The season premiere of Monday Night Raw was a more eventful night than in past years, with some big matches and even bigger announcements. Some particularly huge news arrived about the rest of its run on the USA Network, and it has me concerned about what's in store for when the WWE show finally moves to Netflix in 2025.
The company dropped some big news that is scheduled to begin with the Monday Night Raw on Monday, October 7. As mentioned on X, the show will run from 8:00 p.m. ET at its normal time but will now conclude an hour early at 10:00 p.m. ET. That's right, two-hour Raw episodes are coming, and I am concerned about what that means for upcoming WWE events.
Taking An Hour Away From Raw Will Have A Massive Impact On The Show
I recently wrote about eleven superstars who I feel the WWE is not giving enough time to because the main roster is the strongest its ever been, and while that's a good problem to have, there's hall of fame-level talent sitting on the sidelines on SmackDown and Monday Night Raw because there are just not enough segments to go around.
I feel this is an even bigger problem on SmackDown, where the storyline with the Bloodline faction can take up a large chunk of the show. It's deserved and the biggest wrestling storyline in years, but it takes up so much time the show doesn't even get its other champions in the ring on some weeks.
I can easily see the same thing happening on Monday Night Raw, with Judgment Day's current feud taking up about an hour of screentime per show. Again, it's deserved, but losing an hour means that there will be less time for up-and-coming stars to prove themselves and less time for veterans to come out and wow the audience and show they still got it.
It's a bummer, but for now, it's only in effect for 2024. It's possible that this is just a decision the network made that the WWE has to live with until it can jump platforms, but I'm worried it's bigger than that.
I'm Worried This Time Change Is A Soft Launch Of The Permanent Time Change On Netflix
My biggest fear is that when Monday Night Raw comes to Netflix, it will remain a two-hour program. Granted, we still don't know a ton about what the show will look like when it makes the switch to streaming, but I can already say I dislike the idea of getting an hour less of WWE wrestling a week.
Let's not forget that we have to see John Cena face off against superstars during his retirement tour. While I'm pumped for all upcoming John Cena events in 2025, it ultimately means even less time for storytelling for other superstars already working week to week on television right now.
I'm excited to watching Monday Night Raw with my Netflix subscription when the time comes, but the thought the show may be shorter than I've been accustomed to for years leaves a bad taste in my mouth. We're already getting fewer matches at PLEs when we tune in with our Peacock Premium subscription, and now it just feels like I should expect fewer matches across the board. I don't like that, so I'm remaining optimistic that this is just a change that will occur to close out the USA Network era of the show and that Raw will be back to three hours in 2025.
Monday Night Raw remains on USA on Mondays beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET. I'm more eager than ever to hear some details on what the new look of the show will be, and hoping all my current concerns are put to rest soon.
