Joey Joe Joe Jr Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 They haven't bombed as much as I would have expected with three hours. If they went back to 2 hours, the shows would be very enjoyable I think. I just think 3 hours of any weekly TV show is completely nuts. 3 HOURS! And that would be too much for a show that didn't have additional shows to it, I feel. That feeling when I'm already looking at the clock, and I see there is still 2 1/2 hours left is awful. Â Continuing to change up the format like they have, rather than have the same match-segment-match they've been doing for years has been a good move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBigBoot Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 For me it's nothing more than three hours being far too much a slog to get through. Far, far, far too long. Â That is the reason. Even if the product was great, I don't think ANY wrestling show should be 3 hrs every week. WCW couldn't do it and that was with one of the best rosters of all time. In fact, I'm not sure any promotion ever that could have pulled it off. Â And yes, the product isn't great. The quality of Raw itself had been up and down for years and when it was bad you could go through weeks where the old two hours were a drag to get through. But the extra hour really makes a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperordalek Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 For me they'd have to get rid of the extra hour. I have to admit I only watch about 1 in 3 and that's after I've checked the net to see if its worth bothering about. When I do watch its via recording so skip through most of it. Â Trouble is there are only one or two story lines running with the rest of the card just thrown in. I've no interest in the Diva's, they just got rid of the best female wrestler in Beth the rest of them just look good but cannot put on a match to save their lives. Â The problem as well is that its the same matches over and over, with everything revolving around Cena. Punk might be champion but hes only keeping it warm so to speak. With the same matches week after week leading to the same match again at a PPV with next to no payoff its hardly surprising they're losing ratings. Â Less PPV's (8 a year MAX), grittier storylines with a final payoff. And a story line for 90% of the show not just the last hour might just make me watch more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SpursRiot2012 Posted December 17, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted December 17, 2012 Push the cruisers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinc Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Like most others - either my old favourites coming back full time or something catching fire over night, like Punk suddenly being the best wrestler of all time for three weeks last year before he bottled it. From the outside looking in a couple of things they've done recently look half-decent, namely The Shield and Ryback, but three hours is a prohibitive amount of television to try to catch up with through the week. This Ambrose chap looks like a can't miss main eventer, but he's got a decision to make about his hairline sooner than I'm sure he'd like. Continuing to change up the format like they have, rather than have the same match-segment-match they've been doing for years has been a good move.I haven't been watching the shows every week since around the time Heyman and Punk got together, but I keep seeing people mention that they've been alternating the format away from match-segment-match. How exactly have they been doing this? What can a wrestling company do that is neither a match nor a segment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted December 17, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted December 17, 2012 They haven't bombed as much as I would have expected with three hours.This is the worst run of viewership in the last 20 years for wrestling on Monday Nights. How much more did you expect them to bomb? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 For me they'd have to get rid of the extra hour. I have to admit I only watch about 1 in 3 and that's after I've checked the net to see if its worth bothering about.If you've already looked at the results, none of it is worth bothering about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Statto Posted December 17, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted December 17, 2012 I've come to realise that since Raw went 3 hours, I've effectively stopped watching wrestling matches.There's now so God damn much of the show that in order to get through it (both due to time constraints and boredom) that I watch promos to get the gist of them, introductions to see who's wrestling each other, then fast-forward to the finish to see who wins. And because there's so much other wrestling TV, I find myself doing it on Smackdown, Impact, Superstars and TNA ppv's. The only matches I ever watch now are on NXT, for some reason, or when WWE give us a ppv for free.It really has become an athletic soap opera for men for me, except it's mostly a soap opera for kids, and I skip the athletic bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vamp Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 If you've already looked at the results, none of it is worth bothering about.Yeah, a thousand times this. You're not going to care that much if you already know what's going to happen. People always talk about wrestling beinh at its best when its unpredictable, which really is code for "when I wasn't reading spoilers". If you're not watching then reading what's going on makes sense in case you want to dive in, but from then on you don't want to carry on reading spoilers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I've come to realise that since Raw went 3 hours, I've effectively stopped watching wrestling matches.There's now so God damn much of the show that in order to get through it (both due to time constraints and boredom) that I watch promos to get the gist of them, introductions to see who's wrestling each other, then fast-forward to the finish to see who wins.I do that with Smackdown most weeks (unless I'm doing something else anyway and just leave it on in the background), and on the weeks where I don't stay up to watch Raw, I do it with that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted December 18, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted December 18, 2012 I'm guilty of doing that too. It's a shame really. I think that's why I enjoy the PPV shows so much more than the TV these days, I actually watch the wrestling on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew "the ref" coyne Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I've come to realise that since Raw went 3 hours, I've effectively stopped watching wrestling matches. There's now so God damn much of the show that in order to get through it (both due to time constraints and boredom) that I watch promos to get the gist of them, introductions to see who's wrestling each other, then fast-forward to the finish to see who wins. And because there's so much other wrestling TV, I find myself doing it on Smackdown, Impact, Superstars and TNA ppv's. The only matches I ever watch now are on NXT, for some reason, or when WWE give us a ppv for free.  It really has become an athletic soap opera for men for me, except it's mostly a soap opera for kids, and I skip the athletic bit.  Interesting in that my viewing habits have become similar to yours.  I struggle to watch television as it is, so the only time I watch WWE is when I flick on the TV and it just happens to be on. I just can't dedicate 7 hours a week to watch Raw, Smackdown & TNA Impact.  Now however what I do is simply watch the highlights on WWE.com or Youtube. In essense every Tuesday, Friday & Saturday I get up, watch the highlights from WWE / TNA and then watch the PPVs if I have the capability to do so (i.e. I'm not working or if its on at my local Aussie cinema). So for me its not so much I've stopped watching, I just absorb the product in a completely different way.  Fact is, viewing habits have changed massively in the last several years. Which is why it's so unfair to compare modern ratings to ratings from 15 years ago. We've become multi-media, fast moving, on demand consumers.  So to me its not so much how WWE can recapture the audience, but rather how to best change their product offering to take advantage of the change in viewing habits. They're getting there (Youtube shows, interactive apps, social media, view PPVs online), but I still think on demand, pay-per-match models are an inevitability one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane O' Mac Version 2 Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 It's funny, I'm almost the opposite demographic to what this topic is after. I'm someone who stopped watching on a weekly basis from early 2009 to about two months ago. I don't know exactly what it was that brought me back, but I think it may have something to do with curiousity of a new star in Ryback, and now The Shield. A lot of the era I missed seemed to be recycling the same stuff based on what I read and occasionally checking out a PPV, new blood does wonders. 2009-2011 seemed to be recycling Cena/Orton/HHH/Punk endlessly, and Kofi and Ziggler having the same matches. Â Now, I've watched HIAC, Survivor Series, TLC, and most Raws in the build up. Mostly very good, but no matter how much entertainment the show gives me, I lose focus around the 2.5 hour mark, which is when they start setting up the main event segment. I'm watching and largely enjoying Raw content, but I do find 3 hours a chore. Plus that big block of wrestling programming usually burns me out for the week, and I can't be bothered to tune into Smackdown or NXT (I try to catch Main Event though, as that's terrific). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Scott Malbranque Posted December 18, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted December 18, 2012 It all went south of heck for me after Planet Stasiak was canned, but recently The Shield have piqued my interest and got me watching again. I find Ryback to have a face akin to that of one of the Angry Beavers, and a cartoon wrestler from the 1980's. I miss Jim Johnston's old school theme songs, as Ryback with something other than a generic, chugging rock song could come across better. To me, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I can just about get through a 2 hour Impact each week in between everything else I do, there's no way I could watch Raw and Smackdown on a regular basis. Â There's just way too much wrestling content these days for a normal person to keep up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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