WWE: Here's A Tip Less Is More

 

Happy New Year folks, the busy holiday season is behind us and we start a new year full of grind and good times. While it's a new year, today marks a new era for WWE and the Smackdown brand for the first time ever Smackdown will be 3 hours long every week. In addition to Raw most likely being 3 hours long when it debuts on Netflix Monday, that's 6 hours of TV for WWE's main brands. Throw in the 2 hours of NXT on CW, that's 8 a PLE falls in on a week that's 11 hours of TV time. 

Now I'm not mad at WWE for getting the deals they are getting if networks and streaming services are throwing money at them. However, with all that weekly TV time, monthly PLE's, 2 night Wrestlemanias (which I am a fan of) and Summerslam becoming 2 nights as well with rumors of more major PLE's following. I am very concerned that WWE runs the risk of overexposure and exhausting their fan base. 

I for one have really enjoyed the 2 hour RAW's that started in October and felt it forced them to streamline a bit more and not drag things out. 9:30 would hit and I would be like damn it's almost over already, and ending at 10:00 p.m. as opposed to 11:00 really helped in my efforts to get ready for the next day. It also bought back those attitude era feelings of damn I can't wait until next week to see what happens next.

I also feel not just time wise but financially as well, WWE maybe pushing the limits of their consumer base. I have seen many people expressing disappointment or some anger at how expensive WWE shows have gotten. With the price of everything nowadays I get it from their perspective as a corporation, but as a fan I have started to scale back on attending events when they come to town, or planning vacations around major events. I enjoy making vacations out of Wrestlemania and company. It is a fun experience I encourage any wrestling fan to participate in if they can, but it also is very expensive and when you gotta do some belt-tightening, that experience likely won't make the cut. 

I'm hoping someone in WWE and TKO realize some of these things and not burn fans out so much making everything bigger and longer. Especially with how cyclical pro wrestling is, when casual fans move on to the next thing the day one's will be left to pick up the tab. And then they maybe forced to scale back on some things. 

As people often end stories with, I say all that to say WWE less is more and your company would benefit even more from that mantra.