Raw Moving To 3 Hours Permanently

[We Are Legion]

That really isn't too far fetched since the brand split is already fairly useless as is and talking about adding new shows like the Lucha one and such.

Exactly. I doubt they will drop SD outright, but it most certainly will not be a show worthy of it's own championship anymore. I see it winding down into more of a Sunday Night Heat or a 2-hour Superstars capacity. Mostly Raw rewinds and mid-carders getting rubs against jobbers and such. All in all, it would still get better ratings than those shows for it's namesake alone, but it was already hard to compare a taped Smackdown show to Raw, and now they're gonna make Raw 3 hours on top of that and use even more of SD's talent on Monday nights to fill the added time. There's really no reason for WWE to keep insisting that Smackdown is it's own brand. I wouldn't even make that argument now tbh.

I could see them ending the brand split but I see no reason for eliminating smackdown as it does generate money

They won't eliminate it, they'll likely just phase it out as a "brand", which makes sense.

They could just as easy incorporate a 30min preshow to start every broadcast, and with the 20min over runs it would be 3 hours anyhow lol

They already have a preshow in Quebec. Raw is on a 15-minute delay here and some guy (can't remember his name) does a lot of recaps from the previous week on Raw and Smackdown, but mostly Raw. Sometimes there are other people on the show that debate on matters, much like an ESPN sportscast. That's why I'm never in the discussion threads during Raw anymore because everyone else is viewing 15 minutes ahead of me.

I could definitely see them using some of that extra hour before Raw for things like this, as they already are in some parts of the world apparently.

 

[dexterlablab1]

Totally worked for WCW Nitro.

Oh wait......

Actually it DID work for Nitro, for a good long time Nitro was more watched than the then WWF Raw. The show being 3 hours isn't what caused their downfall. It was all the politics and in fighting that caused that.

 

[Kingslayer]

WWE Logic: Ratings are going down, that can only mean one thing, people are interested and want to see even MORE!

:RUSSO:

This is a colossally bad idea that's going to bomb. They need to use this hour wisely to build people up but instead we're gonna get more Cena and fucking Laurinaitis.

 

[PHX]

That's what I'm really worried about most they already pump too much Johnny into the show as is with these terrible segments all this is gonna do is give him even more face time and even longer segments with him.

 

[Kingslayer]

I wouldn't really mind the idea if 3 hours meant that we were allowed to have a tag division, if they could build the midcard titles, if they get the SmackDown talent that's not on Raw featured like Damien Sandow, God forbid give the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship more focus, and most of all, double the writing team so that they don't burn out as quickly, but we all know stuff like that is completely beyond their capabilities.

I can't stand the whole interactive approach they've talked about too. If every Raw is like Cyber Sunday from now on, I'm killing myself.

Oh yeah, and guess what? MORE RECAPS! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

 

[SAIYANS]

That's what I'm really worried about most they already pump too much Johnny into the show as is with these terrible segments all this is gonna do is give him even more face time and even longer segments with him.

Look at it this way ... They may give you a middle ground and give Vickie more time

 

[DashX]

I think it will work if the first hour is a lot like Heat. Have a recap show of what happened last week on Raw and Smackdown and throw in two or three matches in it. Hopefully this could put more focus on tag team and mid carders.

 

[SAIYANS]

WWE Logic: Ratings are going down, that can only mean one thing, people are interested and want to see even MORE!

:RUSSO:

This is a colossally bad idea that's going to bomb. They need to use this hour wisely to build people up but instead we're gonna get more Cena and fucking Laurinaitis.

I keep saying this but could their logic be USA has always wanted 3 hours, so let's make a deal that says we give them the hour and they (Universal) offer nxt on on e of their affiliates?

 

[PHX]

Look at it this way ... They may give you a middle ground and give Vickie more time

While I don't got an issue with Vickie that isn't exactly a good thing lol. What I just want is more mic time for the guys who need it weekly (As much as I love Punk in the ring him on the mic is what got him to the point he is at) and guys like Dolph who was getting better and better on the mic who needs real mic time and more time for the divas to actually have real feuds and real promos.

 

[Kingslayer]

I keep saying this but could their logic be USA has always wanted 3 hours, so let's make a deal that says we give them the hour and they (Universal) offer nxt on on e of their affiliates?

I don't care what their logic is, what does that have to do with the quality of the show, or what this will do to Raw from a ratings perspective? I've just got a bad feeling this is gonna get ugly for WWE.

 

[SAIYANS]

I don't care what their logic is, what does that have to do with the quality of the show, or what this will do to Raw from a ratings perspective? I've just got a bad feeling this is gonna get ugly for WWE.

Raw is the number 1 watched show on the number 1 cable network in America in USA. Logically speaking the rating will dip a bit because of the first hour if it's starting early, but the fact is it will be a higher rated first hour than anything in the slot before Raw and boost their Monday numbers like Tough Enough did. It's hard to say it will get ugly to keep the network happy, expecially when the network is the best of all cable networks and it's only competition to this day is still TNT.

I keep saying it but wwe has been putting out 5 hours of tv wrestling time every week and the cast of nxt redemption aren't rookies are green anymore so it is logical that they can be moved up to SD like Young, Titus, AJ, Ryback, and so on. I mean Kidd, Fox, Riley, JTG, Hennig, Watson, Bateman, Curtis, Kaitlyn, Natalya, The Usos, Tamina, Yoshi, Zeke, Baretta, Hawkins, Striker, and Reks can all be useful to the blue brand. They know the characterbtravel schedule, have the experience in front of big crowds, and can be pieces to a broadcast.

Raw can go 3 hours. They can take Big Show, Orton, and a hand full of guys who appear on their anyhow. Then give guys like swagger, Dolph, and AWs group weekly time.

What I think they need to do though is tape Superstars before SD and make it more about the girls and give them time on the Internet to work matches, do interview, and show. Lord knows guys will watch girls on the net.

 

[AF.]

They might be able to build some new stars with the extra time!

Herp derp that extra time will be used for stupid, filler shit.

 

[Aniking]

Let's face it, they will use that extra hour to give the World Championships more time, give Cena more time with whoever he's feuding against, give Laurianitis and co. more time to do their usual thing, and it's all in a shit attempt to hopefully increase ratings, ratings that, granted, are decent, but ratings that continue to convince them that every show they turn out is actually great and people love it.

The WWE have no real ambition to improve Raw and Smackdown when they continue to throw up those "Did You Know?" pieces every week detailing how Raw or Smackdown were the most watched shows on their network. They think moves like the Supershow and permanently adding an extra hour to Raw are the reason why people continue to tune in, but the REAL reason is because wrestling fans don't have anywhere else to tune into. TNA is an absolute mess and independent promotions like ROH aren't televised to the extent WWE or even TNA are. It doesn't matter how shit Raw or Smackdown are, people will want to tune in to get their fix, and if it means putting up with crap segments, they'll do it. I am one of them, but I'm not the only one who hates a lot of the things they do.

You can never please everyone, that's the truth. You can come to a decision that 99% of people will agree with, but there will always at least be that 1% who think it's wrong. Unless there's a huge deal made out of decisions like adding a third hour to Raw, people like us will be that 1% and the WWE will continue to kill Smackdown, give nothing into building their future stars, continue to look at their network topping ratings and act is if all is fine.

 

[Troy]

I am going to try to stay positive and hopeful that this will be a positive move. It is interesting to make the move at a time when ratings are down but if USA Network want WWE to go three hours for RAW then they have to do it and they will earn more money from the network for the extra hour.

Now that WWE have an extra hour to fill it should, key word should, mean that WWE have to start pushing every division. They need to build up both midcard title divisions and the tag team divisions to fill the five hours a week with quality programming from top to bottom. It should force their hand to create strong divisions because they won't be able to survive focussing only on the two world titles and on the authority figures.

Overall as a wrestling fan I can't really complain about an extra hour of wrestling each week.

 

[dexterlablab1]

If they actually put MORE energy into actual matches and LESS into stage talking they might have a shot at making 3 hours work.