A Better Raw

A Better Raw is an experiment. I didn’t know what it would do, so I put it out there. Quite a few people gave me thoughts and comments, but they weren’t the ones I was looking for. I wanted people to think about our flagship show in a different way. But I should have listened to Hunter, who’s always right about this sort of stuff. After he watched the first one, he told me that this sort of shock wouldn’t be welcome with wrestling fans. They like things to be consistent. They like to show up and know what they’re gonna get. Changes can be made, but it’s a slow process.

He’s right, of course. So over the next two or three years, we’re slowly going to be incorporating the ideas we made for A Better Raw into Raw. Most people won’t notice the difference. It’s like looking yourself in the mirror every day. You don’t realize how fat you’ve gotten since high school. But I want you to remember this moment. Tape this week’s Raw, and watch it again in two years. Watch it back to back with a new episode of Raw from 2012. I think you’ll be astonished how different it will be.

A Better Raw, episode 2

I do want to thank everyone for the feedback, both good and bad. I’m working on the choppiness, and the timing issues. Obviously, the show has kinks to work out. But that’s sort of the point, right now. Monday Night Raw has been done the same way for fourteen years. Of course it’s a smooth product. Shaking things up, applying dramaturgical processes, and generally experimenting with time and space on an otherwise live show is going to create some rough edges.

Still, I believe this project is one of the most important things to happen to professional wrestling since, well, I started this blog.

Click here to download A Better Raw, episode 2.

Once again, I’m looking forward to thoughts, criticism, and if this at all changes the way you look at our show.

A Better Raw notes

Here are some things we’re playing with on this project:

Time: Wrestling shows have always read from left to right. I thought it would be interesting to play with this a little. From airing segments in a different order, the viewer can think of the plot in a way that makes a little more logistical sense. For instance, John Cena’s Summerslam team makes a lot more sense if you watch A Better Raw as opposed to just Raw.

On the next episode of A Better Raw, I’m going to take this further by actually cutting up a match to add dramatic effect throughout the episode. It really works.

An Increased Assumption of Intelligence: On Raw, you might see replays, reminders, and other instances where we remind you of something that’s happened. On A Better Raw, I assume you’re paying attention. Much like a prime time network drama, if you’re not glued, you’re going to miss something. I do sometimes feel we baby our viewers, so this is an attempt to leave behind the less passionate. Not only are some things simply cut, but scenes may reference a previous scene that may have simply not aired.

Lighting and transitions: We generally film WWE in HD using straight footage. We play with lighting and transitions in our highlight reels and music videos, but never during the broadcast. We’re trying it out on A Better Raw. That’s why Randy Orton goes red at the end of the episode. We want you to feel something there.

Truncating scenes and placing emphasis on full, solid wrestling matches: Something we generally don’t do on RAW. 20 minute interview segments are being shortened, and matches that hold little cache are either being shortened or cut. A Better Raw is a wrestling program, whereas Raw is a sports entertainment program. For example, we moved the triple threat match between Edge, Orton and Jericho to the main event, where it belonged.

A Better Raw, episode 1

Okay, sue me. Vinnie Mac’s not the best at this whole “giving people things they want” thing. But I do eventually give you what you need, and you need to watch “A Better Raw” episode one, and here it is.

Download “A Better Raw” episode 1.

Now, what is this? I don’t want to spoil it completely, but it is last week’s episode of Raw. Except it’s different. You’ll notice it’s been boiled down to one hour. You’ll notice the order of events have changed. I’ve done this to promote dramatic timing and tension. The cuts and timing will get better as we go. Think of this as a trial run.

I hope you all like it. It could lead to important things.

A Little History

Many of you are too young to realize this, but the current format for WWE RAW has been exactly the same for fourteen years. Here are the major elements that we use when putting together an episode of RAW:

• 2 hours of prime-time programming
• interview segments followed by matches followed by angles, all in sequential order. One sequence always follows another. Flashbacks, flash-forwards, and other time cutaways are not possible because we are live.
• One or two important matches, surrounded largely by filler. Most segments setup a PPV match. The ones that don’t serve next to no larger purpose.

If it sounds like I’m being hard on my product, it’s because this winning formula of ours continues to win. And when you’re winning, there’s no real reason to innovate. That’s why, when we changed our set and moved to two hours in early 1997 and began writing shows to accommodate that sort of time, we never thought we were going to keep doing that forever. But here we are. The fact is, we had one hour of television in prime time before WCW started killing us, and a lot of us miss that single-hour format. You had to be tighter. You had to fit just as much in. You didn’t have time for filler. It was exciting. We’re the fat winners.

Right now, We put on two hours on Monday, one hour on Tuesday, two hours on Friday, and three hours every fourth Sunday. I’m not suggesting getting rid of all that (and lose those advertising dollars, are you crazy?). What I’m suggesting is that for the next little while, I’m going to try an experiment. Call it fantasy booking, if you want, though being who I am it’s hardly that. But so many people complain about our product without actually coming up with an alternative product, or a fix to our product. The fact is, you don’t know what you want. But I do. At least, I think I do.

This afternoon, prepare for the first new spin on Monday night RAW in fourteen years.

it’s what i’ve been saying for years

this needs to happen. People want this. They’ve wanted it since 1997.

it’s coming

It’s going to change everything.

I’m working on something big

You’ll see it on Monday.

No, not on RAW. Before RAW. Sometime in the day. And it won’t be on any WWE site, though there’s a lot of people in Titan Towers who are rooting for this project to succeed.

I’ll give you a hint. I’ll give you the title of the project:

A Better Raw.