**MERGED** All July 23rd Raw Changes - Keep it all in here!

[WWEIsLife2]

Im fine with it and like someone said its not WCW. Nitro when it went to three hours had too much nWo on it and long winded Promos from Hogan/Bischoff every week. We get more Wrestling,the PPVs get pumped more,and more of the Superstars can get on. So lets see how it works before we bash the idea.

 

[SaveUsCMPunk]

Well it's great for the under-showcased talent (Assuming they get utilized) and the people that absolutely love every single Raw that airs. Personally, I haven't found that many of the 3 hr Raws that have been going on since 2005 to be extremely memorable. IMO, some of them have been kind of hard to sit through. (Usually the Slammy Awards.) I really wish they had 3 hr Raws during the Attitude Era when the product was "can't miss." I always got excited for Raw during those years.

 

[bittermang]

On the one hand, they really do need more time to put the spotlight on building up their mid card. But on the other hand that's because they burn a lot of time with recaps from stuff that happened on the same episode, stuff from last week, stuff from Smackdown, "Did you know?! WWE was the highest rated program in like evar!" bumps, and spotlights on their Be A Star and Make a Wish campaigns. Not that any of that stuff needs to be cut entirely, but it just seems like there's a bit much of it some weeks. Three hours is a lot of programming, though.

That said, I have to take issue with this from their press release:

marks the 1000th episode of the WWE Raw franchise and a television record – no other series has ever reached this milestone

The soap opera Guiding Light ran for over 15,000 episodes, from 1957 to 2009 and is accepted as the longest running non news program on American television. Likewise, As the World Turns had over 13,000 episodes, ending in 2010. General Hospital has 12,561 episodes and is still running. Game shows also outclass Raw as well, with series like the Price is Right weighing in at over 7,500 episodes.

Now I suppose you could hand wave and say, "But those are soaps and game shows! Those don't count!" To which I would have to ask just what WWE programming is comparing itself to. People have often equated wrestling to a kind of soap opera for adult males, due to their long running themes, characters, and amnesia for continuity. Their own statement says "television record" and "series", but the facts run counter to it.

 

[bittermang]

Weekly episode programming....Not everyday soap operas not Tv shows...Weekly.Like normal series....
Ok now?

I suppose. But Sesame Street is like a normal series with seasons and doesn't run a new episode every day. They're over 4,000 episodes. But they're on public TV and not cable, so I suppose that's the next "gotcha"

It just seems like they're creating a hyper specific niche of prequalifiers for what makes their thousand episode run so historic and unprecedented, when there have in fact been a few dozen series in various types of television formats to have gone well over the 1k mark.

That they've entered that tier is historic enough on its own, without trying to claim they're the only ones to do it ever, as long as you don't count these guys, or these ones, or these shows either.

 

[Syborgg]

The biggest reason I don't like this move is that usually when WWE throws us a "Special 3-hour" Raw, I watch with a little more intrigue expecting something good to happen. For example Nexus happened on a 3-hour Raw. The other drawback might be that even more people will stop watching Smackdown! When you are adding an extra hour and all the SD stars are on Raw anyway, what would be the point of watching SD unless you have nothing else to do on a Friday night.

Now with all that said, WWE could take advantage of this and really dive into building the Tag division or start creating meaningfull storylines around the mid-card titles. I remember back when guys like Angle, Eddie, Jericho etc. had fueds for mid-card titles and they all seemed to be interesting and emotionally charged. Maybe an extra hour will help this, maybe it won't. It all depends on what WWE creative has planned for that extra time.

 

[Danielson_Gr]

I suppose. But Sesame Street is like a normal series with seasons and doesn't run a new episode every day. They're over 4,000 episodes. But they're on public TV and not cable, so I suppose that's the next "gotcha"

It just seems like they're creating a hyper specific niche of prequalifiers for what makes their thousand episode run so historic and unprecedented, when there have in fact been a few dozen series in various types of television formats to have gone well over the 1k mark.

That they've entered that tier is historic enough on its own, without trying to claim they're the only ones to do it ever, as long as you don't count these guys, or these ones, or these shows either.

Before you post anything at least do a google search....
Sesame Street was an everyday show in the past.It was not weekly.Maybe is weekly now.I don't leave in US so i don't know.
So this is not your next gotcha.

WWE Raw is indeed the longest running weekly episodic show at least in the US.

 

[Syborgg]

Before you post anything at least do a google search....
Sesame Street was an everyday show in the past.It was not weekly.Maybe is weekly now.I don't leave in US so i don't know.
So this is not your next gotcha.

WWE Raw is indeed the longest running weekly episodic show at least in the US.

Longest running is wrong. Most episodes yes, but the fact is The Simpsons started running half-hour episodes in 1989, while Raw started in 1993. Raw has more episodes because they don't have an off-season, but in terms of years on the air, they are not the longest running series. It always bugs me when Michael Cole brings this up.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I personally think that this is a great move. A third hour means more wrestling, promos, and segments. The guys who never make onscreen on Raw will now have better odds. They will be able to devote time weekly to each division rather than just the world title. This is an opportunity to build up the midcard, the tag teams, and even the divas!

There are always those who complain. Anyone who does not want Raw to get a third hour, no one is forcing you to watch the whole thing. You can turn it off if you get tired of watching.... Or better yet.... Record it and then fast forward past parts you are not interested in, I guarantee you will find something to skip and then it won't be a full three hours.

As for Smackdown potentially getting even less viewers for reasons such as "everyone is on Raw already" or "I would rather go out on friday than watch tv", are those not both already the case? This is a great move and one they should have made a long time ago because PPV matches can be better hyped and each division can receive more onscreen attention.

 

[PlayTheGame]

I personally think that this is a great move. A third hour means more wrestling, promos, and segments. The guys who never make onscreen on Raw will now have better odds. They will be able to devote time weekly to each division rather than just the world title. This is an opportunity to build up the midcard, the tag teams, and even the divas!

There are always those who complain. Anyone who does not want Raw to get a third hour, no one is forcing you to watch the whole thing. You can turn it off if you get tired of watching.... Or better yet.... Record it and then fast forward past parts you are not interested in, I guarantee you will find something to skip and then it won't be a full three hours.

As for Smackdown potentially getting even less viewers for reasons such as "everyone is on Raw already" or "I would rather go out on friday than watch tv", are those not both already the case? This is a great move and one they should have made a long time ago because PPV matches can be better hyped and each division can receive more onscreen attention.

I'm with you. As a fan, I don't mind another hour getting added to Raw every week. It's just more to watch. I'm hoping they spend some of that extra hour not necessarily adding too many more segments, but just elongating important segments. Allow matches to run 5 minutes longer. Allow promos to have more depth and length to them. Really allow things to play out instead of rushing them. Then, with the left over time, add additional segments in. If they can generally follow that format, I think it'll work.

Raw's been 2 hours for what seems like forever now. I'm surprised it took them this long to take this next step. For a while, I figured they had just decided not to go to 3 hours. But now they have finally taken the step. WCW was 3 hours back in the 90's, so I'm surprised it's taken until 2012 for another wrestling show to go to the 3-hour mark. I'm excited for this, let's see how it plays out before judging it either way.

Adding an hour to any show should, in theory, be beneficial. It's just a matter of how well or how poorly they manage this extra time.

 

[DirtyD79]

It depends just what we'll be getting with that extra hour. If it means more, better, and longer matches I'm all for it. But if it's going to be filler like more longwinded promos and more lame backstage skits, then no.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, haven't read through all the responses, but I read a little while ago that Raw will also be "interactive" beginning with the 1,000th episode of Raw.

I'm not sure what "interactive" means exactly, but I have a feeling that it's going to be similar to the Cyber Sunday/Viewer's Choice thing where fans will vote on matches, stipulations, etc. This could be good or it could be bad. On one hand, I don't really expect WWE to turn over any real power to the fans as they'll simply do what they want despite what the votes might show. As long as they're able to give a realistic impression that the fans' votes do hold sway, then they might be able to keep people's attention with it. On the other, this has potential disaster written all over it. The last Viewer's Choice Raw flat out sucked as there was just all kinds of nonsense matches and stipulations for the fans to "vote" on like dance offs, over the top rope challenges, body slam challenges, etc.

I suspect, however, that WWE isn't going to go that route because that's just really going to kill interest in the concept right from the start. Oh they'll probably go the silly route on occassion, like maybe with segments/matches featuring Brodus Clay or Santino Marella or some of the Divas sometimes, but I see it being something of a rarity and an exception rather than the rule. At least, I hope that's going to be the case othewise. Over the past few years, WWE has moved away from the sillyness & corny comedy skits that really dogged the product in 2009 especially. Some of it will pop up every once in a while, like what happened with the Muppets, but it hasn't been anything remotely resembling the barrage of pointless comedic filler that it once was.

At any rate, WWE has a real chance of getting this off on the right foot if they make the 1,000th episode come off like an epic happening.

 

[DannyDirtz]

Im not happy with this simply because i dont think there are enough superstars to fill the slot. I havent really liked the changes since it became "RAW supershow" , horrible title , it should always have stayed as "Monday night RAW" or just "RAW". Anyway back on topic , over the last few weeks the 2 hour shows have just dragged with pointless storylines and recapping (IMO). If you look back at last weeks show and watch the crowd then you ill even see the kids looking bored and yawning non stop.

 

[PlayTheGameHHH]

What a joke, how the hell are they going to pull this off? They can't even do a decent 2 hour show!

Oh, and to everybody who thinks that we're going to see all the underutilized talent now, don't make me laugh! All we'll see is the same crap with a few extra promos showing us what a great guy John Cena is.

Stupid decision.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

I think this COULD be a great move, depending on what they plan on doing with the extra time. If they use it to give the younger, up and coming guys, more face time, then it's a great idea. However, if they use if for non-sense (Santino, Broadus Clay, Hornswoggle, etc) then it's pointless.

The "interactive" aspect of sounds good on paper but I'm just not sure if they'll be able to make it work long term or if it will get stale after a few weeks.

With the addition of this new hour on a regular basis, again we have to ask the question, are we slowly seeing the end of the brand split? If you have a 3 hour RAW on Monday, do you really need Smackdown?

 

[boywithbluehanger]

I'm not too crazy about this. I find myself dozing off during RAW a bit more lately. So much so that I often just skip it and watch it at work on youtube the next day. I can't imagine 3 hours of their whole 15min in-ring storyline segment, match, re-cap, match, video package, backstage vignette, match, in-ring storyline segment w/ alluding to a pay-per view, divas match, video package, filler match etc etc etc.

So as we know, it's already an uphill battle trying to make things interesting as it is with a 2 hour show!! I'll check it out the first go around. But my expectations are quite low.

 

[RD_21]

That's really not a good idea. Most of the people already felle burned when we hear that WWE is doing a 3rd hour show on a said week. There's just too much wrestling on TV and I would be okay for a 3 hour show if Smackdown didn't exist (well it almost doesn't exist for me anyway as I don't watch Smackdown on a regular basis but still).

Like I said I would like a 3 hour show if Smackdown wasn't around, but 3 hours every monday night may make me stop watching or DVR it even more and just skip everything.

3 hours on a monday night, especially when it's 9 PM to 12AM here in Canada is not a good fit for a lot of people schedule.

We'll see how it plays out, but personally I don't like it. Maybe if The Scores would stop showing lame horse race from 8 to 9 and put Raw there and maybe if from 8 to 9 it was a different concept, like luchador or NXT. But 3 hours just seem to much for me.

 

[MrRusso]

I think there are pros and cons to the expansion:

Pros:
1. More time to develop new stars. This is something that WWE needs to do and do it quickly. Hopefully the new hour will give guys that have been running in place for the last few years (Ziggler, Kingston, Truth, DiBiase, Swagger) more time and propel them to the next level.

2. Longer matches. Perhaps mid card matches will get more than 4-8 minutes on TV every week. For me, the more wrestling the better.

3. More time for specialty divisions. This hour may give more time for better storylines in the Divas and Tag Team divisions. Both are EXTREMELY irrelevant at the moment.

Cons:
1. Devaluing Smackdown. As if Smackdown wasn't already branded as the B show it is now definitely going to be viewed as such. Not good for the World Heavyweight Title and the SD ratings.

2. Devaluing PPVs. There isn't much these days that makes PPVs seem special. The fact that they were 3 hours and the TV shows were just 2 was one of the last things that made the monthly events stand out. Now thats out the window.

3. Oversaturation. As if six hours of first run WWE programming wasn't enough (9 on PPV weeks) now we have 7. WWE creative needs to come up with new ways to keep guys fresh while keeping the ratings afloat. Not an easy task.

 

[TLK]

Well, with the new information that the 3-hour Raws will be "interactive," I'm a little more skeptical. The interactive shows (Raw Roulette, Taboo Tuesday, Cyber Sunday) are pretty bogus, as the script continues as planned regardless of what we text/tweet/email/etc. The results are so painfully obvious that it's not only an insult to our intelligence, but it doesn't make for captivating programming. I hope that this will be a revolutionized version of the interactive shows they've done in the past. If they truly are open to hearing the voices of their audience, great. If it's going to be the same old "interactive" crap they usually run with, I may have to jump off the "YAY, Extra Hour!" ship.

 

[WRESTLING_GENIUS]

So im sure everyone heard about the 3 hour Raw move starting next month, but even bigger news is now the whole show will be interactive. The article posted on wwe.com states that VKM himself want he viewers to not only watch the matches, but CREATE THEM!!!!!.....

Now i hope he really means what i think and that the WWE Universe will be in control of the actual card, kinda playing Booky for the night..... So I want everyone's thoughts on what this NEWS can actually means? Will You participate in this format? And Do you think this idea will last or it'll be around for the summer only?

 

[MoxViolence]

i can dig it. more wrestling is always good when you're a fan. more...WRESTLING though. not more time for promos. imo fans being interactive with raw and deciding matches and such is a bad move. id rather just sit back and watch the show. id rather know that they made a ladder match because the writers wanted it that way...not the fans deciding. gotta be nerve racking if youre a wrestler. maybe im looking to far into it. BUT I HOPE THIS ISNT THE "REVOLUTION" THATS COMING. dean ambrose ftw yes yes yes lol

 

[DannyDirtz]

the second i saw "interactive" it just reminds me thats its not really and that regardless on what we want.....we wont get it unless its what they have already scripted.

As for the 3rd hour being added , lets face it people , RAW currently isnt even good enough for 2 hours. With this current creative team it would be a surprise if they didnt lose any viewers over a 1hr long broadcast.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Like a lot of people, I'm simultaneously skeptical & optimistic. This could end up being a good thing or a terrible thing, depending upon what WWE does with this. In order for it to be successful, I do think that WWE will have to make a few changes and try to avoid certain aspects.

I enjoy Raw but even the most hardcore WWE fan has to acknowledge, just as with any other wrestling show from any different company, that there are some stuff that's put on Raw just to take up some air time. Too much filler can completely drag down a show, especially if it's a three hour show. I don't think pointless 30 second Diva matches or 2 minute matches that don't really accomplish all that much are going to keep people from flipping the channel. There's an opportunity here to make matches longer and to generally give more guys who both need and deserve the tv time more of it.

Like a lot of people, I'm hoping for the best. I've been reading on a few sites, such as prowrestling.net and Jason Powell's opinion on this. I like the site and I like reading some of the opinions of the writers but I have to call bullshit on some of his comments. Unfortunately, and this is something I see soooooo much of from wrestling site writers, Powell has already made up his mind to dislike the idea and condemn it without giving it a chance. He acknowledges that some fans are excited as this could mean longer matches and all that but calls those fans the minority. On that especially, I call bullshit. The internet smarks, dirtsheet writers and armchair bookers that populate the internet are the minority. It's been shown time and time again, otherwise WWE probably would've been out of business a long time ago. As fans who happen to gather on the internet to the point where we're considered to be "internet fans", we sometimes tend to forget that we don't make up the majority of pro wrestling's audience. For all the complaints and general criticisms, and there are a LOT of them, the IWC makes up only a very small percentage of wrestling's audience. If the WWE product was anywhere as close to as bad as the dirtsheet writers and some smarks make it out to be, then I fail to see how Raw continues to be among the most watched shows on cable television, week in & week out, throughout the given year. Of course, it's predictions of doom & gloom whenever Raw pulls a rating that's subpar for it, but the fact remains that viewers are there. If the WWE product was that bad, honestly, how could WrestleMania have pulled 1.3 million buys?

 

[TLK]

Well I think we can rule Mania as extraneous info because a) Mania always draws high, and b) Rock/Cena was promoted for a year.

That doesn't mean that the current product isn't bad. Just because people watch, doesn't necessarily make the product good. I think post-Extreme Rules WWE has been atrocious, yet I still watch every week. I don't think we can make a strong enough connection between product quality and ratings, but if we were forced to, if anything, recent Raw ratings seem to indicate that the product is on the decline.

 

[#heel420]

Hopefully we'll get more action and less filler bullshit like we get with the 3 hour Raw specials. Those are sometimes painful to watch. As long as there are NO over the top rope challenge or dance off matches I'm all for it. Their is now another hour of prime TV time to get young talent over. WWE needs to start creating young stars if they want to keep Raw at 3 hours. Were only gonna have Cena & Orton for a few more years. Kane & Big Show probably have a couple years left as full time talent. Young talent needs to step up their game to prove they can carry the company when the Main Eventers of today step down. And the writer's need to actually live up to their job titles and be creative.

 

[Edge=GOD]

Really unsure on the whole idea!

Don't get me wrong, if anyone can pull it off it's WWE but I feel like the 2 hours we get now is 60-65%, maybe even 70%, Nonwrestling - Promos, ect. Will this change when Raw goes to 3 hours? I hope so, if they give us 2 hours of promos ect I'll be pissed. If it's 2 hours of wrestling then it's win win for everyone and hopefully the diva's matches last longer than 40 seconds.

As for TNA going live, I don't know how that effects them as Raw live is 2am for me .. Does this mean Raw will be starting 1 hour earlier? If so I assume TNA runs in that hour?