This is a rather simple thread, meant for discussion.. Allow me to explain something first.
Now I was an avid WWE fan between 2002/3 and 2007/8. I can't honestly remember when I finally gave up watching the product, but it was somewhere around 2007. I remember Jeff Hardy's WWE title reign, that is about it.
Now during that entire time, WWE had 4 hours of MAIN product being televised weekly. You had a 2 hour RAW, and a 2 hour Smackdown, Monday and Thursday, respectively. Of course SD would move to Friday, and all was still well.
For a lot of those years they even had Heat on Sunday nights and Velocity on Saturday nights (If I remember correctly). That was sweet, it highlighted some cruiserweights and tag teams etc etc..
Now, figure this. WWE aired 4 hours of their main product a week. And with those 4 hours, and a distinct roster on each show mind you, they were able to showcase all the talent they needed to. They were able to make you care about the characters they presented to you. The shows were highly entertaining and there was a perfect blend of wrestling and promos, mic time, backstage segments, interviews, etc etc.
In today's WWE, it is so much different. I returned this year shortly before Wrestlemania, and I come back to discover that everything is drastically different. Most people aren't featured, the characters don't get ample time to individualize themselves, and the shows just seemed mediocre. Now after several weeks I discover that WWE in fact turned to a PG rating. I had not known this previously.
This is no problem in my mind, that's all fine and dandy. PG isn't my issue, though it does lend a hand in explaining why the product is so drastically different today.
There is no more roster split, that's something I'm still getting used to. And now with the expansion of RAW to 3 hours, it feels like even LESS talent gets featured. They've certainly been fixing this in the past month or so, but my argument still stands.
Why is there so much content now? Split between a 3 hour RAW, a 2 hour Smackdown, the addition of the 1 hour Main Event, and something called NXT and Superstars (I have no idea what these are), and yet STILL talent has yet to be featured and it feels like there's very few characters to actually care about.
TL;DR, WWE has so much content to offer on a weekly basis, yet I feel like they feature so little actual product. With only 4 hours a week plus the small Velocity/Heat shows, they provided so much only a few years ago.
How is this possible?
Just hoping to start a discussion. Hopefully you read my giant wall of text!
The Overabundance of Weekly WWE Material
The Overabundance of Weekly WWE Material
