Monday Night Raw has been the flagship show for the WWE since its debut episode back in January of 1993. Raw has been used to really add the meat and potatoes to all the storylines as they head into a major event or pay-per-piew. However lately Raw hasn’t had that same driving force to fill storylines with enough dialogue or intrigue to get us emotionally invested in many of the bouts that take place during their PPV’s.
When Raw was moved to a 3-hour format you would think it was so they could highlight some of their mid to lower mid-card talent while helping to beef up the character depth and showcasing their skills in some longer contests. With the extra hour added maybe they would be able to give a respectable amount of time to help build the credibility to their Divas division or work on an actual tag team division.
The three hour Raw has seemingly failed on all three of these phases up to this point. When a PPV comes around many times the card under the main event seems thrown together with little to no storyline going into the matches which leaves us as the fans having a hard time becoming invested in the outcome. Look at the Royal Rumble for instance. You had The Ascension go over on the New Age Outlaws after only one week of interaction. The Ascension didn’t benefit as much from this short feud because of the lack of build up leading into the event. They are a new team on the main roster scene and the match lacked any emotional connection, short of a little nostalgia towards the Outlaws. This could’ve been built up over a few Raw segments to make you want to see the Outlaws teach the Ascension about respect but they weren’t given enough time for a natural progression.
Basically, the 3-hour Raw at times feels congested with filler and at times very disorganized. WWE should be using their flagship show to help build meaningful feuds across their roster so that the fans get hooked and have a reason to keep tuning in each week. Too many times Raw has a lack of direction and feels thrown together. They should look at the model that NXT has been using. NXT goes with an “old school” style of wrestling story-telling which makes the fans want to see the pay off, that being the actual match itself. NXT does a great job at using its weekly show to build towards their live TakeOver shows. Sounds like a formula that could work. Sounds like a formula that WWE used to use for Raw. sounds like a formula they should try and rehash.
3-hours of Raw is plenty of time to highlight storylines featuring tag teams, Divas and the newer talent and it’s time to highlight everyone on the show, not just the main eventers.
At this point, it’s about holding the audience and collecting advertising royalties for the business and USA’s relationship.
There is literally always room, or time, for improvement, lol.