4 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (5 January - Results & Review)

2. Going Long

What is it with WWE insisting that the vast majority of their matches go 10-plus minutes, even when the story doesn’t call for it or the match would be better served with a shorter runtime?

This is a common problem with Raw these days, booking four TV matches Monday that averaged 16 minutes each, with the main event lasting nearly 27 minutes. It’s entirely too long, leading to fans becoming disinterested and tuning out until they sense the near-falls toward the end coming, and then they come back to life.

The main event will get some praise later, but in dragging it out a good 10 minutes longer than it should have lasted, Bron Breakker had to go completely against his character and how he sold this match. Rather than trying to tear CM Punk apart like a rabid dog, Breakker did the chinlock and slow punches while pacing around the ring. (Yes, things picked up, but trim 10 minutes and you don’t need the slowed-down action.)

Would it have killed WWE to shave about 20 minutes from the four matches and add a fifth match clocking in at 10 minutes (plus entrances)? Maybe the Creed Brothers could have actually wrestled a match instead of playing around with a Scoops Ahoy set piece backstage.