WWE fans were interested in the January 1st episode of Raw in more ways than one.
While many tuned in to see the loaded Day 1 episode of the flagship show and the return of a former WWE Champion, longtime viewers of the product would have been curious about how the show would look from a production aspect as this was the first episode of weekly programming since Kevin Dunn’s departure.
Dunn served as the head of production for over 40 years and is largely responsible for the signature style of broadcast that fans are familiar with. While it can’t be denied that Dunn’s input helped to make the company a success, various aspects such as repeated camera cuts and missing key moments in matches have angered fans and at times have made the TV show hard to watch.
With WWE President Nick Khan confirming that Kevin Dunn was no longer with the company and wishing him well, how did WWE handle the first show in a new era?
Discussing the changes on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that there was a previous mentality that there would always be someone who had never watched the show before:
I think the key thing on this show that I noticed is that I do remember years ago in the 80s, that Vince McMahon would always tell the wrestlers and everything, just remember that every time you’re on television, while a lot of these people see week after week, on every TV show, there’s going to be people who have never seen wrestling before, and we have to do the show with that in mind.
Meltzer continued, believing there to be a similar belief with the January 1st broadcast of appealing to fans who are less familiar with the product via commentary and video packages. Additionally, there is a belief that there will be a large rating obtained for the January 1st show due to there being no NFL games on and the surprise appearance from The Rock:
But there was very much on this show, between the commentary and the video packages, the idea of we are going to introduce people to these characters. I mean, Michael Cole was way more descriptive trying to get people over. Like, they were first timers, they were doing video packages to build up the matches.
So if you didn’t watch every week, you would be caught up. And maybe some of that is also the mentality that, we have to introduce the people who are new, that weren’t there, because we have a whole bunch of people coming back because there’s no NFL game, even though there’s college games. But there is an audience in theory that would be bouncing back on this show.
WWE Resets The Format In 2024
Comparing the broadcast to a UFC show, Meltzer also noted that the announcers in the ring to run down the card as opposed to an interview segment or match is not a normality. Additionally, there was more of a focus on more matches instead of promo segments:
You could really see throughout the show, I just saw the idea that there that somebody came in with that thing of, we’re gonna have a lot of people watching for the first time or the first time in a while and we have to reintroduce some characters. And we have to do these video packages and go through the whole storyline for a lot of these matches. So it was a different format, the show definitely had a different feel a different open, two-man announce teams going forward, not three-man.
So it’s Barrett and Michael Cole, they opened the show, not quite a UFC open, but more similar where the announcers were in the ring. And they were telling the live fans, basically running down the card for the live fans, which something that they don’t do. Usually the announcers are not over the PA, and usually you open with the long interview segment.
This is a very different show. I didn’t find the show boring at all. But then again, you had Dwayne out there forever. And it was a lot less, other than Dwayne, it was a lot less talking and not really lengthy matches for the most part other than the main event.
If you use any quotes from this article please credit Wrestling Observer Radio and leave a h/t to Inside The Ropes.