Examining the Effectiveness of WWE's 'Halftime' Strategy on Raw

WWE tore apart and pasted together the typical arc of Raw in an attempt to draw fans in during halftime of Monday Night Football. The result was a Frankenstein-like show, pieced together and hard to watch.

The strategy earned its share of ridicule.

Raw's unsatisfying ending deserves much of the blame for that. Even with its flaws, though, there are some reasons for Vince McMahon and Company to revisit a version of it again.

When John Cena told Paul Heyman that he had until "halftime" to produce Brock Lesnar, many fans assumed he meant the halfway point of the show. When that passed, it became clear that this was a reference to halftime in the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Philadelphia Eagles.

PWInsider's Mike Johnson confirmed that. He reported, "WWE sources stated that the segment was placed where it was specifically in an attempt to get fans to watch during the halftime of last night's NFL broadcast."

The method reminded fans of when WWE put on Halftime Heat during the break in the action of Super Bowl XXXIII.

The Empty Arena match between The Rock and Mankind featured elements worthy of applause and others that made one cringe. Pulling out that approach once more proved to be another mixed bag. 

Positives

During a standard edition of Raw, there is typically a big angle to open the show and a major segment or marquee match to cap things off.

It's in between those two peaks that the show tends to drag. That's when WWE throws in its comedy acts or has some midcarders with no story face off. It's easy to lose interest by the time it's 8:30 p.m. ET. 

On Monday's Raw, fans instead witnessed the world champ and the No. 1 contender brawl before their match at Night of Champions.

It was one of the few highlights of a letdown of a show. Making sure to put something enticing in the middle of Raw like that helps give it a climax before the climax. Knowing that a moment like this is coming will keep a number of fans tuned in when they would normally be tempted to drift to other channels.

Cena's challenge to Heyman to locate Lesnar or else suffer a beating provided a ticking clock for the first half of the show as well. Normally, there's no particular reason to look forward to the show's halfway point. This time, Cena's warning allowed anticipation to build. Would Lesnar show up in time? Would Heyman get his clock cleaned?

WWE can't go this same route each week, but having that time constraint creates suspense. It creates stakes in the story. Heyman's struggle to bring his beast into the arena was something WWE could return to throughout the show.

It did so by showing Cena lock Heyman in a dressing room and later having The Great Khali guard the door.

Having the headliners go on early also allows for other stars to take the main event spot. That means that emerging talent doesn't always have to play second banana to the megastars on the roster. It's a chance for change, creativity and opportunity.

Unfortunately, it also invites fans to bail on Raw before it's done.

Negatives

With the halftime strategy, WWE essentially told fans on Monday's Raw that if they are going to flip over to see what unfolds between the Eagles and the Colts that they should return to Raw when the teams break. It almost feels as if the company is surrendering to the goliath that is the NFL.

Isn't the goal to be so entertaining that viewers don't even care that there's a game on elsewhere?

Give them lazy storytelling, as was the case with the AJ Lee and Paige feud or The Wyatt Family being pushed around again, and of course they will go seeking entertainment on the gridiron. 

As Lance Storm tweeted, it's a bizarre choice to encourage folks to go watch the NFL:

Another issue is that if WWE does manage to snag a few fans away from the game with something like Lesnar and Cena swinging fists, Raw then offered little reason to stick around. Sewage like Cameron vs. Naomi and nearly exact replicas of last week's SmackDown matches like Dolph Ziggler and R-Truth's win aren't going to keep people around. 

Halftime is not at the same time each week, either. Raw can't be waiting around for the second quarter to finish before it delivers its big middle-of-the-show segment.

On Monday, it felt as if WWE had asked Sheamus, The Usos, Cesaro and the Rhodes Brothers to stall until halftime arrived. There was little urgency to their match.

If fans begin to sense that something is just filler, they will be turned off.

WWE is better off planning out its own show, putting great stuff throughout and rewarding anybody who steps away from Monday Night Football with reliably thrilling fare. Waiting around for the NFL is bush-league. 

The clearest argument against building Raw around an NFL game's halftime was the ending of what was supposed to be a go-home show. Normally, the featured angle on Monday's Raw would have been Cena and Lesnar. Instead, it was Mark Henry saying the Pledge of Allegiance, of all things, and fighting Rusev.

Two midcarders butting heads like that has to rank as one of the least fulfilling endings to Raw.

It was a fine segment, but not good enough to be the main course. If WWE is going to revisit this approach, it has to plug in something different for the show's final bang. A huge return, a major development in a feud or a tremendous match belongs in that spot, not standard, Lana-versus-the-U.S. fare.

Done right, WWE's halftime strategy has a number of benefits. It just has too many flaws to be viable. 

Raw's narrative issues aren't going to be fixed by gimmicks like that but by improved storytelling. That method doesn't require waiting around for anyone.