrestling, they should have at least enough creative direction to fill that time gap. However, it has obviously proven that they are unable to do that. That’s why it would be best if Raw would return to being a two-hour show. Unfortunately, there’s no sign of them making that change any time soon.
What’s worse is that there is some rumors about SmackDown being moved to three hours. The WWE obviously has had some struggles trying to make an episode of Raw entertaining all three hours. But how will they be able to manage doing the same thing with a less popular roster on the blue brand?
If the ratings continue to fall, the WWE Network might be the only channel that will host three-hour episodes of Raw and SmackDown.
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