5 Ways to Fix the WWE Raw and SmackDown Ratings Slump
By Carl Gac
WWE.com
Cut Raw back to 2 hours and get rid of all the unnecessary talking every week.
Without fail, Raw starts with someone in the ring ready to talk, and the majority of the time it’s The Authority. I understand the formula that WWE wants to use, and Vince said himself on the Stone Cold podcast that he thinks the 20 minute opening segment to set up the show is needed every week to tell fans what is going to happen on the show. While I don’t have anything against this happening, it shouldn’t happen every week. It shouldn’t be the same people in the ring to start the show and it should only happen when something important needs to be said.
By cutting out the 20 minute chit-chat segment at the start of the show, plus similar that often happens in the main event slot, and eliminating some of the pointless backstage stuff in between, you could easily get the show back to two hours.
If you were to start Raw with a fast paced match or a big brawl between main-eventers, you’d hook the audience right from the get go. If you happen to turn on the channel to find Raw by chance and you see people just talking for what seems like forever, you’re more likely to turn to watch something else. If you were to turn on to see someone like Neville flying off the top rope, you’d be more likely to put the remote down and continue watching.
If you’re determined to have all the talking and backstage stuff to set up angles, why not have the first hour as the pre-show? Put the talking into one place, add the recaps of the previous weeks stuff, plus any little other bits that don’t involve in ring action, then have the two hours of Raw as just wrestling in the ring.
If you’re desperate to have three hours of fresh TV on a Monday night, why not put NXT on in the third hour? Why not give the NXT stars the chance to be introduced to a crowd that may not have access to the WWE Network? That would mean that when you actually bring the guys and girls from NXT up to the main roster more than just the fans who have the Network may know who they are, and be more invested in the characters.
Next: Reason No. 2