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Monday night Raw and Smackdown live are two of the longest running weekly episodic TV shows in history for a reason. They have been a mainstay in WWE television for over two decades for Raw and approaching 20 years for SmackDown.
There is little room for improvement, especially when it relates to the bottom line for both shows, who is anyone to argue with the success the WWE has enjoyed with both shows for as long as they have been running? In terms of the basic formula, there remains little in the way of necessary improvement. However, this is not to say they do not occasionally mess up, get things wrong or that the product should move in a different direction.
For the most part, both main shows enjoyed the majority of their success during the period of 1998-2001 and the Monday night wars. This was in part due to their rivals WCW surpassing WWE in the ratings wars. If Raw and SmackDown drew from the formula's that made it so successful in the late 90's and early 2000's then the product can benefit overall.
In recent years Raw and SmackDown have become the prelude to the pay-per-views, if they were to instead become the centre-piece of WWE programming, with the pay-per-views in between, then WWE's product as a whole could be more prosperous.
#1 Make Raw and SmackDown compete against each other
A way of improving both Raw and SmackDown could be to have the two brands as separate entities and face off over the year for television ratings. This could boost the stock of both shows and give each brand their own identity.
By making Raw a two-hour show again and airing both shows on the same night, they could compete for ratings and challenge each other for brand supremacy. Putting in place this competition could improve the quality of both shows, in a similar way in which the Monday night wars brought out the best in WWE and WCW.
By completely splitting the wrestlers, commentary teams, writing staff, referees and backstage talent, as well as giving each brand their own identity, healthy competition could be created. With Vince McMahon in charge of Raw and Triple H taking over duties on SmackDown, or something similar to this, it could make for a more engaging product and allow the WWE to experiment with new ideas to appeal to new, casual and lapsed fans.
#2 More factions
There have been some legendary factions down the years including the NWO, D-Generation X, The Nation of Domination, Evolution, Nexus and The Shield among others that have helped elevate talent as well as generate interest to WWE's weekly shows.
Some big names made a name for themselves in these groups. These have included The Rock, Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. Being in popular factions allowed some of these stars to flourish and move to the next level, if WWE was to create some new groups then it could be a useful way for talent to get noticed.
Because pay-per-views are generally reserved for big title matches and the big blow off for feuds, the week-to-week episodes or Raw and SmackDown can often feel like previews for the upcoming events. Adding factions to either or both brands could boost ratings for WWE's weekly shows, in much the same way the NWO in WCW and DX in WWE boosted wrestling's popularity in the late 90's.
If Raw and SmackDown were to establish some stables for their shows, then it could add interest to their Raw and SmackDown shows that aren't just a prelude to the pay-per-views but could add compelling stories to their weekly product.
It can be hard to keep even the most ardent of wrestling interested week to week but adding factions can re-energise the product and could give the fans a reason to tune in each week.
#3 More WWE and Universal championship matches
A problem for Raw is that because Universal champion Brock Lesnar is part-time, so is the title, but even on SmackDown, the WWE championship is rarely defended. That isn't to say the championship should be defended every week on Raw and SmackDown. Instead, it should be reserved for special occasions. Having them too regularly can devalue the titles, but having the titles on the line every now and again can add more interest to the product.
Teasing potential title changes on WWE's two main shows could increase viewership, interest and generally make the shows more compelling for its spectators. If the product is to be stronger overall then this has to start with the weekly shows Raw and SmackDown. Title matches on these shows can be a way to attract new or casual fans to watch the product more regularly.
As with any form of entertainment, there needs to be an element of unpredictability with each show. The 'wow' factor that can capture the audience, by having title matches and even title changes of Raw and SmackDown, it will make the shows 'must see' television, as it did during the height if WWE's popularity in the Attitude era.
WWE no longer has a rival to go up against, as it did with WCW, so they do not need to push the envelope as much, but adding drama to their weekly shows can give the product the boost it needs.
#4 Stop over producing the announce team
In the recent times, the WWE love to produce there announce teams as much as possible. Many former WWE commentators including Mick Foley and Tazz have commented how difficult they have found coping with Vince McMahon constantly barking out instructions.
It has not always been this way, although WWE's announce teams have been produced for a long time, there was a time when you'd hear Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler or even Paul Heyman interacting with each other and eliciting a more organic reaction based on the events of the night.
The traditionally defined roles of a face play-by-play announcer alongside a heel colour commentator are gone and has been replaced standard announcers that don't add energy or raw emotion to the product.
Giving the announce team more autonomy over their announcing can make the show more engaging and allow for a more natural response. A wrestling show should feel as less scripted as possible and this should be reflected in the announcing.
#5 Make the shows less formulaic
WWE television tends to follow the same formula, every detail from the storyline structure, the match type and the promos are more or less set in stone each week. This can give the audience a clear sense of the direction of feuds and storylines, but at times these can feel quite generic and predictable. Raw and SmackDown are presented much more like TV dramas then wrestling shows at times in terms of the themes and patterns that they construct.
Back at the height of the Monday night wars, Raw achieved some of its highest ratings ever as they went head-to-head with the WCW in the period of 1998-2001. Raw and SmackDown back then were much more chaotic and less driven by a script that the Superstars had to follow line by line. This saw the likes of The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H rise to prominence as they were afforded more reign over the destiny of their characters.
In today's product, only Paul Heyman is really given the freedom over his promos and they stand out because of this. The days of the Attitude era are long gone, but the methods which made the era successful can be replicated today if the product was to be made less formulaic and more spontaneous.
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