10 Reasons Classic Wrestling Is Superior To Sports Entertainment
2. Killing Time
In the territory days, the major wrestling TV shows of the time lasted one hour. This was standard for the time. As the old showbiz adage goes, always leave 'em wanting more.
In 1993, the premier episode of WWE Monday Night RAW aired on USA. Runtime: One hour. WWE was ushering in the Attitude Era, and pro wrestling was becoming big again.
Fast forward three more years. WCW was winning the ratings war, and chose to extend their flagship program, Nitro, to two hours. By the following January, RAW also became two-hours long. Nitro then extended to three. RAW followed this format in 2012.
RAW remains at three hours and SmackDown at two hours. TNA Impact lasts two hours. AEW Dynamite is two hours, and AEW Rampage remains at one hour.
Where one-hour shows were "All killer, no filler", modern promotions have to really stretch the taffy to fill all that airtime. This comes in the form of lengthy and often confusing promos or segments that do little to further the narrative.
In a study done of modern Monday Night RAW, ads made up an average of 49 minutes and 35 seconds. Promos/interviews averaged 25 minutes and 18 seconds. Highlights, recaps and replays averaged 9 minutes and 27 seconds. Ring entrances lasted a whopping 39 minutes and 45 seconds. This left just one hour, 2 minutes and 11 seconds of actual wrestling.
That's just 1/3 wrestling, and 2/3 "entertainment".