Monday Night Raw is in a two hour time slot. In the eastern time zone in the states, it is on from 9 until 11. Every week the show goes off the air between 11:05 and 11:15.
Lets make RAW 3 hours. Get rid of ECW on Tuesday nights. It doesn’t draw in the ratings. Take the talent on the ECW show that you want to use with the big boys and split them up amongst the two main shows.
Now having an extra hour to work with on RAW, you have more time for wrestling. Instead of the top few feuds on RAW being promoted, and some goofy segment with Chavo or Chris Master’s, 3 hours would allow more variety of appearances and wrestling matches can be incorporated.
If all assumptions are correct that TNA will be a weekly competitor on Monday night’s, than the WWE is going to need to add a few more segments in each weeks episodes on the flagship show.
It will open up television time for WWE to use more of the younger talent, the same guys who the company could be at risk of losing to TNA if they don’t get utilized.
It will also allow more creativity in the booking of feuds with both combinations of matches and promos. If done correctly, the PPV’s become more attractive because the necessary time has been given to build to the match.
WWE has the advantage of producing live television for a long time. Even if the quality of programming sits in question at times, the writing staff, production staff, crew, and wrestlers in the WWE are no strangers to making that much television. This could be one way of helping TNA fail. WWE goes for 3, than you gotta think Hogan and Bischoff are going to turn to Spike and Dixie Carter and profess that they must go for 3 hours. Can all of the creative stock holders in TNA agree on content for that much programming each week?
I don’t think so, brother.
On the next page is some of the emails in response to my last column about TNA and how things would turn out for them over the next 365 days.
