Impact & Raw news

[Assassin]

Below are articles on announcements both shows made today. Any comments or opinions?

Raw News

Impact News

[Johnny Rebel]

RAW going three hours is either going to be brilliant or the biggest mistake the company has ever made. If they use it to start building up some mid carders/tag-teams and promote some of the lower talent than it will be a great addition. However, the last 3-4 three hour shows have been dreadful. I don't have any hope that the WWE creative team can figure out what to do with an extra hour.

TNA going live is an "eh" move for me. Until they move out of the Disney studio, it's always going to feel like a low-budget alternative to the WWE.

[Assassin]

Yea I agree with you on the TNA deal I have found myself sometimes having flash backs to when WCW was doing WCW Saturday Night from that location.

[Assassin]

One thing I did hear is that the Raw move was going to stick. It just won't start till July 23rd I believe.

[Jason Cashe]

I like RAW at 3 Hours. With them being Super Shows for the most part, they need to unify the World Titles at the very least. Keep two mid card belts, a female belt and the Tag Titles and then it makes perfect sense. We'll see how it goes...

TNA going live is whatever. Hogan and Bitch-Off ruined TNA for me when they removed what defined it and that was the 6-Sided Ring and the X-Divisions as a Highlight. Now it's filled with half way dead careers and Homegrown talent that has started to wither under the current management. Paul Heyman should have been handed the reigns, Dixie would be alright by now. Competing even.

[Assassin]

Kash I agree if Heyman was in control I think things would have turned out differently. The three hour Raw I have to see how it goes for a few weeks before I can judge it. They need to make sure that they sure that extra hour to feature other guys. If they do then great if they don't it will get old quick.

And people will start looking forward to football season wishing it was here.

[Jason Cashe]

I wish it was here already. American Football anyways, Go Texans!

[Assassin]

I'm looking forward to the college season. I'm a big college football fan and a big Notre Dame fans as well. I'm looking forward to the release of NCAA Football 13 in July as well.

[Jules]

Aren't PPVs 3 hour shows? So why are they giving away a 3 hour show for free every week?

I've stopped watching Raw in the past couple of months because they weren't putting together a decent 2 hour show. What makes them think they can do a 3 hour show every week that is entertaining is beyond me.

There are plenty of reasons why this is a bad idea:
- Poor recent product
- Lack of roster depth
- Lack of top-line talent
- Terrible writing/booking apart from the odd good moment in like forever
- Not enough titles that mean anything - for this PPV the WWE Title match has been hyped as though it were for the old Euro Title (judging by the reports I read).
- Like Rebel said, when was the last time they did a decent 3-hour TV show?
- WWE are struggling to hold viewers' attention for a two hour show.

I'd say they have to cut down or scrap Smackdown completely for this to even stand a chance of being a success. It just doesn't make sense, if your product is poor and you're struggling to sustain and audience, you trim it down, not expand it. Vinny Mac has lost his marbles.

[Jason Cashe]

I'll reply to Farq with his own post. Only of course replying to a few points he made.

- Poor recent product
I think this ties too much into writing/booking because minus the PG13 which does get pushed to it's limit, it's the writers who fall through and get thinks stinky.

- Lack of roster depth
I disagree here. With Daniel Bryan, Punk, Ziggler, Miz, Cena even, they have talent and guys who can sell the product. I think they could be 1-2 steps from having more if they gave Second Generation guys more of a push to shine. Cody Rhodes is stepping up SO MUCH right now. Promos are solid as hell, ring work is getting crisp. Last year I had my doubts about Rhodes but he's a player for sure.

- Not enough titles that mean anything - for this PPV the WWE Title match has been hyped as though it were for the old Euro Title (judging by the reports I read).
I agree completely here. They don't put enough value in the belts right now. The only one that gets any kind love from me is the IC Belt. Only cause they've placed a storyline around it and Cody Rhodes again is looking and working well. They need to merge the two World Titles if they're running Super Shows.

- Like Rebel said, when was the last time they did a decent 3-hour TV show?
More so, what is the point of another WWE Draft if all rosters appear on both shows now? Hell SD guys have gotten Raw Title Shots and vise versa so WHY NOT COMBINED? They've had some decent shows more recently but a 3 Hour? Nah, seems like more room to talk people to go buy snacks and bathroom breaks. Talking does not equal ratings in real wrestling.

[Level-Two]

Bad move.

[The Soul Of Philly]

Wade Keller of PWTorch made some good points on how NOT to fail. Basically, rebuild the tag division, revive the crusierweights (but as a different name i.e. Light Heavyweight Mid-Heavyweight weight), give the IC and US titles values by having them main event shows every other week. And the one thing they NEED to do but won't: Give their top stars time away to make them appearing feel special.

But watch, they'll make it just like how RAW is now and give away PPV quality match-ups with more time to take away from PPVs

[Johnny Rebel]

If I'm the WWE, I'd do a few things differently:

1 - End the brand split completely. There isn't any reason to have two separate brands anymore -- there isn't enough talent to be spread that thin.

2 - Can SmackDown! Use it for NXT/FCW whatever they are showing these days.

3 - Combine titles. All of the titles need to be unified; there is no reason to have a US and IC title anymore.

4 - Create divisions. As thesoul pointed out - they need a tag division that is strictly for tag teams, not random teams thrown together with the idea of story lining their breakup. Have a lightweight/cruiserweight; guys that can really put on a high energy match.

I'm sure there are others but those are my thoughts.

[Lord Raab]

One thing I love to see come back but I know it won't ever happen. Hardcore title. I so want to see more Hardcore matches again but maybe that's me because I loved them matches especially for the title but won't ever happen cos of the PG crap now.

[The Soul Of Philly]

There is enough talent, the problem is creative doesn't have enough time to focus on the others (Yoshi, Tyson etc)

[President Jeff]

As long as the extra hour is used for meaning full matches and feuds, then the 3 hours thing is cool in my books. But if they just end up filling it with useless stupid crap, then its gonna tank and end up going back to 2 hours

[Jason Cashe]

They could do a ranking system of sorts, that'd work if it was random and not predictable. They should take advantage of what TNA lost in it's X-Division by creating something for the High Flyers and/or Gimmick Ruled like RoH's Pride Belt was. Make it a TapOut Division...

Yeah...Gotta love APW ideas!

[Reaver]

$100 says that they WWE and TNA steal APW ideas. remember the Main Event Mafia? LMAO

[Michael Callahan]

It was about a month after I debuted Chris Lawson in ACW, an African-American criminal prosecutions lawyer that they started making David Otunga a big deal because apparently he went to Harvard Law School which was literally where my character came from. I felt robbed.

[Jason Cashe]

Yeah Knuckles, I remember MEM. TcW had a Main Event Mafia FAR before TNA did. Although TNA had a much BETTER MEM. I miss Ryan Wisler though, one of my favorite people to rp with.

[Level-Two]

The critic in me says hell no they don't steal from efeds on it's face... but when you factor in them trying to shut them down and whatnot in the past - they actually know we exist.

With that said, I think TNA would be far more susceptible to stealing ideas from efeds.