2. The Constraints
Combing Raw, Smackdown, Main Event and Superstars, the WWEs main roster is featured on seven hours (or around four and a half/five excluding commercial breaks) of programming each week. This places considerable pressure on the creative team, who struggle to fill such a considerable amount of time with meaningful bouts and storyline development despite having around seventy five wrestlers at their disposal (around a third of whom, from Alex Riley to Yoshi Tatsu, are rarely or seemingly never on television despite being uninjured, but could be utilised in lower and midcard feuds, which are rare). This has been particularly apparent since the end of the brand split, which saw Raw and Smackdown air as separate shows with their own rosters and storylines. Much time is therefore dedicated to product promotions (try taking a shot every time Michael Cole mentions the WWE App on Raw and see how long you last before passing out) and lengthy recaps, the latter of which are particularly annoying when they are used to remind viewers of events that took place only an hour or so previously. NXT gets only one hour (forty five minutes sans commercials) to showcase its talents each week, but rarely does a minute ever feel wasted. Almost every bout is used to build-up wrestlers (who squash actual jobbers when the need arises rather than midcarders like Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett or Damien Sandow week in/week out as the likes of Sheamus and Randy Orton do on Raw/Smackdown) or develop a feud. The shows limited time also means that not every top-tier wrestler on the roster is featured each and every week, meaning that they do not become saturated from overexposure and their stories can develop over the course of several months The storyline involving the Wyatt Family and those that oppose them, for instance, has been developing for the best part of eight months or so.