What’s the story?
Talking about the problems facing his brand, RAW General Manager Mick Foley seems to have narrowed it down to two. In an interview with Lillian Garcia, the former WWE ring announcer, on her 'Making their way to the ring' podcast Foley cited RAW’s duration and PG rating as hindrances to the show’s popularity.
Here’s what he had to say:
"Sometimes we try to look into the reasons why the third hour doesn’t perform as well as the first two, and I’m like ‘well that’s because people go to bed! No one else at 10:30 p.m. is a PG show. I won’t say that across the board, but most other programs aren’t trying to compete within those confines."
In case you didn’t know…
SamckDown has had new life breathed into it ever since last year’s WWE Draft. The live broadcasting has really helped its cause and has given its ratings a big boost. However, fans are of the opinion that it has other benefits over its Monday night counterpart.
Back in 2012, RAW changed from the traditional two-hour run-time that SmackDown currently uses. The run-time was extended to three hours which fans believe is one of the reasons for the show’s rating issues.
The heart of the matter
The primary problem with the ratings of RAW is that they dip abruptly during the final hour. Foley has a theory as to why this happens. He claimed that one of the reasons the final hour of RAW tends to struggle is that the show runs so late.
He did not stop there as he went on to cite the PG rating of WWE programming as a major problem for RAW. Many of the fans who witnessed the Attitude Era have brought up the PG rating as an issue behind the decrease in RAW ratings.
During his extensive interview, Foley went on to discuss more issues on RAW, including his relationship with current RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon.
What’s next?
Foley’s health issues are of primary concern to himself and he could be in his last few days as RAW GM. The angle of Foley and Stephanie being fired has already been laid out. With Foley’s surgery on the horizon, it is only a matter of time before the angle is accelerated. And if rumours are to be believed, then Kurt Angle could become the next RAW GM.
Sportskeeda’s take
While it is true that the odd hours and PG rating is hurting RAW, Foley’s honest opinion echoes what many fans believe and might have just opened up a can of worms that the WWE may want to keep closed.
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