Dr. Wrestling:Raw

It was recently announced that Raw will be expanding to three hours in July and the initial reaction seems to be more negative than positive, but there are possibilities for another hour of Raw to work well so let’s discuss an expanded edition of Raw. The main concern would be that sometimes it seems as though the WWE struggles to produce a quality two hour show and judging from some of the more recent three hour episodes, an expanded Raw could lead to lackluster TV. Some of the negative reaction to the expanded time slot is based on the track record of WCW when Nitro went to three hours, which was when the company was going down the drain, but I think the overall direction of WCW was going down the drain and the three hour Nitro was only one of the many reasons that the company closed.

One of the major opportunities the WWE has with the extension of the show is they can give matches more time, which could lead to better quality matches and there’s also a chance for other stars who don’t usually get TV time to showcase their skills. There are several stars that could add a lot to the show, if they are actually given some TV exposure, instead of being booked for Superstars, which is only seen on the internet. Zack Ryder, who was being used consistently on Raw at one point, hasn’t been seen on the show for almost a month, but maybe the extra hour will give the WWE internet champion a chance to get back on TV. With how often the WWE tries to push social media, you would think Ryder would be on TV on a more regular basis, but for some reason it seems like he’s getting buried again with less TV time and no storyline. Drew McIntyre was called “the chosen one,” but he’s been presented as nothing more than a glorified jobber so maybe he will be one of the under utilized talents to benefit from an extra hour of Raw. Tyson Kidd is another one that could really become a star if he’s given the opportunity and possibility assume the “Rey Mysterio spot” so to speak after Rey retires. Don’t get me wrong, Tyson probably won’t be as over as Mysterio, but with Rey seemingly near the end of his career, Sin Cara being regularly featured on the Botchamania Youtube series, and Evan Boure’s WWE status unknown, Tyson Kidd could become the featured aerial wrestler in the company if given the opportunity. Yes, I know Sin Cara sells a lot of masks, but he’s obviously not the next Mysterio and with as many moves as Cara botches during a match, who knows if he will actually be pushed when he returns to WWE TV.

The downside of an extra hour is that it could be used for extended promos, which occur too often already and it won’t help the company. Basically if an expanded Raw is used to add more wrestling rather than more sports entertainment, it could benefit the show, but based on WWE’s booking, an expanded Raw will probably feature more celebrities that usually don’t know the names of the wrestlers. Hopefully, an expanded Raw will translate to more wrestling and it should be interesting to see what happens in a few months.

Until next week

That’s My Story and I’m Sticking To It

Dr. Wrestling

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