Monday Night Raw’s Status as WWE’s Flagship Program

Monday Night Raw is considered to be the flagship program of WWE. But it’s not just been important to the company; it’s been important to the business as well. Raw is a battle-tested machine, a program that has withstood every challenge that’s come along.

From the threat of WCW to the whimper of TNA and everything in between, Monday Night Raw has persevered. After 25 years and over 1300 episodes, Raw continues to be the standard for not only WWE, but the industry as well. Or is it?

Ratings are down for the program. The top titleholder is never around. An abundance of main event talent does not always equal a quality show. How much of this is on WWE and how much of it is due to other factors out of the company’s control?

Ratings are what they are and oftentimes, there’s not much WWE can do about it. Loading the program up with WrestleMania caliber matches in order to grab more views is an option but how often could WWE actually pull that off before it became old hat? Why would the company need pay-per-views if Raw itself essentially became a pay-per-view?

Watch Raw’s funniest moments:

Funniest backstage moments: WWE Top 10, July 16, 2018

That’s not to suggest that the matches themselves can’t get better. It’s also not to suggest that the company shouldn’t work toward a five-star program every time Monday Night Raw goes on the air. Of course that would perhaps be much easier to accomplish if the industry’s top star were around more often.

The Brock Lesnar situation is a complicated one. WWE wanted a big fight champion to bring legitimacy to the Universal title. But Brock had to be special at the same time, which meant he could not be featured every week on TV. If he was, then there would be nothing special about him. Lesnar signed a contract for a certain amount of appearances per year and he is indeed fulfilling his obligation.

But it’s just not working. The Universal Championship is less relevant than it ever was and some would argue it’s never been relevant. Kevin Owens was the only real Universal champion but his booking caused him to constantly look weak, which did nothing for the title.

Lesnar himself may be a special athlete but his routine in the ring has become painfully routine indeed. Fans pop when he returns after months of inactivity but 30 seconds into his match, they are reminded of just how mundane he has become. Brock is capable of working circles around a great portion of the WWE locker room but instead it’s nothing but “suplex, repeat, suplex, win.”

Watch Lesnar’s most vicious assaults:

Brock Lesnar's vicious assaults: WWE Top 10, March 26, 2018

Then there’s the matter of that Raw roster. Monday nights are overloaded with talent and the program is a who’s who of WWE Superstars. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Braun Strowman, Kevin Owens, Bobby Lashley, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Matt Hardy, Bray Wyatt and Bobby Roode call Monday Night Raw home.

The same is true of Ronda Rousey, Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Natalya, Nia Jax, Ember Moon and Mickie James. That’s 11 male Superstars and eight female Superstars, all of whom are right at home in the main event. There are more than 19 talents on the Raw roster of course but these are some of the best that WWE has to offer. There should be no reason why Raw isn’t the most exciting, most action-packed three hours of programming in WWE‘s lineup. But is that truly the case?

Even the program’s runtime is still an issue for fans. A third hour obviously means not only more time but more money and fans surely understand that. But the format still receives its fair share of hate from the WWE faithful. WWE continues to present Raw as the place to be for pro wrestling fans but considering all of the issues surrounding the program, that may not be the case anymore.

Raw is the cornerstone of the company, there is no denying that. But its status as the flagship program is obviously in question. The rise of WWE’s second brand has created even more chaos for fans and has perhaps exposed Raw’s problems for the whole world to see.

Many fans consider SmackDown Live to be superior to Raw. There was a time when that notion was perhaps nothing more than a novelty statement, meant to further criticize the red brand. But with each passing week, SmackDown continues to impress while Raw continues to lose steam.

So what is the reason? The truth is that yes, Raw has an impressive main event roster. Yes, the Universal title should be back on Monday nights. But the majority of issues that Raw faces are the same issues that any WWE brand faces. The fault lies in the booking, pure and simple.

Watch Raw’s top endings:

Raw Grand Finales - WWE Top 10

WWE Creative cannot be perfect and sometimes it’s not possible to give fans everything they want when they want it. When those two situations collide, the overall perception is that the company is lazy. That may be in true in many cases. But sometimes, fans are too quick to judge and perhaps not willing to give a storyline the proper amount of time to develop.

Indeed today’s WWE audience feels a bizarre sense of empowerment and will not hesitate to take over any show at any time. Raw is no exception of course and much of that falls back on Roman’s shoulders. While The Big Dog gives maximum effort every time he’s in the ring, there’s no guarantee that effort will receive a positive reaction.

Maybe the bulk of the problem is the WWE fan base itself. Fans hate Roman even though he’s tough. He never backs down from a fight and the crowd boos him for it. Roman is the one that The Beast Incarnate mauls every time he comes back yet Reigns still wants more even as fans jeer. Yes, the match has happened once too often. But at what point did the WWE audience decide that an angle is simply not worth their time? Why sabotage an entire program?

Monday Night Raw was must-see television for pro wrestling fans. It was an event, a happening, in which fans could get together and watch the program as if they were in the live crowd itself. But thanks to streaming apps, companies like New Japan, Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling are all just one click away. Why waste time with a sub-par product when that time could be spent watching other wrestling that’s different and potentially more entertaining?

The fact is that WWE is changing. SmackDown Live is moving to Fox in 2019 and the network is already billing it as the WWE’s flagship program. The Universal Championship may not be around but the WWE Championship is. The blue brand features its own star studded roster that works just as hard as its Monday night counterpart. Maybe Raw is no longer the premier program. Maybe the time has come to move on and accept that WWE, just like the pro wrestling business, will never be the same again.

 

Tom Clark can regularly be seen on Wrestling Rumors. His podcast, Tom Clark’s Main Event, is available on iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, iHeart Radio, Amazon Android, Windows Phone and online at boinkstudios.com