Raw Going Commercial Free
In recent weeks Raw has been losing it's top ratings spot to the new season of "Jon & Kate Plus 8". This past Monday they finally topped the reality show on the heels of a huge second hour rating boost of about 1 million viewers but they still came in second for the night well behind the season premier of "The Closer" on TNT. So in the next two weeks WWE will attempt to boost ratings by trying two gimmicks. First next weeks show will be 3 hours long and feature the world title matches for each brand, this is not really ground breaking but in general 3 hour Raw's due well. The second thing WWE is trying will be a first for WWE TV on June 22nd for one night only Raw will go commercial free. Creative is said to be structuring the show like a PPV since they will not be going to break for the entirety of the show.
The Monday Night Wars are long gone but the WWE faces more competition then ever because there's more orginal programing on cable then there used to be and they all are going after the coveted 18 to 34 male demographic. The ratings boost for the second hour of this weeks Raw has already been attributed to Triple H's return but in reality it probably has more to do with the fact that TNT's "The Closer" is over at 10pm so Raw may have benifited from some spill over viwers. Going commerical free is a great idea and I want it to pay off so WWE does it again. I just hope they remeber that just going cammerical free isn't good enough they have to back it up with some better writing in order to make this whole thing worth it.
-sideshowRaheem on twitter
We all know that the WWE’s main issue is a lack of star-power. From my view I see Cena’s popularity continue to soar and Triple H’s consistent main-event persona catching the eyes of the casual viewer. There are plenty of guys who COULD break out but unfortunately have not been given the amount of freedom to experiment and progress (CM Punk, Shelton Benjamin…), and much of their star-making talent has been poorly booked as well (Big Show, Kane, Umaga) AND let us not forget the potential talent that has been lost, sometimes for no discernibe reason (Kurt Angle, Christian, Ken Kennedy).
WWE needs to evaluate their booking policies and recognize what they are doing as limiting to the talent on the roster. The Rock, Austin, HBK are all products of a free-er style of booking, all characters that got deep within the public’s view and helped grab ratings. Outside of the WWE audience Cena is almost unknown as is Randy Orton, CM Punk, Batista, Tommy Dreamer, Kofi, Shelton Benjamin, The Miz…etc.
A short term solution: Get Kurt Angle back and re-legitimize the world titles, pay Rock whatever he wants to do a 6-month title-reign where he retires officially at Wrestlemania. Long-term: Create new super-stars….they won’t all be Rock and Austin, but the current roster can squeeze out a few Cena’s. Also, use guys like Big Show and Kane properly, book them as upper mid-card monsters and have them push younger super-stars into the main-event status that they so desperately need.
The problem isn’t lack of star-power, it’s the fact that the same star power has been on top for too long. The last they really elevated someone was WM21 in 2005 with Cena and Batista…
That was over 4 years ago, and in that time, we have seen nearly every combination of matches between the top talent.
this is great for me!
Id rather see Smackdown pull this stunt, but now we will either get a broadway match or a to 20 minute matches.
lol, imagine if TNA tried this….UGH.
TNA breaks my heart every damn time. Such potential, such talent, such a crime to be wasted the way it is.
I’m really hyped about Dragon Gate USA however. If the first two shows go over big I think Gabe and the initial investors won’t have much trouble turning it into something special. Plus, Shiima Xion’s going to be at their Chicago show and he’s my favorite indie guy.
Original Nick, the WWE needs NEW top talent in addition to its current top talent and I think if they just allowed a few guys to experiment a bit they’d get that.
TNA is currently going all out with the idea of bringing in old talent to draw ratings, something, that when done conservatively can accomplish the goal and breathe life into a company while elevating its raw talent. TNA has completely over-done it though and squandered it’s own home-grown talent as well as some of the best the indie scene had to offer. People forget how old some of these “young kids” really are…
Joe is 30.
Eric Young is 30.
Christopher Daniels is 38.
AJ Styles is 32.
Abyss is 36.
Alex Shelley is 26.
Chris Sabin is 27.
James Storm is 32.