This was announced at the USA upfront, if I believe Twitter - weird that @USA_Network would choose to retweet others rather than break this news themselves. Oh, wait, this dude is a USA (and CLOO!) Senior VP:
Big news just announcedRAW expands to 3 hours every week July 23
I... think this is just HORRIBLE news, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. We used to get some really strange, 10+ minute matchups during those three hour Nitros...
EDIT: We'd also get the occasional wrestling-free hour as well, so...
Originally posted by John CenaSTARTING Monday Night July 23 @USA_NETWORK WILL BE ADDING A 3RD HOUR TO @WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW - PERMANENTLY.
That wording coming from Cena just makes me think that the two-hour RAW has been "compromised to a permanent end."
This should/could be the opportunity for longer matches/more exposure for the midcard talent...or just 3 Johnny Ace segments per shows and excess rigamaroo.
(edited by Spiraling_Shape on 17.5.12 1356) "Ice cream bars! Ice cream bars!" - RAW crowd, Boston, 7/11/11
EDIT: We'd also get the occasional wrestling-free hour as well, so...
Kaitlyn as Torrie Wilson and Derrick Bateman as Kevin Nash reenact "mysterious blond at shooting range, recruited to seduce David Flair for some reason"
Guess this has been known to them for a while and explains some dominos: they're not going to run four hour tapings on Mondays, so anything taped for Superstars has to be moved to Tuesday. You need superstars for Superstars, so NXT is easier to push off to Florida (while keeping the foreign NXT money.)
Originally posted by thecubsfan Kaitlyn as Torrie Wilson and Derrick Bateman as Kevin Nash reenact "mysterious blond at shooting range, recruited to seduce David Flair for some reason"
If this actually included David Flair, it would be the most awesome thing ever.
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Didn't NCIS ratings usually beat the occassional first hour of a three hour Raw done in the past? Furthermore, isn't a repeat of NCIS worth more to USA because of the ad revenue it generates? Help me out, because I don't see a real positive here.
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Originally posted by Spiraling_ShapeThis should/could be the opportunity for longer matches/more exposure for the midcard talent...or just 3 Johnny Ace segments per shows and excess rigamaroo.
God how I hope it's the former. Lord knows this will give them a perfect in-storyline opportunity to get rid of Johnny in favor of a GM who REALLY believes in People Power, wark wark.
smark/net attack Advisory System Status is: Elevated (Holds; June 18, 2006) While the switch from Cena to RVD should alleviate some complaints, the inevitability of the belt's return to Cena (note where Summerslam is this year) and the poor initial showing by the new ECW are enough to keep the indicator where it is for now. The pieces are in place, though, especially on RAW, for improvements to be made to the IWC's psyche in the near future.
I hope you like commercials with your commercials, cause the overrun five minute Rock/Cena vignettes are gonna feel like hiccups in comparison to what they'll do with an extra hour.
I think this is a pretty awful idea. They have issues a good deal of time putting on a good two hour show on a weekly basis and now adding an extra hour is just gotta stretch creative even thinner. Three hour Nitros were unmitigated disasters back when wrestling was much, much hotter and WCW you can argue had a better and deeper roster than the WWE has now. The ratings will sink to the mid 2's by going with a three hour show and they may even get even worse than those ratings once Football starts up. I mean they drew a 2.9 rating this week and has mostly been around 3.0-3.2 all year. I don't get it, but then again I didn't get it when they scheduled three PPV's within like a seven week stretch like a year or so ago.
I am going the opposite, I think its a good idea. It will probably mean the end of the brand split permanently. We will get a unified champion. We will also get some time for guys like Ryder who seem to be MIA and also longer wrestling matches. Anyone who watches MNF knows they do not start at time, so their ratings will not be as bad as people think. It also gives them time for people to get used to it before the fall hits. Also, as someone who goes to Raw, anything to open those doors faster will be great.
Having said that, I do think people will get burnt out by the 10:15 hour.
(edited by lotjx on 17.5.12 1731) The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
The thing about the 3 hour Nitros that were great was that I had no internet for a lot of it, so I could watch it through out the week. That and I was 19 and had no steady woman.
If they start a real tag division and IC division then of course it's great, but they just spent 20 or so minutes on a Big Show angle so yeah.
Hopefully Smackdown becomes a Superstars Mega Show and not Thursday Thunder.
I think it's about time WWE did something to freshen up the feel of their TV shows. The Raw/Smackdown dichotomy we currently have has been in place for ten years now.
Originally posted by lotjx We will also get some time for guys like Ryder who seem to be MIA and also longer wrestling matches.
I think you used the wrong guy in this example. People were begging for guys like Ryder to get more TV time, then when he did, he was buried. So "getting more TV time" doesn't necessarily equal "he's booked well."
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A third hour would be fine if it means they'll finally give meaningful airtime to guys like Ryder, Miz, Ziggler, McIntyre, et. al. But let's face it. They're not going to do anything like that. I remember having those exact same hopes when TNA Impact went from one hour to two hours and it was the exact same garbage, only there was an extra hour of it!
EDIT: Then again....
Originally posted by geemoneyI think you used the wrong guy in this example. People were begging for guys like Ryder to get more TV time, then when he did, he was buried. So "getting more TV time" doesn't necessarily equal "he's booked well."
Yeah...all the airtime in the world doesn't amount to squat if the booking's terrible. Ryder's a prime example of this.
(edited by It's False on 17.5.12 1733)
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EDIT: We'd also get the occasional wrestling-free hour as well, so...
Kaitlyn as Torrie Wilson and Derrick Bateman as Kevin Nash reenact "mysterious blond at shooting range, recruited to seduce David Flair for some reason"
Funny, before I got to your post, I was JUST about to link that week from Slash as not only a wrestling-free hour, but as an ARENA-free hour.
For all the hooplah about the Finger Poke of Doom, the No Limit Soldiers, Vince Russo's Arrival, or any other endless speculation about THE moment that it was clear WCW was dead, I throw this show into the mix as a dark horse contender.
3-hour RAW *would* work better with WCW's 900-man roster, because otherwise we're filling the extra hour with 5 additional replays of the opening segment, 3 extra minutes on Albert's entrance, 5 minutes too long of Santino trying to tag out to Funkasaurus, 2 extra minutes for Sheamus to fail to win over the fellas in attendance, and YOUR assurance Jack Swagger WILL be jobbing every week as opposed to his current bi-weekly schedule.
By following my model, Michael Cole could continue to win over the Internet by channeling his inner Tony Schiavone and laughing his way through a Falls Count Anywhere MEXICAN Hardcore Match.