Jim Ross Claims WWE Raw Moving To 3 Hours Was “Not Artistic Benefit, It’s Money”
Legendary Commentator Jim Ross has revealed that he doesn’t think any of AEW’s TV shows will move to three hours, saying that WWE Raw only did so for financial reasons.
WWE Raw was a two-hour show for many years but moved to three hours permanently in 2012, starting with the 1000th episode on July 23rd that year. The move has long been criticised by fans, with many believing it’s too long for a wrestling show.
AEW’s flagship show, Dynamite, launched with a two-hour format in 2019, and has remained at that length since then. There was some confusion last year when AEW President Tony Khan announced an extra hour of programming for the promotion, but he was referring to the debut of a second show, Rampage, which is an hour-long weekly broadcast.
Khan revealed on Twitter at the time that he had been asked at a network meeting if he would be interested in a third hour for Dynamite, but said, “definitely not”.
Yes it is. The third hour on TNT won’t be part of Dynamite, nor will it be on Wednesday. I was asked once in a network meeting if I’d ever have any interest in potentially adding a third hour to Dynamite, and I said definitely not, although I appreciated them asking the question.
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) September 6, 2020
Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, available via AdFreeShows, Jim Ross weighed in on the subject, saying that he doesn’t see any AEW TV shows going to three hours and that “we’ve all learned good lessons from those three-hour Raws”.
“That one hour show on Friday nights, it seems like it flies by,” Ross mentioned. “I think that the one hour format still has its place, but two would be my absolute limit unless you’re doing a pay- per-view because you’re paying for more, and you get more on a PPV. I think the one hour thing still works. I don’t see Rampage going to two hours,
I don’t see any of Tony Khan’s over the air content ever going to three hours. Who the hell knows, but I would be surprised if that ever happened. I think we’ve all learned good lessons about these three hour Raws. It’s not done for artistic benefit, it’s done for the money. USA is paying a lot more money for that third hour of primetime television. It’s live every week, but to me, it’s a little long.”
Jim Ross signed with AEW in April 2019 and is their play-by-play commentator for Dynamite and pay-per-views.
H/T to Wrestling Inc for the above transcription.