A Solution to the 3 Hour Raw Quandary

[Brickstone Kid]

I think even WWE would acknowledge that these three hour shows are exhausting. But obviously they're making more money this way, so they probably aren't going away any time soon.

So how about this idea: turn the first hour into a Woman's only brand. With all the women they're bringing up for the rumble, they have more than enough women to fill their own show. Give them a pair of tag belts and female commentators, a legend as GM, etc. Different graphics, different ropes. Differentiate it from Raw as much as you can so that it feels like you're turning in to watch a different show than just three hours of the same.

Of course male wrestlers can appear on the show and the women can still appear on Raw/Smackdown. I'd actually prefer more relationship storylines and hope they are heading this way with the Mixed tag matches. Who wouldn't want to watch bad boy Elias toy with Bayley's fragile heart, leading to her inevitable heel turn as a baddie drifter groupie?

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

The thing about that is, much like with the Cruiserweights, as much progress as there's been with women's wrestling, if you make it clear this is a separate thing, people will use it as an excuse to switch off because it's not RAW, it's a different thing so it doesn't "count".

Maybe have a format for each hour, 40 minutes for women, 20 for male singles wrestlers 1 hour, 40 for cruiserweights then second hour, 40 for Tag Teams in the 3rd, swap the hours around somewhere so it doesn't get too stale.

[JCBaggee]

I mean, you could just book it like that and not tell anyone that's how you're booking. The problem with three hour Raws isn't the divisions, it's the quality of the product.

[Deleted]

The big issue with that sort of thing is it's treating the women like a weird spinoff thing instead of equal. If you shove them off in their own little ghetto with their own graphics and commentators and such it's basically like you're saying, "Yeah, none of this matters to the actual show."

[Jedi-El of Tomorrow]

Would USA be okay with it?

They want 3 hours of Raw. Doing one or two CW matches is alright, because it's still 3 hours of Raw, but turning the first hour into something else, probably wouldn't be cool with USA.

[AlexaBliss4Life]

Jan 3, 2018 1:43:48 GMT -5 Brickstone Kid said:

I think even WWE would acknowledge that these three hour shows are exhausting. But obviously they're making more money this way, so they probably aren't going away any time soon.

So how about this idea: turn the first hour into a Woman's only brand. With all the women they're bringing up for the rumble, they have more than enough women to fill their own show. Give them a pair of tag belts and female commentators, a legend as GM, etc. Different graphics, different ropes. Differentiate it from Raw as much as you can so that it feels like you're turning in to watch a different show than just three hours of the same.

Of course male wrestlers can appear on the show and the women can still appear on Raw/Smackdown. I'd actually prefer more relationship storylines and hope they are heading this way with the Mixed tag matches. Who wouldn't want to watch bad boy Elias toy with Bayley's fragile heart, leading to her inevitable heel turn as a baddie drifter groupie?

Bayley would never turn heel anyway.

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

Jan 3, 2018 2:20:41 GMT -5 Jedi-El of Tomorrow said:

Would USA be okay with it?

They want 3 hours of Raw. Doing one or two CW matches is alright, because it's still 3 hours of Raw, but turning the first hour into something else, probably wouldn't be cool with USA.

This. There's no way USA would be okay with doing that. They want 3 hours of Raw, not 2 hours of Raw and 1 hour of different WWE show. There would absolutely be a drop in the ratings with this as well I imagine.

[TGM]

Cancel Raw.

[IMPRESSIVE knightwing1047]

I'd condense it to a 2-ish hour show very quietly.

The first 20 minutes (give or take) would be a pregame/hype show. Analysis, recap, interview, run-down of tonight's card and why it's important

Raw for two hours, maybe a little overrun

30 minute post-show like Raw Talk (but remain flexible, maybe have a match every now and then too)

It would give it a very "sports feel" and it would appear different than Smackdown Live.

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

I don't know, if you change things you throw off the delicate balance that RAW has where it is feels both overly long and completely rushed.

[Fade]

I would just skip the first hour. Which means RAWs back to two hours for me. So yay!

[Rican]

I'd be into it but you'd have to be careful. I think one hour is ideal for wrestling shows, so RAW and SmackDown both adopting a model where each hour focuses on a different division might help things flow better and feel a little fresher. It would have to be a fluid thing though, where one week hour 1 is the women, next week hour 2 is, etc. USA still might not go for it though.

[nisidhe]

The solution to Raw's woes will come with time and a changing of the guard, if not with sheer desperation over losing market share to the likes of New Japan, ROH and/or, dare I suggest it, Impact.

[cassonova]

Assuming we're playing by the rules and aren't allowed to cut an hour or two, the problem with Raw mostly appears to be it's writing. I don't think you can totally change the presentation without it taking a hit. No offense intended, but if chunks of Raw were to become a full blown recap show or even Raw Talk, I think the average viewer will change the channel. Whereas, a new "show" could be interesting, I don't think USA would want something that's not Raw. Let's face it, if USA wanted not Raw, they would have got, not Raw.

The real issue is the writing. At this moment, it seems that the writers are unable to be consistent for three hours. With the pushing of things that people seem to hate (Roman, Jason Jordan) for large chunks of the show, or the misuse of talent (205 is pretty bland, the whole roster not being used), keep the show from being compelling from start to finish. Do not get me wrong though...I don't envy their position, nor would I refuse the garbage truck of cash sent my way to make my show three hours. This is the boiled down fact of the matter. A matter I don't see changing until there is certifiable, tangible competition for the WWE.

[Rican]

Honestly, I feel like the WWE as a whole would benefit from only having one weekly show with one roster. Two shows made sense during the Attitude Era but now there's so much content and airtime to fill it gets so repetitive and nothing feels important. If RAW was the only show and they booked it like the NXT weekly shows where not everyone shows up every week, it would let them build stuff up better and prevent things getting too stale. I know they're too reliant on the TV money to do it but I wish they would just condense the roster and cancel SmackDown, honestly.

[Susan "Poison" Candy]

More matches and less talking. Hell I remember in 2000-2001 Raw would have up to 8-10 matches and still fill a 2 hour slot where it looked like everyone got time to shine. Sure each match had 10 mins or less, maybe more for a more important match but back then the backstage segments were just as good as the action in the ring. Now RAW has 3 hours, 5-7 matches a show, and each match goes on for almost 20 mins with your obvious squash matches in between but having your matches be stretched out and your backstage/promo segments being just as long and tedious as the rest of the show it's harder to be invested.

I want more matches so that everyone gets a chance to shine, even if that match is only 3-5 mins long and LESS TALKING.

[A Platypus Rave is Correct]

Jan 3, 2018 10:18:53 GMT -5 IMPRESSIVE knightwing1047 said:

I'd condense it to a 2-ish hour show very quietly.

The first 20 minutes (give or take) would be a pregame/hype show. Analysis, recap, interview, run-down of tonight's card and why it's important

Raw for two hours, maybe a little overrun

30 minute post-show like Raw Talk (but remain flexible, maybe have a match every now and then too)

It would give it a very "sports feel" and it would appear different than Smackdown Live.

It's USA that want's the three hours and it's part of WWe's deal to give USA 3 hours.

They can't just condense it to 2.

[Hit Girl]

It won't work.

They should cut RAW to two hours. It won't improve the shitty booking, but it will spare the viewers an extra hour of shit.