What’s the story?
Former WWE star and host of ESPN Sportscenter’s Off The Top Rope segment, Jonathan Coachman, recently spoke to Doug Mortman and Dave LaGreca on their radio show, Busted Open. During the conversation, he revealed why he thinks that the WWE should reduce the duration of Monday Night Raw by an hour.
In case you didn’t know...
With more than 1200 episodes so far, WWE Raw is one of the longest running professional wrestling programs of all time. The 1000th episode of the show which aired on 23 July 2012 saw its duration increase from 2 hours to 3 hours and the WWE have stuck to that format till date.
The heart of the matter
According to Coachman, a three-hour show appeared to be stretching the talent a bit too much as they were having to appear at least more than twice on every show. In comparison, he felt that just like in the Attitude Era where fans waited for the top stars since they appeared only once or twice on a given night, a two-hour show will mean that the big names are more eagerly anticipated by the WWE Universe.
Here’s what ‘The Coach’ had to say about the matter:
“When they decided to go to three hours, now you're stretching out a bunch of really good talent, maybe using them twice in a show instead of… back when I started, there was The Rock, and Stone Cold, and The Undertaker, and Triple H, and all these big time stars. Guess how many times you saw them in a show, guys.
Once and maybe twice if you had an interview and then a main event match, but that's it, so you were in wait. You were anticipating, 'man, when I see The Rock, I'd better be tuned in. I'd better be ready.' And if you could see a guy two or three times, then you're like, 'well, I'll catch him in an hour or two hours later’.”
Jonathan Coachman further opined that although it is difficult for the WWE to revert to the two-hour format as there are a lot of implications that are attached to it, the best way for Raw to deliver a great show every week. Coachman stated:
“I think it's a mistake to do three hours. I think if you go back to two hours, and again, it's easier said than done because there is a lot of money involved, there [are] TV contracts involved, and I get it. And I know why USA [Network] wants to do it. But for me, for the ability to do the best show possible, I would do two hours on Monday night, then SmackDown Live on Tuesday night.”
What next?
While it appears unlikely at present that the WWE would tamper with the duration of Raw, they may be forced to reconsider the format if rival show SmackDown manages to beat the red brand in terms of TV ratings on a regular basis, just like last week.
Sportskeeda’s Take
’The Coach' certainly makes a valid point when he says that the fans get to see the big names too easily on Raw due to the lengthy duration. On the other hand, though, the Raw roster may just have enough firepower to pull off a 3-hour show if things are managed in a slightly better way.
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