Tomorrow night, RAW makes its long-awaited Netflix debut and there remains a huge amount of intrigue about how the show will differ on streaming.
The USA Network will no longer be on hand to censor "Holy sh*t" chants, for example, and there's been a lot of chatter about us seeing an edgier pro wrestling product (even though several high-ranking WWE executives have suggested RAW will remain PG).
Talking on the SI Media Podcast, WWE CCO Triple H addressed a topic we haven't heard covered too often: RAW's runtime when it no longer has the constraints of ending in time for whatever's next on a network's TV schedule.
"It will be flexible. It will be flexible in I don’t necessarily know the time constraints of network television or cable television apply. It’s a slightly different platform. Much like many episodic shows, they have the ability to do whatever the show needs to have down. If this episode needs to be an hour, great, it’s an hour. If the next episode needs to be 42 minutes, it’s 42 minutes. It’s what makes for the best product. I’m not saying we’re going to be 42 minutes, but clearly we’ll deliver the product in a way that is best for Netflix and their business model and best for our storytelling. We have averages. For me, the perfect show time is somewhere in the two-and-a-half-hour range. If you had asked me years ago, the two-hour shows, you get into them and you don’t have the real estate on that program to get everything in there you want to get in, all the stories and characters."
"Sometimes, it’s a good thing because it creates scarcity and opportunity for people to be moreover, but sometimes there are things you want to get in there. I think we’ll have more freedom in the format and more freedom to say...if two hours is not enough, three hours you can be in the position of 'Did you need that or was it important?'"
"I don’t want to say filler because I don’t want anyone to feel like they’re filler. Sometimes, a three-hour show, having hours that crossover, you’re so constrained by that, that you’re putting in the show what we call ‘collapsible.’ The show is heavy, we get late into an hour, something has to lose time. What is collapsible? What is not the story driving everything? What can be shrunk or can go quicker? The amount of commercial time doesn’t change. It’s difficult. Sometimes, three hours can feel long, and two hours is not enough. Somewhere in the middle is a sweet spot."
In recent weeks, we've seen several reports about the WrestleMania main events, with Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena now seemingly the priority for WWE.
While The Game didn't weigh in on the rumours, he did confirm that the matches which will headline the Show of Shows have been locked in "with an asterisk."
"I cannot tell you what happens between today and Las Vegas. People get hurt, you get a phone call, 'Have you ever considered doing this with me?' 'Oh, that’s an amazing opportunity. Maybe we go in a different direction.' Sometimes you start to go down the road with a storyline and it’s not resonating the way I thought it would, 'Maybe this would be bigger.' It can all change. I’m a big, 'Put pins in stuff far in advance.'"
"We had a card for WrestleMania loosely written out in October, and that’s morphed a lot. We’re sort of sitting down on a regular basis, weekly, and talking about what do we believe the shift is. Where do we see the shift happening and what do we need to move around? Can I say I have something penciled in? Yes. Do I think it will stay? I think, but I’m not sure."
Finally, Triple He commented on John Cena's upcoming retirement tour and reiterated the 16-time WWE Champion's previous remarks that he's going all-in on WWE in 2025.
"He has made this his prime commitment for the year. And he's kind of all in. So he's going to make some live events. He's going to make TV’s, not everything because then obviously supply and demand as well. He'll make select premium live events. He's going to wrestle a lot. And then it's, you know, it's sort of a one calendar year thing. And then he’s going to call it a day."
You can listen to the full interview here.