10 Things Lapsed Fans Think During WrestleMania Season

9. Why Is Monday Night Raw So Long?

Since 1993, Monday Night Raw has been the WWF/WWE's flagship television program. During the height of the 'Attitude' Era, the show was known as Raw Is War and was utterly essential wrestling viewing. At 2 hours in length, fans were handed a weekly slice of excitement that later only continued with the introduction of Smackdown. Now, things are very different. Raw is 3 hours long, something which has been a constant source of irritation for those who do watch regularly. There's an overwhelming sense that the program is too long for those who are hardcore enough fans to watch everything WWE present, so you can only imagine what it's like for those tuning in for the first time following an extended break. Those jaded enthusiasts must be wondering why the weekly TV show is so lengthy, because it clearly struggles to be 180 minutes of solid, compelling television. There are highlight moments, of course, but they are often punctuation marks in a seemingly never-ending series of dull segments. Where is that incendiary excitement that Raw was once famous for? That would be a question on the lips of many.