10 Reasons Why Your Friends Don't Watch Wrestling Anymore
5. Too Much Television
When WWE got really popular in the late 1990s, Raw was their only show (save for some weekend recap programming aimed at younger viewers). When WCW added Thunder to their schedule in 1998, the prevailing belief was that the two extra hours of TV would lead to WCW overexposing their product and ultimately, doing damage to themselves.
Instead, two primetime shows became the norm for pro wrestling, and WWE was forced to follow suit by introducing Smackdown. With a rich roster that was eventually divided into two brands, four hours of TV weren't hard to fill. As the years wore on and the roster got thinner, though, Smackdown became more of a "B-show," with less emphasis placed on it every year. What did WWE do? They added more television, of course.
Superstars and Main Event were added to the line-up, as was the now-defunct Saturday Morning Slam. Those shows weren't required viewing, but the most devastating blow came in the summer of 2012, when Monday Night Raw added another hour to its regular broadcast. WWE brass didn't even want to make the change, but money offered by the USA Network made it an offer they couldn't refuse.
185 minutes of pro wrestling every Monday night is daunting when the product is good, and given what the company's been working with the past few years, Raw is nearly impossible to get through each and every week. It's little wonder fans are just giving up.