WWE Raw: Analyzing Where the Program Could Go Past the 1000th Episode

As we emerge from Raw 1,000, speculation swirls around the future of WWE's flagship show.

In fact, lost in all the huge fuss and festivities surrounding Raw 1,000 were the questions: Well, what about Raw 1,001? Or Raw 1,002? Where can the long-running programme go from here? Will the new three-hour format add to or detract from the show?

It's not an easy question; nor do WWE seem to be in a rush to answer it. 

In fact, the company seemingly threw everything they had into the 1,000th episode and did not appear to be thinking about the future.

Let's face it, the sheer amount of star power on the show (The Rock, Brock Lesnar and DX all made appearances) virtually guaranteed it would do a monster rating. Did WWE really need to schedule the AJ/Bryan wedding (which could have been the centrepiece of a future episode of Raw down the line) onto an already packed Raw?

Additionally, The Rock's announcement that he intended to challenge for the WWE Championship at next year's Royal Rumble could have also waited for a future episode. Indeed, Rock's reveal that he was going after the title was a fairly huge deal, but on an already crammed show, came off like an afterthought.

But regardless of the wasted opportunities, what is in store for Raw in the near-future?

For one thing, the company now has a whopping three hours to fill. For any wrestling promotion, this is a daunting prospect.

Ideally more time would mean more matches, more storyline development and more air-time for under-used talents like Zack Ryder and Tyson Kid. However, as history as shown, it rarely works out this way.

In fact, partly why WCW's once-thriving flagship show Nitro floundered so badly in its final years was the three-hour format, which often led to a confusing, filler-filled show that lacked aim or direction. The bookers desperately needed to make up the time, and often did so with abysmal, counter-productive angles. 

Of course, WWE management are not nearly as disorganized or incompetent as WCW brass were in the '90s, but it remains to be seen whether or not they can make such a difficult time format work either. 

The initial indications of how WWE intend to fill the extra air-time are not terribly encouraging either.

For one thing, Diva AJ Lee has been named new Raw GM, and considering the booking team's current infatuation with her, we will no doubt be treated to segment after segment of her going about her daily business and interacting with various superstars like CM Punk and John Cena.

Some doubt that the former NXT star is as over with the fans as WWE management seem to think she is, and there is already the feeling that she may be over-exposed (the Punk/Bryan program was built largely around her, not Punk's WWE Championship, which came off like an afterthought). Plastering her all over Raw probably won't help the AJ backlash, either. 

For another thing, it seems that videos from up-and-coming social media group Tout (which WWE bought major shares in several weeks ago) will be all over the show.

Don't get me wrong, the Tout videos, in which an assortment of wrestling fans proclaim how much they love WWE and its wrestlers, aren't too awful. But they don't add anything to the show either and may quickly become a hindrance. 

Indeed, in addition to Touting, throughout the show, WWE fans are also instructed by the announcers to Tweet, go to WWE.com and visit the company's official YouTube and Facebook pages. All at the same time, presumably.

WWE executive Stephanie McMahon explained WWE's new-found obsession with social media to Variety, explaining that the company feels that it keeps fans busy during the show, making them far more unlikely to get bored and change the channel.

There's some logical thinking there, for sure, but they are also over-doing it: Fans tune in to Raw because they want to watch a wrestling programme, not a social media variety show.

Indeed, the constant bombardment of social media is fast becoming an irritant and a distraction from the overall show. If this is what WWE has up their sleeves for the next 1,000 episodes...well, that's not good at all.