WWE RAW: Why the Three Hour Shows Are Dragging Too Much

When WWE announced back in May that their flagship show would be expanding to three hours, few were optimistic.

Indeed, the announcement conjured up unflattering comparisons with Nitro, WCW’s once-thriving lead show which fell apart partly due the decision to add an additional third hour (WCW had to fill up the air-time and, in true WCW fashion, filled it up with counter-productive, promoting-killing nonsense).

To make matters worse, reports leaked out that those within WWE weren’t exactly thrilled with the move either, with backstage workers apparently dreading the new format and having no faith that it would last long-term.

Three weeks into the new format, and it appears these fears were well-founded.

Oh, it hasn’t a disaster by any means. Raw is still largely watchable and hasn’t degenerated into a Nitro-level mess or anything (yet, anyway), but the show is dragging and isn’t as overall entertaining as it used to be.

One problem is how WWE has chosen to fill up the time.  

When the move was announced, it was hoped the company would use the extra time to showcase some of the under-utilized talents. You know, mid-carders like Jack Swagger, Tyson Kidd, Yoshi Tatsu, Tensai, Zack Ryder…etc. who can barely get any screen time in recent times. WWE’s long-ignored women’s division could also have benefited from the extra time.

Alas, this hasn’t exactly happened. The women and the lower-mid card guys are as ignored as ever, with the company instead choosing to fill-up airtime by giving already over-exposed talents like AJ and Triple H more time, showing endless recaps, Twitter plugs and playing sent-in Tout videos from fans.  

The recaps may be the worst. WWE, seemingly under the impression their fans have no memory of what happened the week previously, have now taken to playing video recap packages several times an episode.

Seriously, how many times have we seen that clip of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon confronting Paul Heyman, leading to Brock Lesnar coming out and instigating a brawl with Hunter on Raw 1000? Five? Six? It’s almost as if WWE are terrified that we’ll forget HHH/Brock are feuding.

Sure, these well-made, tightly edited videos may be giving WWE’s production something do, but they don’t seem to be doing the overall product any good. Indeed, for all the recaps, the Lesnar vs. HHH rivalry has become decidedly lukewarm.   

How ludicrous has the situation become? Even rebellious mid-carder Zack Ryder has poked fun at WWE’s over-reliance on them on a recent edition of his YouTube show.

While WWE have (smartly) taken to giving matches longer time, they have also taken to dragging out segments and skits to the point they wear out their welcome.

One example is the Daniel Bryan/psychiatrist storyline on Raw two weeks ago. Sure, it started out great, and Bryan is a great comedic actor, but, likely due to the three-hour time frame, the segments got dragged out way too long.   

In fairness to the WWE's beleaguered booking team, it's not all their fault. It's very possible that the company could have the greatest creative team ever assembled and they'd still struggle to make a three-hour Raw work. Three hours may simply be too much time for a wrestling show, even the biggest one in history.

Let's face facts: As the weeks go by, it increasingly looks like Raw going to three hours was an unwise, downright inept decision that will stretch the company and its resources to the breaking point, in addition to ruining the overall quality of the show .