ISSUE #1255 - MAY 26, 2012 TOP FIVE STORIES OF THE WEEK PPV ROUNDTABLE (1) Raw expanding to three hours on July 23 (2) Impact going live every week this summer (3) Flair parting ways with TNA, WWE bound WWE OVER THE LIMIT (4) Raw going “interactive” with weekly voting Staff Scores & Reviews (5) Laurinaitis pins Cena after Show turns heel Pat McNeill, columnist (6.5): The main problem with WWE Over The Limit? The main event went over the limit of what we’ll accept from WWE. You can argue that there was no reason to book John Cena against John Laurinaitis on a pay-per-view, and you’d be right. RawHEA eDLxINpE AaNnALYdSsIS to thrhoeurse, a nhd uosuaullyr tsher e’Js eunoulgyh re2de3eming But on top of that, there was no reason to book content to make it worth the investment. But Cena versus Laurinaitis to go as long as any other three hours? Three hours of lousy content is By Wade Keller, editor major pay-per-view match. And there was no enough that next time viewers might just tune in reason for Cena to drag the match out. It didn’t fit If you follow an industry long enough, you’re for a just an hour instead of the usual two and the storyline. And it made John Cena look like a bound to see some bad decisions being made. certainly not commit to all three. Or they might chump. or like The Stinger, when Big Show turned Some are worse than others, but it’s rare when pick their segments, watching the predictably heel for the umpteenth time and cost him the you think you might be seeing the Worst newsmaking segments at the start of each hour match. Decision Ever. and at the very end. They can DVR the show and On the other hand, you had a top-notch WWE Last week WWE announced they were speed through it. Or they can watch highlights on title defense for C.M. Punk, as he took on expanding Raw from two to three hours WWE.com, YouTube, or elsewhere, or just read permanently. It might be the McMahon family’s about it and wait for highlights the next week. longtime acquaintance Daniel Bryan. No, nothing worst programming decision ever. It might go Let’s boil this down to what it is: It is could have followed the Cena-Laurinaitis match, down as much worse than the WBF corporate greed. It’s not creating because that sucked the air out of the building. But and XFL, because those were or offering a product that there is Punk vs. Bryan felt like a pay-per-view main supplementary products. Yes, they demand for. It’s expanding a event, and with that finish, WWE left the door took a toll on WWE because it took product that even at two hours open for a return match, probably at No Way Out time and resources away from the sometimes seems to drag. The in four weeks. Let’s call it four and a quarter stars. core WWE product, but they didn’t third hour is being added merely There’s a dichotomy between Daniel Bryan’s cripple the actual centerpiece core because it can give them more TV weasel-esque character on Smackdown and the product. ad revenue. There aren’t wrestlers aggressive manner he has in the ring in the big Of all of the decisions that Vince McMahon wishes he could matches. WWE Creative needs to find some way destroyed WCW, expanding Nitro give TV time but runs out of time to bridge that gap. to three hours in tandem with the for each week. In fact, they’ve A note for you aspiring indy bookers in the addition of two hours of Thunder never been more reliant on one house: Given a choice between a four-way match later in the week is seen as perhaps wrestler - John Cena - as and a three-way match, take the four-way match. the most self-destructive. Raw evidenced by the quarter hour In a four-way, you can keep wrestlers paired off. WWE and USA Network are Photo by Travis Beaven ratings decline two weeks ago In a three-way, there always has to be a reason now following the pattern of WCW when Cena wasn’t at the building why the third man isn’t involved and it messes up and TNT, taking a highly rated cable show and and viewers were told that early in the show. the flow. As a rule, you want to avoid multi-man expanding it. It’s a pattern that can create short- WWE is trying to make up for declining matches in general. However, if you must do one, term advertising increases, but burn out the ratings and thus declining ad revenue by adding a the Smackdown Title four-way match was a good audience and overexpose the product (see: Law third hour of Raw. It’d be akin to the NBA or template for how they’re done, especially the & Order, CSI, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, NFL expanding from 30 teams to 45 teams next bang-bang-bang Everybody Hits A Finisher Deal or No Deal). It’s not like WWE has a deep year or expanding the season’s number of games sequence at the end. Good job. talent roster of big draws at this point. WCW had by 50 percent. It’d be too much even for hardcore Ryback’s match was awful. The poor guy is a deep talent roster at the time they expanded, yet fans of both sports. John Heidenreich without the in-ring ability. If the booking team just wasn’t able to keep the WWE would counter by saying they are you’ve watched WWE consistently for the past product compelling for three hours straight on a adding an interactive element to the show. That’s year, you should have been able to call the Ryder weekly basis. Viewers noticed. Top wrestlers their hook for this - that viewers get to vote for a vs. Kane match move for move. Christian’s return, were overexposed, the show contained obvious match or a stipulation every week. It comes and his win over Cody Rhodes, was hurt by WWE filler, and in general viewership fatigue (live in across as patronizing that giving fans a chance to not making it perfectly clear that Captain the arenas and on television) worked the influence parts of the show will cause them to Charisma was the babyface. The battle royal was opposite of the tried and true “leave them watch an extra hour, as if choosing to see Santino perfectly acceptable, and the sort of thing WWE wanting more” mantra. vs. Cody Rhodes will make it more entertaining should break out every so often. The ladies’ match It’s not as if WWE shouldn’t have learned than it just being presented to viewers without the wasn’t so hot, but Layla and Beth Phoenix aren’t from their own past mistakes. Expanding to two voting gimmick. It’s also an attempt to make going to improve by working ninety second PPVs per month, one for Raw and for watching the show live seem more important matches on Raw. The tag team title match was Smackdown, failed. Expanding the sheer number since if you watch on delay, as more than 10 surprisingly good. Your WWE announce team of PPVs a year drove away hundreds of percent of viewers now do, you could lose out on didn’t care much about this show and used it as an thousands of “completists” who - on a monthly your chance to vote. WWE might be grossly opportunity to cut up, but that can be solved by basis - were willing to order every PPV, but once overestimating the value the majority of viewers learning Spanish and using the SAP button on they couldn’t keep up because there were more place on putting decisions in the hands of fan. your remote control. often than not two per month, they just threw How many movie goers would want to spend A qualified thumbs up. their hands up and began picking a choosing three hours watching a movie better paced for fewer and fewer to order than ever. two hours because ticket buyers in the theater got Bruce Mitchell, columnist (6.0) There are viewers who watch Raw as to vote on plot twists or character decisions? This was a solid meat-and-potatoes show, with appointment television and always have. They sit On a detatched corporate level, it might seem a very good long match between C.M. Punk and through two hours (or so) of the good and bad. like a no-brainer to increase ad revenue up to 50 Daniel Bryan at its center. WWE gave Daniel When the show is the bad, like last week’s - just percent overnight. But in six months, if ratings days before this announcement - it’s only two are routinely under 2.5, then what? PPV ROUNDTABLE cont. on pg. 8 KELLER’S BBL Why Raw Expanding is a Bad Idea, How to Save It By Wade Keller, hours of watching filler that Vince McMahon •Limit the Appear ances of the Top Dozen PWTorch editor clearly has put no thought into and characters Stars: This seems counter-intuitive, but it ’s wrestling longer matches that fans have been perhaps the most vital move WWE could make, If WWE Raw is not on USA Network in a few conditioned to believe don ’t even matter that but the least likely move.