3. Its Live And Anything Can Happen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meIfWJD4dNs Sure, everything about WWE is heavily scripted these days, but its flagship show, RAW, is live as live can be and thus, theres always the chance for something crazy and unexpected to happen. When the WWE was going head to head with WCW, it lost some ground in the ratings race because it was deemed too expensive to run live TV every week. WCW took advantage of the fact that WWE was airing pre-taped content by spoiling match results during episodes of Nitro. Since then, WWE has only aired live episodes of RAW (with a few exceptions here and there). Although this may be a macabre example to look at, the episode of RAW immediately following the Chris Benoit murder/suicide demonstrates the volatility of live television. Following a solemn statement by Vince McMahon regarding the passing of Benoit and his family, the rest of that episode served as a tribute to the memory of the wrestler. Being that it aired so soon after the crime had taken place, not enough facts had been amassed to demonstrate that Benoit was the villain he would eventually come to be portrayed as. Because RAW is live, it can react to current events in the news and world of entertainment with a fair amount of immediacy, thus having the ability to be constantly relevant (even though it often fails at this task). And if all that isnt enough, theres always the possibility of accidental nudity.
Walter Lyng
I am a writer and stand-up comedian living in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I didn't witness the Bret Hart screw job in person, but I did watch the Breaking Point PPV live and that was terrible it its own way. I am dangerously obsessed with professional wrestling and its surrounding culture. I am the current ring announcer for a local fed called the IWS. I got to introduce Tommy Dreamer a while back. My head almost exploded. I am a mark, and proud of it. I also co-host a podcast called Go Plug Yourself, which has featured quite a few local wrestlers and even Mick Foley. Speaking of the Mickster, I once got to be his warmup act when he was in town for comiccon. My head actually exploded that time. I've recovered... sort of.
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