3 hours of Raw being too much-what are your strategies?

[AegonTargaryen]

The "3 hours of Raw is just too much" notion has been lingering around WZ forums for quite a while now, but only in the context of WWE Creative failing to book a solid show, and too much filler, same matches, etc. but not from the standpoint of one's own valuable, personal time.

What I've realized lately is that I'm only interested in watching about 40-% of RAW's content on most weeks, and 60% when it's a really great show. It all depends on what's on the card, which big stars are going to be on, the intensity and intriguing aspect of storylines, my interest or lack thereof in them, etc.

Let's break up last night's Raw into chunks to help me elucidate my point further:-

Segment 1)Chris Jericho and Big Cass.
Segment 2) Dolph Ziggler vs Baron Corbin.
Segment 3)Fandango vs R Truth(filler)
Segment 4)Charlotte vs Paige.
Segment 5)Sami Zayn vs Miz
Segment 6)Sin Cara vs Rusev(as good as FILLER)
Segment 7)Six man Elimination Match- Reigns&Usos vs The Club
Segment 8)Zack Ryder vs Kevin Owens
Segment 9)New Day vs The Dudleys
Segment 10)Big Cass vs Chris Jericho.


Out of these, I was only interested in and willing to watch Segments 1, 2(Because I'm invested in Baron Corbin), 7, and 10.

I wasn't interested in watching The Miz match because, well, I HATE THE MIZ. The women's match because I never watch women's matches really. (Not to be a misogynist or anything, but seriously, I would never waste 20 mins watching Women's match every fucking Raw). The New Day are boring as fuck(yes, I said it) to me now, and the rest of the show was pretty much FILLER.

As you can see, I've excluded the numerous "backstage segments" and Michael Cole promoting the Network and stuff, which amounts to almost 30 mins.

Also, approximately 25% of the air time in a Repeat telecast 3-hour version of Raw(as well as the LIVE one) is dedicated to commercials, which is basically a colossal waste of time for anybody hoping to only catch up with their favourite matches/segments from the show.

So out of the 180 minutes of a Raw repeat telecast, I could only invest 80 minutes of my time, were I to simply Record the show, rewatch later and skip undesirable segments/commercials.

The only problem is that you can't watch Raw LIVE if you want to skip through most of the stuff, like I happen to. On the plus side, you save almost 2 hours every week and STILL keep connected to the product by watching 60-80 mins of the show.

Besides the issue of "time", lets just say even if I had 3 hours to kill on a Monday or Tuesday, why would I watch CRAPPY matches and segments that is pretty much the norm for 3 hour Raws?

Would you?

I'd like to ask you:-

Do you prefer watching Raw live for almost 4 hours including commercials,
or

Prefer to record it and skip through undesirable segments?

Do you agree that NO MATTER WHAT, The WWE will never be able to produce 3 hours Raw that are absolutely must-see, and that most of the times, Raw would mostly constitute of tedious and boring segments such as those from last night's Raw?

Proceed.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

I'm on the side of - 3 hours is too much- I watch random Raw's or second half of random Raw's now and then. Last week I sat through a full program and my mind forced me to stick with it. It felt like a marathon and by the time The Main Event rolled around I was surfing madly in case there was something good going on in NHL Playoffs.

My other problem is not just time. It's sickening idea to pit AJ Styles vs Roman Reigns every week. Raw AND SmackDown. I'm sure they'll go at it again on SmackDown and it'll mark match 5 including the PPV that just passed. Throw in an uninteresting tag feud to tie into those two and you have another sickening feud every week. That's mainly the reason I didn't bother tuning in to Raw this week. Not worth the effort.

 

[Navi]

RAW has been three hours for years now, why all the bitching and complaining. Last nights RAW wasn't that bad and the tussle over Ambrose stealing and destroying Jericho's jacket was priceless.

The only problem I had with the whole thing was the predictability of it. As soon as they announced that Zayn would have to win to get into the Fatal 4 Way, you knew he was going to beat Miz. Same with the Owens/Ryder match. Owens had to win to stay in the Fatal 4 Way, you knew he wasn't going to lose.

Flair being banned from ringside and Jericho going on about Ambrose not being there and the WWE putting Big Cass into the main event, pretty much told everyone Flair was doing a run in, and Ambrose would be involved somehow.

I would rather see Shane or Stephanie make the match between Zayn and Miz, have Zayn win, and then they tell him because he won he would now be in the PPV. The fans wouldn't know ahead of time and it might surprise some of them. Or Flair try to come to the ring with Charlotte and have him stopped on the stage and sent back. They tell us how things will turn out too far in advance, but that's wrasslin for you these days.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Wrestling isn't a HBO show where you need to watch it all so you don't miss anything. For example, I've not watched a three hour TV wrestling show since 2001 and I haven't missed a thing because I can read about Authority segments quicker than I can watch them.

Read about the show and then watch what popular opinion tells you is worth your time.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

People have been complaining about Raw being 3 hours since it went to 3 hours, it's nothing new and it's always the same complaints.

Sometimes, for me, 3 hours of Raw does feel like too much and sometimes it feels just right. The third hour usually drags a bit and last night was no different. I didn't see a reason to have Owens vs. Ryder whatsoever as it just felt like filler: nobody bought into Ryder having a shot to win and that was evident in his reception during the match. The New Day vs. the Dudley Boyz felt like filler that was set up to have the Vaudevillains ambush New Day. Personally, I would have rather had the Vaudevillains attack New Day as they were coming out to their entrance and spend about 10 minutes or so beating the crap out of them. Other than that, I enjoyed last night's show and saw that there was a purpose in just about everything that was on last night.

However, as far as a strategy for avoiding what you might not be interested in, just record Raw via DVR, glance through it a bit to see what you like or what you don't like and go for it. Ultimately, just rely on what you're interested in rather than what others are into.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

When I remember I record the show. Basically to avoid commercials and have the freedom to skip a part or a full segment. If I don't remember to record I usually just watch the last half while bouncing around other shows, the internet, and folding laundry. Like a lot of other live shows Raw is just background noise where I can pay attention when I want.

I think I would prefer two hours but at this point I am used to three hours. Chopping off an hour doesn't get certain people or certain stories off of my screen. They still have feuds, PPVs, people, and products to promote. The OP is not necessarily going to enjoy more than 40% of the show if they cut an hour. He may get less of the parts that he does enjoy.

That all being said Raw has been really good lately. A lot of that is the influx of new talent. But a lot has been some decent writing and action. Reigns and Styles may be having the best feud of the last two years. This Stephanie/Shane dynamic is building nicely. The IC title competition has been terrific. The women are holding their own. Ambrose and Jericho are showing blatant creativity. New Day is still entertaining. Their loss to the Dudleys was kind of disjointed but Kofi selling that clothes line was brilliant.

But back on topic. Raw may have been more consistently entertaining at certain times during it's two hour run but overall and especially shortly before the switch to three hours it could be a huge drag at times. Let's not wear too thick of rose colored glasses.

 

[Sean Valjean]

3 hours of Raw is too much in my opinion. Even when the shows are good, it's such a big time investment. I would kill for Raw to return to 2 hours.

I prefer watching Raw live, and a big reason for that is that I'm often too lazy to make time during the week to watch a recording. The times that I do, the episode often sits there until Friday or Saturday. That ends up backing up my viewings of NXT and Smackdown. Getting Raw out of the way on Monday, when my mind is in wrestling mode, simply works better for me. Setting aside three hours of free time on Tuesday when I'd rather be doing a myriad of other things can be a real challenge at times.

Unless WWE puts on Wrestlemania X-7 every Monday, they seem incapable of producing a weekly, 3+ hour show that's engaging the entire way through. Even Triple H has said how difficult it is to write the 3rd hour in particular. Raw has been quite good in recent weeks, but there's always dead spots. A two hour show trims the fat and allows for a more focused, tightly written show.

 

[enviousdominous]

I'm an avid runner. I'm able to run comfortably at a six minute mile and when it comes to fatigue I'm able to will myself into a state of mental comfort.

Three hour episodes of RAW can often be more tiring than running a half marathon.

I literally passed out on the couch last night during RAW. It probably doesn't help that I have to wake up at 4am every weekday morning. The only thing that caught my eye was the six man tag match, I didn't see the actual match because I was in la-la land.

I'll catch the good stuff on Hulu later.

 

[Azane]

I've gotten RAW down to 25 mins with a DVR without missing anything.

Well, Besides pinfalls during commercials.

 

[d_henderson1810]

The "3 hours of Raw is just too much" notion has been lingering around WZ forums for quite a while now, but only in the context of WWE Creative failing to book a solid show, and too much filler, same matches, etc. but not from the standpoint of one's own valuable, personal time.

What I've realized lately is that I'm only interested in watching about 40-% of RAW's content on most weeks, and 60% when it's a really great show. It all depends on what's on the card, which big stars are going to be on, the intensity and intriguing aspect of storylines, my interest or lack thereof in them, etc.

Let's break up last night's Raw into chunks to help me elucidate my point further:-

Segment 1)Chris Jericho and Big Cass.
Segment 2) Dolph Ziggler vs Baron Corbin.
Segment 3)Fandango vs R Truth(filler)
Segment 4)Charlotte vs Paige.
Segment 5)Sami Zayn vs Miz
Segment 6)Sin Cara vs Rusev(as good as FILLER)
Segment 7)Six man Elimination Match- Reigns&Usos vs The Club
Segment 8)Zack Ryder vs Kevin Owens
Segment 9)New Day vs The Dudleys
Segment 10)Big Cass vs Chris Jericho.


Out of these, I was only interested in and willing to watch Segments 1, 2(Because I'm invested in Baron Corbin), 7, and 10.

I wasn't interested in watching The Miz match because, well, I HATE THE MIZ. The women's match because I never watch women's matches really. (Not to be a misogynist or anything, but seriously, I would never waste 20 mins watching Women's match every fucking Raw). The New Day are boring as fuck(yes, I said it) to me now, and the rest of the show was pretty much FILLER.

As you can see, I've excluded the numerous "backstage segments" and Michael Cole promoting the Network and stuff, which amounts to almost 30 mins.

Also, approximately 25% of the air time in a Repeat telecast 3-hour version of Raw(as well as the LIVE one) is dedicated to commercials, which is basically a colossal waste of time for anybody hoping to only catch up with their favourite matches/segments from the show.

So out of the 180 minutes of a Raw repeat telecast, I could only invest 80 minutes of my time, were I to simply Record the show, rewatch later and skip undesirable segments/commercials.

The only problem is that you can't watch Raw LIVE if you want to skip through most of the stuff, like I happen to. On the plus side, you save almost 2 hours every week and STILL keep connected to the product by watching 60-80 mins of the show.

Besides the issue of "time", lets just say even if I had 3 hours to kill on a Monday or Tuesday, why would I watch CRAPPY matches and segments that is pretty much the norm for 3 hour Raws?

Would you?

I'd like to ask you:-

Do you prefer watching Raw live for almost 4 hours including commercials,
or

Prefer to record it and skip through undesirable segments?

Do you agree that NO MATTER WHAT, The WWE will never be able to produce 3 hours Raw that are absolutely must-see, and that most of the times, Raw would mostly constitute of tedious and boring segments such as those from last night's Raw?

Proceed.

Raw produced some great 3-hour Raws back in the day, when they were once in a while. The RAW 1000th anniversary did well ratings-wise. But back before it was a weekly event, 3-hours of Raw WAS entertaining because there was usually a reason for it (a 1-hour "Ironman" Match, RAW Roulette, or when they had Draft Night). Having it every week makes it less special and more "missable".

You may hate the Miz, but that means that you are missing entertaining matches he has with Cesaro, and the stuff he does with Kevin Owens. So, in order to avoid someone you won't give a go to, you miss out on some good matches.

Also, you say that you never watch women's wrestling. Well then, you missed an awesome woman's match at Wrestlemania 32 (what I consider the best women's match in WWE since Trish v Lita main evented RAW one night).

Saying that you won't watch a match that someone is in because you don't like him or you don't like Divas means that you miss a few really good highlights as well.

 

[ISkye]

My main strategy is to read the Results and then watch another promotion while I wait for the next PPV. Ever since Wrestlemania I haven't really watched even a glimpse of most RAWs. The current Champion bores me to death. I probobally wouldn't even care if it was shorter than 3 hours currently.

 

[Navi]

If you really think about it during that 3 hours you can get a lot of stuff done. If a match comes one I'm not interested in will go and fill the dishwasher and turn it on. Or throw a load of laundry in, make coffee or have a smoke. Sometimes I flip over to Facebook and have a chat with some friends, or do anything that needs attention.

You don't have to spend the whole three hours watching the show, and most probably don't. Some DVR it and skip what they don't want, others watch the highlight's later on Youtube. It doesn't bother me how long the show is really, because I still get done what I have too, and am able to watch what I really want to see live. it's not a problem.

 

[mral82]

I'm guess all the PPL whom Complain about RAW's 3 hours are the Same PPL whom would watch an NFL, MLB, on any of them Weekly and not have a problem watching as they all go 3+hrs but PPL complain about Wrestling being 3 hours. To me them FANS are MoFo Hypocrites that just need to understand yeah there's gonna be filler Segments as it can't be 2 hrs and 20 Min on Non Stop Matches as that get boring. As myslef I was The Womens' Matches but get sidetracked on the Non Female Crap and most def Tune out during Roman Reigns like I did w. Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy in the past as they do the same things every match where it gets Boring. So I just enjoy the Ride as I've been watching or a Fan of Pro Wrestling for 31+ years and have seen some of the lamest things ever.

 

[ShinChan]

My main strategy is to read the Results. The current Champion bores me to death.

So much of this.

Here in India, Raw is telecasted live on tuesday at 6 AM. I am lazy enough to wake up at 6.30 AM as I need to depart from home at 8 AM. So what I do mostly is to catch a glimpse of Raw and then go to college. During my journey, I just read the results and the Live Discussion about it at WZ Forums.

Raw telecast repeats at 4 PM and I just tune in at that particular time when my interested segment or match takes place. I have been doing this since a long time.

And RAW isn't so great that I need to watch it wholely.

Another thing I believe that people complain about 3 hours being stretched and containing fillers. I agree with them. But think if WWE went back to 2 hours, the fillers would still be there. Instead the segments/matches we like would be cut down to lesser time interval.

Edit - Raw has damn long commercials here too.

 

[Rayne]

Oy, yet another "3 hours" thread.

The common misconception in these threads is that the idea of RAW is to present a fully satisfying and entertaining experience from the time the show starts to when it ends. It is not. The idea of RAW, and why USA requests a 3-hour program, is to sell as much advertising space as possible for as high of a price as possible. RAW performs better than anything else USA brings to the table; if they thought anyone would tune in to watch a show starting at 7, you'd see a four-hour RAW. (Before anyone gets going about "but I read this story on the main page about ratings and", television ratings are down across the board; this is a function of people cancelling their cable subscriptions in favor of newer services like Netflix and Hulu.)

Basically, enough people are watching this shit that USA will continue to request that the WWE produce more of this shit. It doesn't matter if you find yourself entertained- merely being around a television with noise playing is sufficient for these purposes.

 

[jacdnwarrior]

3 hours seems like a huge block of time devoted to a program. The minute I heard that Raw was going three hours long, I had serious concerns. They struggled to make 2 hours entertaining. They go three hours and its the same problem, same repetitive matchups, too much boring segments, too much talking not enough wrestling, very predictable. TO be fair other programs are 3 hours long etc. NFL, NBA, MLB etc but those programming aren't using conversation in exchange of the action the way WWE or entertainment value isn't as way down as on Raw. And while I do think that some events are too long at 3 hours (eg MLB) Raw really drags on when you're watching it.

They need to make changes. When you see they go three hours and yet can't make room for talent to do anything. They're releasing talent who you can use on your show for even a 2-5 minute match/ segment to change things up a little. Not saying that any of these released performers would be the answer to its problems (Sandow was pretty damn good though), it could have helped add things and given the performers some tv ttime.

They have 3 hours they get more revenue, they need to make some alterations to increase the entertainment.