Is The WWE Trying To Bring In More Adult Fans To Watch RAW?

[Y-2-Jay]

It seems that RAW is getting a lot of superstars that have a edge to them (no pun intended) like Chris Jericho and Edge while kid friendly characters like Kofi Kingston and Hornswoggle are getting moved to SmackDown. Is RAW trying to appel more to a older audience too (As well as the kid audience) and making SmackDown the show for kids to watch or am i looking too deep into this? Like it could be a accident that this came to place? Or they want to knock TNA's ratings down by bringing the main eventers? You decide if you belive this or state another reason why this has happened.

(this post has nothing to do with PG/TV-14 ratings so keep it out of this)

 

[pepentorresHHH]

Imo i think you are right.... Almost all characters on raw are now for adults except for cena, i think they would have drafted him if he wasnt the face of the company, but look miz,hhh,edge,jericho,randy orton, sheamus, hart dinasty there is no kid character left on raw..... Btw finally hornswoggle is out of raw!!!! And the shows have a definite different direction raw has all the stars because of the war and smackdown has most of the young stars so it allows for the youth movement to really flourish here

 

[stilltippin]

yup.. wwe is trying to shut tna down.. taker would be right over there on raw with the rest if he wasn't so burned out.. its sucks really cuz i like smackdown better than raw but i guess ill have to watch raw with that stupid guest host crap too see edge, jericho and orton, good thing i got a dvr so i can watch impact live!

im still very excited that mvp went back to sd.. if orton could just get drafted SD! would still have a solid line up! wwe just give sd that one draftee!!

 

[dwith]

I don't think so. If you look at all the other previous drafts they were no dofferent. HHH went to smackdown before, Jericho is back and fourth, edge has been back and fourth. This draft is no different imo. How much more adult can you go when it's pg?

 

[TokiRKO]

I think Vince is a LOT more scared of TNA than he's letting on. Has any one noticed that many of the recent guest hosts are aimed at adults? What fucking kid knows who 1/2 the people are??? I thought they were dropping the PG thing when they had cheech and chong, springer, and stone cold lined up....but Vince backed the fuck up after they did their respective nights. i'm just glad hornswaggle is gone. I say let Cena follow him, let kids watch smackdown and let the big names compete with TNA, and hopefully, still fail lol

 

[16mikeytot]

Im assuming that's what they're trying to do. But look at the price it cost smackdown. Their roster get completely demolished and to make it worse they get hornswoggle and chris masters. I now have zero reason to dvr smackdown now. I think raw may be trying to feature more wrestling now.

 

[huegtoad]

i don't think so, remember, HHH is probably going to be out a while and scaling back, batista is rumored to be gone,raw needs to flight talent to hold it over, that's how i read it. RAW is the flagship, SMACKDOWN is developmental and will build stars. Christian needs to be built up, he is there, MVP needs more work to get that pop, he is there, Mysterio(who looked bad last night) is a strong hold there as is the UT, everybody else it's make it or break it time. I look for Cody Rhodes to be pushed huge, Kofi Kingston to be pushed huge as well, but with no batista and no HHH it's important for Edge and Jericho to pick up slack

 

[huegtoad]

also, i am excited smackdown is going to SYFY because my mytv channel doesn't come in in HD on my dish package for some reason, so i am quite happy, but being on cable there will be more patience and less pressure to put up huge ratings, so let the up and comers come up

 

[Captainwrestling123]

If Vince really wants RAW to be the show for adults, you first make RAW TV-14 again, draft John F***ING Cena to Smackdown because he is no longer the adult entertainer, Bring back the good matches like B N' P matches, send the Raw divas to Playboy, give Edge back the Rated-R superstar status (As he is currently the TV-14 Kiddy-King, and put him with someone like Eve or start a "I want Melina as my GF" feud with John Morrison. And put Raw on later at night so that Kid have no chance of watching it.

 

[chismo16]

Honestly when I saw how the draft was going I thought. Vince wants to destroy TNA now before it gets any momentum. How else would you explain sending everyone to Raw, and crowning new tag Champs on Raw, and having Bret on almost every show. I mean really Edge, Orton, Jericho, Cena, Batista, Sheamus, Triple H, all on the same show what else could it mean? Now all Raw needs to do is get a GM and they'll shut TNA down. (This guest host crap is getting old.) And does anything else think Kelly Kelly could be the next Diva to go?

 

[ianfromlondon]

i totally disagree with raw trying to get more adult's back into it and i dont agree that vince is wanting to beat or bring down tna and my reasons follow...

1.wwe realise they need to make new main event stars since people like undertaker and hbk went and hhh with his neck problems,so they have drafted the main guys to raw so that smackdown can be low/mid carders on raw to smackdown to give them a chance to shine, you cant be doing that if you got guys like yj2,edge orton and so on , on smackdown cause they are the main guys, this gives the guys who couldnt get a chance on raw to get some spotlight

2. the tna thing i think vince isnt worried about ,would you be if your show was getting high ratings and the other show couldnt draw more than the wwecw did before it was axed?
answer.... course you wouldnt be worried. there is nothing for vince to worry about if anything tna are the ones that are worried hence why they put their show back a hour to avoid having to go against wwe for a whole 2 hours (even if tna say a different reason) thats the real reason why they put themselfs back a hour

 

[MWRedskins]

i think what WWE is trying to do is say that RAW is the A Show by having all the Main event guys on RAW and i hope they keep it that way and maybe even build a Ted Dibiase and Miz into the Main event scene too, but i like how the draft ended up. Now on Smackdown, guys like Christian, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes and CM Punk can be top guys when on RAW they would get mid-carded or buried. On RAW, the show will likely keep the guest host deals with Jericho (and his great mic work) messing with the hosts every week and he will be a player in the main event, as will Edge, Batista, Sheamus, Orton and Cena while hopefully they build Dibiase and Miz up to that same status. RAW will now compete with TNA and with Jericho on the show and Edge, TNA may have better competition because many of the adult fans love Edge and Jericho and Orton, but have issues with Cena (whose hear for the kids). I think Smackdown will be interesting because new talents will pushed into Main Eventers.

 

[chismo16]

Vince should be worried about TNA, I'm sure when WCW first starte he wasnt worried about it and look what it became. The truth is I dont think WWE cares a whole lot about Smackdown. If they did I dont think they would put it on a channel alot of people dont get. I havent seen Smackdown since it was on The CW. I dont get my network. I was glad to hear its moving to Syfy because I actually get the channel. The truth of the matter is Vince wants to shut down TNA now, before it gets big. Its easier to stop something in the beginning then it is to try and stop something once its huge. I dont think Raw will go "Adult" again unless TNA starts getting ratings over 2.5.

 

[damz07]

I agree with some of you, who think that RAW will not go back adult. Vince makes to much money through kids, hence why he's PG and has Cena as champ for like ever, which infuriates me but thats another story. And unfortunately he'd rather make money then have us adult fans entertained. To the guy who said about Edge going back Rated R, and Bra and Panties matches etc. I would love to see this but i cant see it in the near future. I'm glad that some raw stars will be given the break on smackdown, all they miss is Cena to smackdown, and then RAW will be great again. They need a GM now, guest host is out dated already. I think they need a faction again on RAW, something big like the corporation or NWO, something that will draw the fans in to see what will happen each week with them, because if you ask me RAW and Smackdown is very predictable at the moment.

What you think guys?

 

[Y-2-Jay]

I think some of you are getting the wrong idea of this topic its not to discuss about the content being changed its about them trying to draw in the "Adult wrestling fans" while also keeping the kids. There is no need to even mention the PG rating as there is many threads to discuss that. What i want you to answer is if the WWE are trying to draw the adult fans who would like these superstars with the edge side to them. This is not to talk about the RAW content.

 

[luis_is_king]

After reading all of the replies, I found some very idiotic opinions about this situation but since its their opinion I don't have the right to blast them for it. As for the topic, I think WWE is trying to bring more adult fans to watch RAW but at the same time they're not going back to TV-14 because they're trying to rebuild the the WWE's image for the sake of Linda Mcmahon who I have read will be running for a seat in the U.S. Senate and obviously how can someone take her seriously if she has an image of someone who runs a company that is all about violence,blood,cursing and other immoral activities. So the move is not about turning RAW back to TV-14 they're just trying to make RAW the A-show and put all the main event guys there and at the same time try to get more viewers to watch RAW as for Smackdown! they're making it as sort of a developmental league where guys can be established as legit contenders before being sent to RAW since the latter is having difficulty building up it's midcard so it is only logical for Smackdown! to be the one that focuses on that task.

 

[joel9684]

At least RAW is finally free from Hornswoggle. RAW TV-14 again would be the real RAW, and not this Guest Host crap. I believe WWE made the right choice to send Jericho and Edge to the red brand, and have younger talent develop on Smackdown (TNA is playing dirty.. always mentioning WWE... ¿Ring vs Ring?)
But, in my opinion, Kelly Kelly character could have been used in a better way on RAW, if Vince wants to recapture adult audience.. by restarting her "stripper" side, in order to start giving the divas their sexy attitude they had before (remember Sable, Debra, Torrie Wilson, Trish, Lita, Candice... man, I used to enjoy watching RAW in those years..).
And I hope that a new Heel GM comes to screw the faces once again (if only Bischoff was there...), and.. perhaps.. a new heel stable.

 

[burnout4200]

Honestly I can't believe people are acting surprised by the draft. Every single year Smackdown loses all their good talent. There hasn't been one draft that wasn't lopsided towards RAW. I'm a TNA fan so it would feel good to say Vince rigged the draft so their best guys are up against Impact but I just don't believe that's the case.

I also can't say that they brought in Adult Oriented guys. CM Punk is the most adult oriented character they have on the roster and they didn't bring him to RAW. Undertaker is the most well known character to adults and they didn't bring him to RAW. They brought in like 80% of Smackdowns main eventers and the ones left behind were adult oriented as well. So when I look at it that way I honestly can't even come close to agreeing with your point.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Man, a lot of you are really hung up on the PG rating. I don't know where this idea that most of Raw's audience being kids comes from. About 63% of the WWE's viewing audience is male with more than 80% of those males being at least 18 years old. As far as the 18-49 male demographic goes, Raw generally draws around a 3.0 in that demo, meaning that well over 4 million of Raw's yearly average of 5.5 million viewers are adult males.

 

[NXTrookie2013]

well smackdown did loose some stars but nwo they'll give chances to push other stars on tv.

top stars on raw: triple h, cena, edge, jericho, batista, orton. Not to mention they also have great performers like evan bourne, john morrison and r truth. Even the heart dynasty is pretty good (atleast tyson kidd impressed me on raw last night). The Miz might fade away though unless they make good U.S title storylines. But anyways, the main event has some pretty big names

smackdowns maineventers: undertaker, rey mesterio, jack swagger, cm punk, big show. Atleast those are the former world champions of smackdown. But with kofi and christain, and even mvp moving there, maybe they wont sink into the lower midcard like on rawand possibly get pushed. Or see good ic title fueds with drew mackintyre

so for smackdown, they can try to put cm punk back in the main event scene since he does have 3 world titles to his name. big show i dont like but he has been world champion before.

okay i dont feel like talking anymore, there you go xP

 

[El Rev sXe]

well the E may not really care about this kind of sites however I do think that we arent the only ones that are comlaining about the PG and Cena etc. and Vinnie Mac just said "well its time to make everyone happy both children and adults" (not that we are ALL happy of course) and so yes! yes he is trying to appeal more adult audience.

but as someone said is also because of the fact that without HBK HHH and everyone sick of Cena vs Orton Raw needs biggers stars. I enjoy Kofi but...cmon Kofi vs Cena hmmm not a classic match

finally this draft is makins SD! CLEARLY the B show but that is going to make Kofi CM Punk and Christian main eventers wich is goig to be AWESOME!

 

[KoC417]

Man what i wouldn't give for an Edge chasing after Melina while JoMo tries to defend her "honor". Thus resulting in Edge eventually "nailing" Melina. That would make for some interesting television. I still think back to the Lita/Edge "sex scene".

But I do firmly believe WWE is trying to target "adults" to watch RAW. Vince never believed in competition and why should he. He's handled WCW & ECW (sadly) so why should he risk the possibility of another Monday Night Wars and might I add..with the EXACT SAME PERSON that nearly KILLED his company so many years ago. Targeting more adults is what WWE needs to do. Just make Raw PG-13, bring back blood, shots to the head I'm honestly a bit iffy on because sometimes they DO go wrong and I don't care who they are I don't want to see anyone get seriously injured for my entertainment because they have families they are providing for. But anyways back to the Adult fans. Making Raw more Adult friendly is the perfect way to kill TNA. Yeah they've got "Mr.TNA" R-V-D, Hogan, Abyss, Beer Money, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, Ric Flair, Orlando Jordan and MANY MANY others but there is one thing TNA doesn't have...The adult interest. I mean come on a 1.0 rating? 0.5? 0.3? With the roster of TNA that sounds to me like every one of their friends/family simply switched on their TVs to show support for their friends/family members. Hell WWE superstars watch TNA backstage too. Wonder how many of their monitors are turned to TNA during Raw.

 

[LitasRevenge79]

I really do think the reason why you have EVERYONE on RAW now is a direct firing back to TNA. I'm kinda sad that Edge and Christian aren't together. I'm a bit shocked that they didn't carry the Swagger/Orton feud and put him on SD. Now you also have Batista saying he won't leave WWE now possibly? I mean come on.... You know Vince probably buttered him up with some sweet deal, and did get him that #1 contender to sweeten the pot. I'm kinda sad they didn't at least leave Y2J on SD to have some beef with Christian. Those 2 have had great chemistry before. I'm kinda scared to see what Fridays will be now. Not that I'm sad with Taker, Kane, and CM Punk, and Christian. But there's practically NO ONE on SD now. One can only hope that people will slowly transition over maybe in between times. I do like Big Show, but really, that's about the only other big player they scored big with. You can't really expect the same few people to carry the show over and over again. Then you risk running into the old TNA thing where you had/have 50+ peeps and only like the same 3-4 people are being used for like 4 feuds etc.

 

[Papa Shango]

Well, Raw is the flagship program, and is on during a timeslot that is watched by a large portion of the 18-49 demographic. Smackdown, being on a Friday night, is watched more by "families" and kids anyway. So it just makes sense to switch it around, and get some of the more colorful, kid-friendly characters, like Hornswaggle, like Goldust, over to Smackdown. Also, RAW is live, so they wanna put out the guys who get the best live reactions. I was at RAW two weeks ago, and Jericho, Edge, and even R-Truth, got great live reactions. Honestly, I think both shows will be stronger now with the new rosters.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

Well acording to some sources, the main eventers moving to raw is temporary until smackdown moves to syfy in october. so i don't think it was to kill tna ratings, however, i think it will kill tna ratings for now. it also depends on what raw can doo now, with all these big stars, how will they book them, as for bringing in adults, they already have a large adult audience, how else do you expect kids to gt tickets to a show?