As a lifelong WWE fan who’s seen more wrestling matches than I can count and has been through countless changes in the industry, I must say that the two-hour format for Monday Night Raw is a tough pill to swallow. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the effort to innovate and adapt, but the endless commercial breaks are enough to make even the Hulkster crack a joke!
2024 stands out as a significant year for WWE, with fans applauding the company’s numerous transformations under “the Triple H era.” However, it was evident from the beginning that the return of Monday Night Raw to a two-hour format would spark criticisms, and indeed, these criticisms were abundant online during the initial abbreviated broadcast.
On Monday nights, Raw has been a major highlight in WWE’s annual schedule, holding equal importance to many Premium Live Events. However, enthusiasm for upcoming WWE events seems to be lacking, given the two-hour format of the show. Nevertheless, there’s a possibility that the company can turn this around.
WWE Fans Were Unhappy With The Rampant Commercial Breaks During Monday Night Raw
Viewers who caught the recent edition of Monday Night Raw on USA Network found themselves quite displeased with the excessive commercial breaks in the abridged program. Despite numerous intriguing events unfolding, it’s noteworthy that criticisms about this aspect were some of the top comments trending under the hashtag:
- THESE FUCKING COMMERCIALS MAN – @JuniorYEAH2
- RAW is only 2 hours, but we’re still getting the same level of commercials and those filler video packages.Some things never change. – @EliteClubS0B
- At this point we might as well watch their highlights only & wait for their PLE matches especially w/ this 2 hr #WWERaw full of commercials. – @iFollowSP0RTS
- RAW is only 2 hours long but we’re still getting 5 minutes commercials every 3 minutes. Netflix can’t come soon enough. – @voltzsz
- Fitting a 3 hour shows worth of commercials into 2 hours is definitely a choice. – @mpol_mike
If you’re a frequent viewer of WWE, I’d express that, although the action seemed slightly less intense, the commercial breaks seemed to mimic the typical duration found in an episode of SmackDown. For quite some time now, people have been voicing concerns about the Friday show’s length. At one point, they pointed out that segments involving Bloodline took up more than half of the program alone.
It was tough to see USA Network ending their broadcast before Cody Rhodes and Gunther had fully settled into their standoff at the end of the episode. I hope they can find a way to avoid such haste in future episodes, ensuring that upcoming Professional Wrestling Entertainment (PWE) storylines aren’t compromised.
How Long Will Monday Night Raw Be Two Hours?
Starting October 7th, Monday Night Raw began airing two-hour episodes, a schedule USA Network confirmed would continue until the end of 2024 when NBCUniversal’s contract for the show ends. After that, Monday Night Raw is expected to switch to Netflix, likely bringing the entire Raw catalog to streaming as it moves away from Peacock. Meanwhile, SmackDown will stay on USA Network, and wrestling enthusiasts can stream previous episodes using their Peacock subscription.
It’s yet undecided if the wrestling show will continue to be two hours long when it becomes available through a Netflix subscription. During the press conference post-Bad Blood, Paul “Triple H” Levesque was inquired about the runtime and provided this response.
Regardless of the duration, our focus is always on creating the finest productions possible, crafting compelling narratives that resonate. In our line of work, we might sometimes get lost in specific timeframes like two hours, three hours, or an hour, but at heart, it’s the story that matters most. Once the story has been told, it will have either captivated audiences or not. We simply create a new story three times a week, with many more to follow. This is my approach – let’s first write the best stories we can, and then we’ll find a suitable time slot for them.
Triple H hinted that Netflix might be considering changes in the running time of Monday Night Raw, or it could stay as a two-hour show for now. If they were going back to three hours, I would assume he’d mention it to address concerns about the duration, but he doesn’t feel obligated to disclose every internal company discussion with the press.
Currently, “Monday Night Raw” is still airing for two hours every Monday at 8:00 p.m. ET on USA Network. As the action unfolds in the world of wrestling, don’t forget to check our 2024 TV schedule to find out what other exciting shows are coming up during this fall season.
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2024-10-08 20:07