IYO: Should Monday Night RAW go back to 2 hours?

[GD]

Although the first few episodes were fun, the quality of content has degrading ever since. It's also very exhausting. I usually watch it with my roommate and we have a hard time staying awake till eleven because we are babies.

Here are the current "story arcs" on RAW...lets see how they develop and grow.

Foley's team will face off Punk's team in a classic Survivor Series elimination match in order to settle their differences

Foley's team will face off Ziggler's team in a classic Survivor Series elimination mtach for some reason. Maybe because the ppv requires a mandatory classic elimination match.

Mike "The Miz" Mizanin doesn't want to be Team Punk anymore. He loses yet another IC title match. After the match he extends his hand for a handshake only to get dropkicked out of the ring by Kofi Kingston who is suppose to be more grounded and mean now(according to Jim Ross and Michelle Cole).

CM Punk will defend the spinner belt against Ryback and Juaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan Cena for better pay-per-view buyrates.

Sheamus doesn't care that he lost the World title as long as he gets to fight.

R-Truth is taking easy on the delusional Little Jimmy thang and has Antonio Cesaro's number.

The Vickie Guerrero - John Cena - AJ Lee angle is enjoyable because the WWE loves to judge your intelligence. It's also very original.

Wade Barrett refuses to join Team Punk (now Team Ziggler) but decides to join it anyway because he wants Paul Heyman to owe him one...which will probably be forgotten.

D Bryan gets an Austin like pop and gets defeated in a couple of minutes. Classic WWE logic.

Brad Maddox is Hunter's new pet project after Senor Sin Cara. If he defeats Ryback on RAW next week, he will be awarded a million dollar

SPOILER: show

contract (kayfabe) by Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Of course he is going to lose and Punk is not going to interfere.


Kaitlyn pins the Divas' Champion of the World Eve Torres. Big whoop! I don't mind. Kaitlyn is hot. Nothing special happening in the divas division. Aksana gives me "hooker" vibes.

For the first time in a blue moon, Alberto Del Rio loses a match to a mid carder. He also doesn't mind joining the team of a person who defeated him for the WWE Championship. He is such a good sport that he goes ahead and claps for his (Punk's) long title reign and future one-year celebration at the same PPV where he lost the belt in the first place. He might have something to do with Rosa in the future. Nice

3MB keep on dominating RAW as Heath Slater (w/Jinder Mahal) gets the biggest victory of his career by pinning one of the Uso twins (Jimmy). It was not at all boring.

Unfortunately, there isn't anything that has me remotely interested. But since anything can happen in the World Wrestling Federation, I am compelled to watch it.

[#1-norm-fan]

Originally Posted by Guru Dave D Bryan gets an Austin like pop and gets defeated in a couple of minutes. Classic WWE logic.

That brings up another thing that bugs me with WWE's lack of understanding on how to build guys up. No one outside the main event looks better than anyone else. It seems like everyone is liable to lose to anyone else at any given time and it won't be that big of a deal. They did it a lot with Punk during his face run as champ. The guy was THE WWE CHAMPION and he lost constantly. Made no sense for him to be champion considering he was basically 50/50 to win any match he competed in on Raw. It makes all the wrestlers look like a big pool of mediocrity and it makes the matches boring and meaningless.

That's why I at least love what they're doing with Ryback. They actually have a guy on the roster who is being booked as not being equal to everyone else and if he does get pinned, it's not just gonna be shitty, boring, interchangeable outcome #742. It's gonna be a huge fucking deal.

If there was less "everyone beats everyone else" on the mid-card, you could have outcomes actually mean something there too.

[Tom Guycott]

It's not that RAW should go back to 2 hours, it's that they should utilize the time better. You knew more advertising was coming, but they need to quit with all the lenghty footage recaps of last week's show. They need to stop with all the "feature film" sized recaps of the main event angle EVERY WEEK going all the way through the PPV unless the main eventers in question aren't going to spend 20 minutes doing a promo in-ring and then having a match that night. They need to use that extra time to put other guys on TV that aren't on TV. They need to actually let some of the wrestlers do their storytelling from bell to bell instead of instantly HAVING to grab a microphone and talk away a quarter of an hour before their match happens.

I mean, as it stands, there's all this supposed extra time, but the matches are shorter on the whole, and almost everyone, reguardless of status on the card, is getting the jobber entrance during the commercials.

This is a problem they keep running into everytime they expand show length. They just "pad" the time instead of utilizing it to give us more. They kind of do it at first, but slowly, the show is going to end up with 3 actual matches a night, much like when RAW was only 1 hour. Maybe 4 matches with the dark main event for the live crowd.

Oddly enough, NXT seems to be doing things right. They're only one hour, and the show is full of theoretical nobodies, but they are running that show like RAW should be run.

[Kane Knight]

Tom, I love you.

[Tom Guycott]

Well, thanks! No sarcasm. #validation

[GD]

Rey Mysterio and Matt Hardy feuded over the Cruiserweight strap and it was done so well. They had Rey lose at Wrestlemania and then eventually win it for the first time in the WWE in his hometown on an edition of Smackdown.





Not the greatest examples out there.

[Tom Guycott]

Exactly. This is also why I said NXT is doing it right. A "lesser" feud can get attention, is actually treated as such, and it gives someone else something to do.

Rollins is the champ. He's the man. We don't need him closing the show everytime to remind us of it. Instead, we get other main event matches. No matter what it is, we still get the "main event feel" since JR comes out and calls that one match per show.

Usos and Ascention are feuding. Over nothing, because there is no tag-team glory to be had in NXT. They just are. But it's great. Not everything needs an over-complication. They do their storytelling in the ring. On the flip side, Chris Hero and Ricky Steamboat Jr. are in a bitter rivalry, but they also don't even have a match every week, let alone with one another. Other people get on TV, and the announcers make mention of their rivalry if one or the other steps foot in the ring. Big E is accomplishing the same thing they were doing with Ryback, but he's doing it in a shorter amount of TV time... more room for someone else to get on. Also, now with Vickie's "bounty", there's now a storyline for him drawing her ire. He gets the rub AND she doesn't even have to appear on TV for it to continue to work! Also, factor in matches that just happen for the sake of matches.

And all this goes on in the world they've established in one hour. And the whole show doesn't revolve around CM Seth, or have to do anything risque to provide top to bottom entertainment.

If they followed this formula with RAW... hell, even Smackdown, they could actually get more people on TV and an opportunity to get established without having rushed things like throwaway tag teams or useless Diva 6 on 6 tag matches where none of the other girls even get tagged in or lumberjack matches with guys surrounding the ring that make you go "Wow, I thought ____ was released, I haven't seen him in so long!". Every angle doesn't need to involve a championship... let alone THE championship, every angle doesn't need explained ad nauseum, and not every match has to have a clear jobber.

[Dukelorange]

Originally Posted by Tom Guycott Exactly. This is also why I said NXT is doing it right. A "lesser" feud can get attention, is actually treated as such, and it gives someone else something to do. Rollins is the champ. He's the man. We don't need him closing the show everytime to remind us of it. Instead, we get other main event matches. No matter what it is, we still get the "main event feel" since JR comes out and calls that one match per show. Usos and Ascention are feuding. Over nothing, because there is no tag-team glory to be had in NXT. They just are. But it's great. Not everything needs an over-complication. They do their storytelling in the ring. On the flip side, Chris Hero and Ricky Steamboat Jr. are in a bitter rivalry, but they also don't even have a match every week, let alone with one another. Other people get on TV, and the announcers make mention of their rivalry if one or the other steps foot in the ring. Big E is accomplishing the same thing they were doing with Ryback, but he's doing it in a shorter amount of TV time... more room for someone else to get on. Also, now with Vickie's "bounty", there's now a storyline for him drawing her ire. He gets the rub AND she doesn't even have to appear on TV for it to continue to work! Also, factor in matches that just happen for the sake of matches. And all this goes on in the world they've established in one hour. And the whole show doesn't revolve around CM Seth, or have to do anything risque to provide top to bottom entertainment. If they followed this formula with RAW... hell, even Smackdown, they could actually get more people on TV and an opportunity to get established without having rushed things like throwaway tag teams or useless Diva 6 on 6 tag matches where none of the other girls even get tagged in or lumberjack matches with guys surrounding the ring that make you go "Wow, I thought ____ was released, I haven't seen him in so long!". Every angle doesn't need to involve a championship... let alone THE championship, every angle doesn't need explained ad nauseum, and not every match has to have a clear jobber.

Isn't this all Triple H? If it is, then that should tell you something...

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Originally Posted by Dukelorange Isn't this all Triple H? If it is, then that should tell you something...

Not sure about all cause he's got Dusty Rhodes there too. But yeah this isn't just a good sign for the future of the WWE roster, but the future of WWE management.

[#1-norm-fan]

Originally Posted by Tom Guycott Exactly. This is also why I said NXT is doing it right. A "lesser" feud can get attention, is actually treated as such, and it gives someone else something to do.

Main Event.

Look at the Kofi-Miz match when Kofi won the IC title. It was a "lesser" feud that the way they presented it was treated like a huge, historic, epic event.

It's really weird the attention to detail WWE has in putting together every show accept for their main one which is where the organization and booking seems to go all over the place.

[GD]

Originally Posted by #1-wwf-fan Main Event. Look at the Kofi-Miz match when Kofi won the IC title. It was a "lesser" feud that the way they presented it was treated like a huge, historic, epic event. It's really weird the attention to detail WWE has in putting together every show accept for their main one which is where the organization and booking seems to go all over the place.

Yes!

[#1-norm-fan]

I fucking love the idea of giving guys time off to keep their characters fresh, keep feuds going without having to book interactions weekly, etc. As long as you have enough guys who are over so you don't have gaping holes in your roster while they're away though. WWE kinda lacks that right now.

[Tom Guycott]

Originally Posted by Noid I'm not sure if the WWE needs to have an "off-season," but I like the idea of guys being given time off more regularly to rest their nagging injuries, and to prolong the shelf-life of their characters.

Originally Posted by #1-wwf-fan I fucking love the idea of giving guys time off to keep their characters fresh, keep feuds going without having to book interactions weekly, etc. As long as you have enough guys who are over so you don't have gaping holes in your roster while they're away though. WWE kinda lacks that right now.

I'm really surprised WWE hasn't kayfabed injuries in the reverse fashion- kinda like "Sandman's blind". They usually tend to have something happen to them to write them off TV if they are legit injured to explain away their time off... how about they actually do that for a "vacation" as well? Let them rest up a bit without it being either doctor's orders or having to coincide with a lapse in new contract or a wellness policy violation.

Unless you're Undertaker. Then you just dissappear, then re-emerge randomly* to a huge pop to your bell toll. You don't have to explain it, because he's the goddamn Undertaker.



*It's not so random anymore- it is around Wrestlemania season.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by Tom Guycott I'm really surprised WWE hasn't kayfabed injuries in the reverse fashion- kinda like "Sandman's blind". They usually tend to have something happen to them to write them off TV if they are legit injured to explain away their time off... how about they actually do that for a "vacation" as well? Let them rest up a bit without it being either doctor's orders or having to coincide with a lapse in new contract or a wellness policy violation. Unless you're Undertaker. Then you just dissappear, then re-emerge randomly* to a huge pop to your bell toll. You don't have to explain it, because he's the goddamn Undertaker. *It's not so random anymore- it is around Wrestlemania season.

The problem here is that WWE likes the brand split because it means they can milk even more out of their roster. People can praise or hate the roster split as much as they want, but one of the big reasons is the extra shit they can squeeze out of the roster. WWE doesn't seem to want performers to have breaks.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I would not be opposed to brand exclusivity returning to lend each show its own identity again. While searching for ratings trends for SmackDown is surprisingly difficult, random examples I have found seem to indicate that having RAW talent heavily featured on SmackDown doesn't seem to have boosted ratings. So why not use the show to give more talent more time to show their skills. This could also reduce the schedule of many workers.

RAW might seemingly suffer, but I think that it would be possible to produce a layered show with an exclusive RAW talent roster. Especially if their was more emphasis on creating a compelling mid-card -- as opposed to mere focus on the main event.