Keeping Score is so embarassed he hasn't posted in a month

Arn at 17 and Steamboat at 24 are the ones that stand out upon first glance.

-- Stephanie said the 1,000th Raw (actual #999) starting the three-hour Raws will feature old stars returning to mix with new stars on the roster. Asked if she will be returning to TV, Stephanie said, "Who knows? Maybe you’ve got to tune into the 1000th Raw on July 23!”

Asked when The Rock will return and/or have a return match, Stephanie said, "Hmm, I think I’m gonna have to let that one unfold!”

WWE News: Stephanie defends Raw to three hours, is she returning to TV?, talks surprises at Raw #1,000 & Rock's return

May 21, 2012 - 5:04:34 PM

By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor


WWE executive Stephanie McMahon talked to IGN.com's Eric Goldman about Raw changing to three hours starting July 23. The following are highlights.

-- As part of the "interactive elements" added to Raw, Stephanie said the audience will vote on "different things every week" to affect the show.

-- Stephanie said the 1,000th Raw (actual #999) starting the three-hour Raws will feature old stars returning to mix with new stars on the roster. Asked if she will be returning to TV, Stephanie said, "Who knows? Maybe you’ve got to tune into the 1000th Raw on July 23!”

Asked when The Rock will return and/or have a return match, Stephanie said, "Hmm, I think I’m gonna have to let that one unfold!”

-- Stephanie gave the marketing department sales pitch for why Raw is moving to three hours: “It’s going to be the first-ever regularly scheduled three-hour program on television and I think we’ve got a pretty good handle on it thus far! You know, we do a three-hour show called a Pay-Per-View almost every month and Monday Night Raw, we’ve done three hours before, so we feel great about it."

Link: Full story at IGN.com .

Caldwell's Analysis: There are some really, really good reasons why executives in the TV industry have not scheduled three-hour, non-sporting event shows. (a) You lose the audience asking them to sit through a three-hour drama/comedy/variety show once-a-week. (b) It would burn out the audience very quickly by throwing everything at viewers and leaving them with nothing to anticipate.

As for Stephanie's comments on WWE already having practice with PPVs and three-hour specials, there's a reason why they're special events and not weekly-occurring events. Over the Limit Sunday night showed why WWE should cut back on PPV events - it didn't feel like a PPV-worthy special event and watered down the entire PPV concept - in order to re-establish the specialness of the events. With Raw, WWE is pushing forward with too much supply when the demand simply is not there for a three-hour Raw. Soon enough, having a three-hour Raw every week will water down the flagship show and WWE will eventually lose viewers asking them to sit through a three-hour show every Monday night when they were perfectly content watching a two-hour show

So let's fix Raw by having job matches?

No thanks.

Why not, get guys over and actually have clean finishes. Serves a purpose.

Arn at 17 and Steamboat at 24 are the ones that stand out upon first glance.

PWTorch readers have pointed out that included in WWE's new "Revolution" web video released Monday is a close-up shot of who appears to be current TNA wrestler Matt Morgan. As reported earlier this month, Morgan has near "free agent" status due to TNA using up his contracted dates. Assuming it is Morgan in the video, WWE is able to loosely reference a non-contracted talent since they own footage from his career, similar to WWE teasing Sting potentially joining the company in the 2-21-11 videos last year when he was in-between TNA contracts.




Matt Morgan do anything for ya?

Stephanie gave the marketing department sales pitch for why Raw is moving to three hours: “It’s going to be the first-ever regularly scheduled three-hour program on television

It was 2 years, but who is counting.

Nitro never existed in the McMahons world. They have that blocked out.

- PWInsider reports that Ric Flair and TNA are at a major impasse and there is a ton of heat on Flair for his conduct outside of the ring. One source described it as "being at the point it's not worth keeping Flair around."

There have been a number of incidents with Flair at local establishments in Orlando since he joined TNA. Flair was reportedly banned from drinking at the Hard Rock Cafe at Citiwalk due to an incident.

There also have been many stories about Flair not being able to cover bar tabs and company management getting calls from hotel or bar management seeking payment. Something similar recently happened at a hotel TNA has a good relationship with and that was said to be the final tipping point. Flair was pulled from live events and TV tapings after that incident.

Several people in the company have been against using him as a regular since he came to TNA, noting that while he carries a high price tag, he hasn't drew money or ratings for TNA.

Spike TV sources also report that there have been a number of requests from the network for TNA to keep Flair dressed and not have him "near nude" and bleeding at his age on TV.

Word going around over the weekend was that Flair is done with TNA but that's not confirmed yet.