What are your thoughts on AEW adding a third hour of television – be it an extra hour to Dynamite or another one hour show on TNT?
I am not in favor of more TV for AEW right now. Dynamite has performed well for TNT and performed well up against WWE NXT. However, I do not believe they have the talent in order to sustain another hour of TV. Product oversaturation is something that has caused WWE to drastically lose audience. They do it because they perform well in key demographics and the USA Network is willing to pay for it. But sometimes, less is more.
On July 23, 2012 Monday Night Raw went to three hours – that was eight years ago. Ever since then, we have seen the audience tune out, especially for that third and final hour. There is no offseason in wrestling so to expect viewers to make a commitment for three hours week in and week out is a lot to ask. For me, SmackDown is a much more enjoyable show because it is only two hours. I do not head over to the WWE Network to watch 205 Live afterwards either. Two hours in one sitting is plenty.
Back to AEW, they are growing and have been successful but they are not consistently averaging over 1 million viewers a week. They have yet to tap into a large portion of the mainstream fan base. So what is the advantage of adding more television? It gives talent more opportunities but AEW still needs more top tier talent. I feel like we are going to see another hour of TV come to light for them but I do not think it is a wise choice at this time. WWE would benefit by moving Raw back to two hours. Will it ever happen? Only if the USA Network is no longer willing to pay for three each week.
Zack Ryder and Cameron are the latest former WWE talents to join AEW. What you think and are there more?
Both Matt Cardona (Ryder) and Ariane Andrew (Cameron) are solid additions to the AEW roster. Arguments can be made both workers could have been bigger stars under different booking circumstances. Cardona was widely rumored to join the promotion because of his friendship with Cody Rhodes and Cody dropped a big hint prior to Dynamite. Miro (who now works as Rusev) is someone I could see end up in AEW but he claims to be finished wrestling but we will see how that goes.
Any idea with CM Punk has such disdain for The Miz? It seems to be very public.
CM Punk does not like The Miz. I do not know if it stems from the fact Punk thought he should have been in the main event at WrestleMania XXVII when The Miz went over John Cena or something else. Punk always wanted to main event WrestleMania and felt that spot should have went to him when he was beat by Randy Orton earlier on that card. Punk went on that year to become WWE’s top guy at Money in the Bank so maybe he feels like it could have happened sooner. Miz used to have a lot of heat with the boys because of his reality star past so maybe he just irritates Punk. I do not know the specific reason for their heat.
Why do some Superstars struggle when called up to Raw of SmackDown from NXT?
Triple H controls every aspect of NXT with Vince McMahon more hands off. Vince is in control of Raw and SmackDown. If he does not have a vision for a talent, they will likely struggle on the main WWE roster. It is crucial that a Superstar make a lasting impression when put on Raw or SmackDown because one misstep could result in falling out of favor. As I have discussed before, we have examples of talent succeeding and of talent failing. There is no cut and dry answer.
The next installment of Ask WNC is scheduled to run on Monday, August 3, 2020.
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