dawho5 Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I'm fairly sure I'm not alone on this. But there is one very big reason I think this is the case. It's not the women's division or the fact that guys like Neville, Zayn, Breeze and Balor get a push. Those are certainly wonderful things. What I think makes NXT better than the main show is the overall presentation as a wrestling program. From week to week the stories and matches are presented in a way that builds on what was done before. The characters evolve as time goes on in a (usually) logical way. On the main show it seems like the direction things are moving is constantly changing and impossible to follow. The reason I think this is a huge advantage for NXT is because the matches they build to on their big shows mean something. They seem to have at least three or four matches on each special that have been building since their last special. It makes such a huge difference in that the specials actually FEEL like a special show. All the things that have been happening are coming to a head. I won't say I love all of the booking in January of 2015, but I think what they are doing is far, far better than the majority of the 2014 Raw/SD I watched from a booking standpoint. And I stopped after Mania, cherry picking stuff I wanted to see after that. Another thing I have noticed is that NXT layers their matches pretty well. It's not always done in an optimal way for me, but there is a difference between midcard matches, main event matches and live special matches. It makes the live events feel more like a special show than the once a month show where the wrestlers get a little more time to go. Another huge advantage for NXT. As much as I dislike Triple H for many, many reasons, if he is in charge of the NXT booking it really does bode well for how the WWE will be presented after Vince is no longer in charge. I understand that once Vince steps down/is removed from power/(I know it sounds callous, but it seems most likely) dies the WWE will lose a lot of it's influence and have to build itself back up. I do think that based on the current way NXT is being booked that there is a good chance it will regain every bit of it's dominance if the reaction to new management isn't too jarring. But that also means that we will get Triple H and Steph as heel authority figures with their face all over the TV. I think I can deal with that if it means the rest of the show is coherently booked week to week and the PPV matches get the same amount of added oomph compared to TV matches that NXT has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 It's a lot easier to have a coherent narrative that builds from week to week when you tape four one hour shows in one night and you have maybe one or two people writing the scripts. Will Triple H have the same level of discipline when he's running a creative team with two dozen people on it and overseeing two four hour television tapings a week? We'll only know for sure when he takes over for good. I don't think it's a sure bet that Triple H runs the company better than Vince does, although he's done enough things right with NXT that we shouldn't be horrified at the prospect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I think people are going too far with the "WWE is going to be great when HHH takes over because he's going to book it like NXT" idea. NXT has the benefit of having only one audience. There is no need to worry about a "casual" audience, TV ratings or sponsors. They know the audience for NXT is hardcore fans who post on internet message boards. It's much easier to tailor a show to that one audience than having to book Raw and juggle a whole bunch of divergent interests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 NXT is great largely because it's a one hour show like you had in the territory days with modern production. Like others have stated, it's one thing to only have to worry about 4 hours of TV a month plus a two hour special 3 or 4 times a year. WWE has 7 hours of TV a week (Raw/SD/Superstars/Main Event) plus a PPV every month. I agree the thing that will determine how the HHH Era ends up will be who he surrounds himself with. One of Vince's most glaring weaknesses is being surrounded with yes men who only end up further cementing him in his bubble. Unfortunately being the guy in charge usually means not too many people are willing to tell you things you may not want to hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Hunter's gone on record publicly that the one thing he'd wanted to change the most about the WWE right now is the three hour Raws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 That was never something they wanted to do anyway, USA dragged them into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapshot Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I'll probably go back to watching RAW full time if it goes back to 2hrs. I can't see that happening any time soon however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Why can't there be a 30 minute pre-show like every other sport and maybe a 30 minute 24/7 segment hyping the main event of the next ppv? That would bring Raw down to 2 hours and be more manageable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapshot Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 There is a pre-show on the network already with Corey Graves and Otunga etc already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 There is a pre-show on the network already with Corey Graves and Otunga etc already. Which makes Raw 3.5 to 4 hours long. Improve that pre-show and put it on the air to make Raw shorter, not longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Skinner Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I think people are going too far with the "WWE is going to be great when HHH takes over because he's going to book it like NXT" idea. NXT has the benefit of having only one audience. There is no need to worry about a "casual" audience, TV ratings or sponsors. They know the audience for NXT is hardcore fans who post on internet message boards. It's much easier to tailor a show to that one audience than having to book Raw and juggle a whole bunch of divergent interests. Bingo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Hunter's two years older than Dusty was in 88. That's an interesting thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I feel like with the amount of talent on their roster and the amount of TV time they have to fill, not getting a 20 minute+ match between good workers every single week is pretty baffling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I feel like with the amount of talent on their roster and the amount of TV time they have to fill, not getting a 20 minute+ match between good workers every single week is pretty baffling. Wrestling doesn't sell. Nobody wants to watch a match without a story. At least that is what Vince said on Austin's podcast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I feel like with the amount of talent on their roster and the amount of TV time they have to fill, not getting a 20 minute+ match between good workers every single week is pretty baffling. I don't know if I really agree with this. I think there have been so many pointless good matches for the sake of good matches on WWE TV that it's watered down the PPVs. Either that or they don't have enough guys on the roster who know how to step it up for the PPVs and make them feel more important than a good Raw match. Also, WWE runs very few 20+ minute matches even on PPV and I don't really see that as an issue. There's no rule that says a match needs to go 20+ to be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Skinner Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Hence why in Vince's mind they need to treat every episode like there are new people watching and just do a 20 minute recap promo to start every show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Hence why in Vince's mind they need to treat every episode like there are new people watching and just do a 20 minute recap promo to start every show. How fresh would the show be if there was no 20 minute promo? If all you had was backstage interviews and one time where Michael Cole brought someone to the ring for an interview, that was hyped before hand. Add in event centers and last week in the WWE and a WWE coming to these town segments and the rest was matches and in ring angles. I'd even take a music video for a hyped feud. Just something different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapshot Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I agree with Grimmas, something, anything different to freshen up the show as it's completely behind stale now in it's current format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Skinner Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I always feel so much better when RAW doesn't start with a promo, but instead starts with a match. That happens very seldom though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapshot Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Last time that happened was the Slammy Awards episode in 2013, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 It's a lot easier to have a coherent narrative that builds from week to week when you tape four one hour shows in one night and you have maybe one or two people writing the scripts. Will Triple H have the same level of discipline when he's running a creative team with two dozen people on it and overseeing two four hour television tapings a week? We'll only know for sure when he takes over for good. I don't think it's a sure bet that Triple H runs the company better than Vince does, although he's done enough things right with NXT that we shouldn't be horrified at the prospect. I agree completely with everything that you said... however the rewriting of scripts the day of the show and the giant "creative teams" filled with people who didn't make it in Hollywood by all accounts seem to be Vince trademarks. Has Hunter ever gone public with his thoughts on the entire process? I don't think so but I am curious. Who knows if one of his first moves in a post-Vince world will be to downsize the teams and to stick to longer term plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Context is a huge part of this. NXT is almost like the old Superstars or Main Event-era show with a few simple matches and maybe a couple other segments, but not as squash heavy. Its also fresh now in comparison to years of Raw and Smackdown. Would that be the case with the same formula 20 years from now? NXT also has the liberty of being produced without the goal of generating the almighty dollar. Its not selling a monthly PPV, weekly Raw/Smackdown tapings or even house shows comparable to what WWE draws. With the pressure that comes with those objectives how would it change? Its almost like a an incubator or b-school type of simulation from a business perspective, though obviously they're looking to ramp that up. If you make it a 3+ hour show there's no doubt the dynamic and structure of the show will change. Not arguing that is a fresh and fun product, but I don't think its at all comparable to "WWE" shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmmnx Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 5 hours per week with the same core roster is just far too much. They don't have the depth up top that they had in the early 2000's when they only had 4 hours to fill. Even if they assembled the best booking staff possible I don't know that they could keep the same 10-15 featured guys interesting with 25 hours of tv and ppvs per month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 5 hours per week with the same core roster is just far too much. They don't have the depth up top that they had in the early 2000's when they only had 4 hours to fill. Even if they assembled the best booking staff possible I don't know that they could keep the same 10-15 featured guys interesting with 25 hours of tv and ppvs per month. Depends on the type of program. You could do a lot of different things to keep each show fresh. Change an hour of Raw to something different, whether 24/7 type shows or a classic match or whatever a pre-show. You could have weekly challenges like this week it's Dolph vs Rusev and they have a best of 5 across all shows. Each week there is a new best of 5. Smackdown could be a weekly tournament with the winner's getting a tag, ic or us title shot on raw. Maybe main event features only random drawing tag partners like lethal lottery or only vet teaming with young guy. You can have NXT spotlight matches, you can make one show have more women's wrestling on it. Maybe put on some jobber squashes. More six man tags. There is so much you can do with that much tv time and keep it all different and fresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Ewiak Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I think the problem is basically, the USA Network wants three hours of RAW, with stars like John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Triple H, and the like, on every single hour. Not two hours of "real" RAW, and an hour in the WWE studio. I think a change like that would be as well received in the USA Network's home office as much as if the 1st quarter of an NBA game suddenly became a pre-game show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.