The Official UKFF RAW Thread...

[Ambulance Chaser]

Terrible Raw.

 

I am so sick of The Authority flip flopping between heel and face, it is actually nauseating. I can't stand Stephanie on my screen anymore, not in a good heel getting heat kind of way either, she is just shocking.

 

And Summer Rae's acting makes my 6 year old nephew's display in the School play look like De Niro in Taxi Driver.

 

Sting can't be arsed.

[Abe_Knuckleball_Schwartz]

I think Raw needs a massive overhaul, I was watching an episode on the Network from a few months ago and honestly, you could not tell if was first aired in 2015 or 2008 everything looks the same, there is no identity or anything and everything seems so polished.

 

Compare an episode of Raw now to the format they used in the late 90's ( I am not suggesting that they should go back to the Attitude era, that time has now passed) the format and feel of the programme made me think that anything could happen, I dont feel that way now when watching an episode.

 

Another issue, I suppose could be the lack of geniune alternative competition for the WWE at the minute.

[Ladiesman345]

Steph's dancing made me cringe and instantly made New Day seem lame as fuck. Steph's allowed to improvise but not Dusty Motherfuckin' Rhodes?!?

[PunkStep]

Another issue, I suppose could be the lack of geniune alternative competition for the WWE at the minute.

 

That's not an excuse though as they haven't had genuine alternative competition since 1999.

[Abe_Knuckleball_Schwartz]

 

Another issue, I suppose could be the lack of geniune alternative competition for the WWE at the minute.

 

 

That's not an excuse though as they haven't had genuine alternative competition since 1999.

You are quite correct, but lack of competition does instil laziness and complacency. Hypothetically, it would be interesting what the WWE would do IF the USA Network showed their concern regarding the low ratings.

[Doog]

Arent the ratings still pretty good though, compared to other US Network shows?

 

Im going off nothing here apart from I thnk I remember someone saying something a while ago that whilst RAW's ratings appear low, certainly compared to other years, it's actually not that bad when compared with other shows on the network etc.

 

I might be wrong. As said anyway, ratings arent the be all end all now anyway. But it is really boring at the minute, nothing ever really happens.

 

I'vebeen watching WCW from 1996/1997 Nitro lately, and even though I remember some of the stuff, it's still easy to get caught up in the moment and the anything can happen feel, night and day between what it's like now.

[LaGoosh]

It's no surprise the ratings are going down. The shows are the most dull and uneventful that they've been in probably ever. If you miss an episode it just doesn't matter because you know you haven't missed out on anything. Or if there's one or two things you want to check out you can just look up the 2-3 minute highlight video on the WWE YouTube channel instead of making the effort to sit through a three hour TV show. Shit you could stop watching for a year and when you went back it'd probably still be Sheamus vs Dolph Ziggler or something like that going on. Everything needs a complete overhaul.

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

Oddly more people watching this week despite the drop in rating on last week. I haven't really followed them for years so I was surprised last week to realise they're at WCW 2000 levels. As discussed though, they have plenty of revenue streams so the ratings aren't the be all they once were....

 

Although the quality of the TV product is definitely concern, you can't compare TV ratings from today's product vs a product from 15 years ago. I think a lot of people overlook how we watch and absorb media in todays world. 

 

Youtube & video sites, downloading (both legal and illegal), streaming services, DVRs etc have had a massive impact on ratings. Except for PPVs I don't want much wrestling these days, I usually follow it on social media and video sites... something I wouldn't of been able to do 15 years ago. 

[IANdrewDiceClay]

You can sort of argue that if people were desperate to see how the stories unfold, they'd be watching it live and not fast forwarding through the Sky planner. I just think if you've lost a sad bastard like me, who has watched the worst shite they've put out, then something must be wrong with the storylines. I just cant watch 3 hours of this every single week. Especially at the minute. I dont think anyone is asking for them to be doing 7.2s again. But to have the viewership down to 3 million is quite unreal. Especially when Monday Night Football gets going. They could be in the below 2.0s

Edited September 16, 2015 by IANdrewDiceClay

[METAL ON METAL]

A big problem for me is the staleness of the roster, there's only so much you can do with a character.

 

There's far too many people still there who have done all they can do with the audience really not giving a shit about them still. It's like any other TV show, you rarely see characters/shows last past the 6-8 season mark because they either the audience grow tired of it or the writers feel they can't take it any further - times those seasons by a shitload more episodes in WWE land and you've got seriously lethargic writing.

 

You've got the likes of Big Show and Kane there stinking the place up after a decade plus (largely without any leave) and even for example the likes of Ziggler and Sheamus have been there 7 and 6 years, respectively. Despite pretty much still being the two biggest draws after over a decade each, even Cena and Orton don't really get reactions they got a couple of years ago.

 

People stick around in one place for so much longer now compared to previous eras and in many cases it's a detriment to the product, it's (a small) part of the reason Lesnar still has that aura around him - imagine seeing him weekly (sometimes twice a week) for a decade, the appeal would wear off somewhat.

[DraxSpago]

A big problem for me is the staleness of the roster, there's only so much you can do with a character.

 

There's far too many people still there who have done all they can do with the audience really not giving a shit about them still. It's like any other TV show, you rarely see characters/shows last past the 6-8 season mark because they either the audience grow tired of it or the writers feel they can't take it any further - times those seasons by a shitload more episodes in WWE land and you've got seriously lethargic writing.

 

You've got the likes of Big Show and Kane there stinking the place up after a decade plus (largely without any leave) and even for example the likes of Ziggler and Sheamus have been there 7 and 6 years, respectively. Despite pretty much still being the two biggest draws after over a decade each, even Cena and Orton don't really get reactions they got a couple of years ago.

 

People stick around in one place for so much longer now compared to previous eras and in many cases it's a detriment to the product, it's (a small) part of the reason Lesnar still has that aura around him - imagine seeing him weekly (sometimes twice a week) for a decade, the appeal would wear off somewhat.

 

Great points, it seems barmy that mid carders get hours of TV time over years now and yet they don't change their gimmicks or turn them face or heel anywhere near like they did in the late '90's early 2000's.  I'm not saying everything should be 100mph having a run in and turn every other segment but look at someone like Billy Gunn from 95 - 00, how many changes of character did he have (I'm aware they weren't all good)? Then look at Kofi before he joined the New Day, same ring gear, no real promos, no segments backstage except for his Orton feud, wrestled the same people for about 7 years

 

I know it was slagged off at the time by a lot of people online but at least when they brought Sheamus back they freshened him up a bit, not saying this will fix how stale the whole promotion seems at the moment though as, say for example, they did an NXT invasion and brought a load up to wrestle on Raw every week, they'd end up the same as the wrestlers before them, loads of repetitive matches for the years on end

[AnotherCrapUsername]

I'd echo what most people are saying. The TV show is dull as dishwater at the moment, and it has become a massive chore to sit through a whole episode of Raw or Smackdown lately.

 

Personally, I'm currently sat in Charles de Gaulle Airport, I've been here for 4 hours on a layover and have another 3 hours until my flight. I've tried to watch Raw from Monday and just cant get through more than twenty minutes without turning it off and watching King of the Hill.

 

The ratings being so low doesn't seem to be a massive concern to them. Whilst it may be WCW in 2000 levels at the moment, the way in which people consume TV shows now means that there is a significantly higher portion of people who will watch within the week through various other means.

 

Edited September 16, 2015 by ThommoLincs

[King Pitcos]

Smackdown's numbers are even worse. They're well under 2m viewers these days.

 

That isn't true. They did 1,981,000 a couple of weeks ago, but that's the only time the viewership has been under two million this year.

[tiger_rick]

 

Smackdown's numbers are even worse. They're well under 2m viewers these days.

 

That isn't true. They did 1,981,000 a couple of weeks ago, but that's the only time the viewership has been under two million this year.

 

Ah, fair enough. Still rubbish but not quite as bad as made out.

[Jizzlobber]

They must be secretly pining for the glory days of 2013 when Daniel Bryan was 'flopping' as lead babyface. I imagine technology and football is getting the blame now, even though neither matter when the product is hot.