Sunday Sermon: How Badly Needed is an Editor in the WWE

Craig Wilson, John Carbery, Brian Damage and Benjamin Trecroci

Is the WWE more filler than killer these days? Is SummerSlam 2017 just another example of that? In today’s Sunday Sermon, we examine the, in our opinion, desperate need for a filter in the WWE and to do away with six-hour PPVs.

Craig: For a while now, it has become abundantly clear that one of the biggest issues that the main roster of the WWE faces is the lack of an editor to filter out of the filler from the killer.

Case in point was absolutely this past week’s SummerSlam. Including a pre-show, the event lasted more than six hours. Even with the hottest card around – and that certainly wasn’t SummerSlam – the crowd would be burned out by the end. When it’s a poor show, that’s a torturous amount of time for the fans to spend.

But when you look at SummerSlam. Somewhere within that six hours is a perfectly solid two/two and a half hour PPV.

So, is that the biggest issue? Too much filler and not enough editing? There’s a strong enough roster there to make a very good three hour PPV but is there enough, when you discount the padding, to have a six-hour show?

John: I definitely think one of the reasons WWE’s pay per views are so poorly received is their awful booking philosophy. Summerslam stood out to be as it felt like the first WWE show in months that ended with a great main event.

So many marquee matches have been dreadful in 2017. There might be a great undercard bout or several but you leave with a bad taste in your mouth from the third act.

Brian: Well let’s be honest, six hours is way too long for a pay per view. I don’t care who is on the show. On the other hand, I understand the WWE’s thinking by giving as many stars a spot on the show to make that SummerSlam pay day. I think what really hurt them in this instance and in others quite frankly was NXT Takeover the night before the “big show.”

NXT does what the main roster does not and that is put on its top guys and gals on the show, sprinkle in a surprise or two and condenses it all into 21/2 to 3 hours. It usually always is the better show of the weekend and by the time the main roster show comes on, you can see the glaring differences. Triple H seems to have a better handle on what will get the crowd to go crazy for. While Vince and the main roster wrestle for Vince McMahon and the fans seem secondary almost.

I may be wrong on that but that is how it comes off. There is a burnout factor here. While six hours of wrestling can be a real chore to endure, the quality of NXT is hurting the main roster. It is weird to say that considering that NXT is supposed to be a developmental show but in my view, it’s the truth.

Craig: You would think the WWE would know that three hours is the standard. After all, WrestleMania 4, which was over four hours and packed with filler, is regarded as one of the worst Manias. How many times do they need to be burnt? And how many times do we need to be bored to tears with lengthy shows?

Attitude Era saw fans wish Raw was actually longer. I certainly did and couldn’t wait for the following week. Now, it’s unwatchable without a fast forward button. Exactly same can be said for WWE PPVs. I am almost certain am not the only one here who does it.

But why does the WWE continue to do this? Is it a result of the network being theirs and no longer having to care what cable companies say?

Brian: I honestly don’t know what the reasoning is and frankly people like us talking about it Day in and day out can get just as tiring. We all know three hours of Raw is too long. It hurt WCW Nitro when they did it and it is hurting WWE with Raw doing it.

The bigger problem is Vince McMahon. He just doesn’t seem to allow wrestlers to grow organically. Vince wants what Vince wants and that’s it. Their roster is filled with tremendous talents but very few are actual stars. Good old fashioned matches are appreciated by fans…but Vince doesn’t see it that way. It is more about entertainment.

The real question is: entertainment for who?

Benjamin: Brian, I definitely agree with it being tired on all fronts.

And yes we’ve talked about Jinder Mahal and how is push was out of nowhere and just seemed like something Vince and his cronies just felt like doing one day. Seen so many rumors and innuendo that “Vince has soured on so and so.” It’s almost like one day he looks at a picture of Sami Zayn for instance and says, “I’m bored with him.”

It is moves like that have made all these shows exhausting. Fans gravitate towards someone and then suddenly they are nowhere to be found. What reasoning was there behind that Rusev and Orton match? Was it just throw them on the show or was there an ulterior motive behind the 30-second match? Does anyone want to see a meaningless match three (counting the pre-show) hours into a show?

Highly doubt they’ll cut anything though and it will become even more of a ‘Pick and Chose’ weekly and PPV programming instead of ‘Must See TV’

Do you agree? Is there just too much WWE programming and is that the problem? Leave your thoughts on the comments section below.

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You can read all previous Sunday Sermons here.

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