The news is all over every site already. WWE has announced that beginning with it’s 1000th episode of Monday Night Raw, airing on July 23rd, Monday Night Raw will permanently switch to a three hour format. Yes, Gilligan, a three hour format.

You’ve got to hand it to Vince McMahon. When demand for his show is slowly sinking, and ratings are mirroring an arythmic heart, he has found the solution: More is more! For all that 12-17 demographic whose attention they can’t hold with a two hour show, add in another hour. If there’s anything people love, it’s three hour television shows.

Facietiousness aside, this could end up being one of the best or one of the worst decisions WWE has made in recent years. Of course there is the argument that moving to three hours was one of the major factors that led to the downfall of WCW, but WCW seriously lacked the ability to support a three hour show and showed no backstage organization in preparation for it. Though we often hear about WWE changing plans the day of the show, it’s rare that Raw looks chaotic and confused like Nitro used to. Ultimately, three hours of Nitro was a drop in the bucket of what was a flooding disaster.

What good could come out of this, you might ask? Well, for one thing, maybe WWE can finally manifest Divas matches that last more than a minute on Raw. Doubtful, as they seem to care as much about the Diva division as I care about Hornswoggle. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Divas matches get an entire two minutes in the future! Wouldn’t that be something. Eight moves instead of four… seriously, though, giving more time to the divas is one thing on a long list of things they should be able to do.

In addition to increasing time for the women, perhaps we could get more wrestling over promos. These seems like a longshot, as there is a fear they’ll want to get people watching so we’ll get promo heavy moments at the beginning and end of each hour, as we typically do. Remember when wrestling shows used to open and close with wrestling matches? Wild idea.

More wrestling, more divas, what more could you want? More talent, perhaps. I’m not talking bringing back guys like Kevin Nash (sorry Kev,) but new, young, rising talent. Something fresh for the WWE. I wouldn’t be opposed to them bringing in some established guys from TNA either, though I consider that doubtful (outside of Matt Morgan, at the moment.)

Granting themselves another hour could give WWE the time and space to make good choices and build a better show. Unfortunately, their track record has shown that three hour Raws are usually total disasters where the first hour is essentially useless. This doesn’t mean it will be like that every week. Hopefully, they’ve got something better in mind.

An interesting thing to consider is the overall effect on the ratings. It seems likely that the first hour of the show will be the lowest, as it typically is during three hour Raws. That being the case, it’s possible that the low rating for hour one could drag down the overall rating for the whole show, which won’t look good for the WWE either.

Ultimately, I find it hard to wrap my head around this one. With attention faltering, ratings wavering and interest depleting, why make this move? Usually you supply a demand, you stock up when you’re selling out. You don’t fill your stock room with more and more of a product that less and less people are buying. Even Nitro went to three hours when they were commanding a massive audience, not when the people started turning away.

This is the same audience that swelled post-Wrestlemania with the entrance of Brock Lesnar, but returned to normal within a few weeks. WWE has the ability to pull those people back on occasions like this, they just can’t seem to keep them. So.. three hours then?

I’d like to see this succeed and I’d like to see a lot of amazing things come out of this. New talent, more matches, a better quality show and an increased probability of success in WWE’s future. Unfortunately, I’m not a look at the bright side type of person, especially when it pertains to WWE who have time and again show the prominent ability to take what is prophesied as great and turn it into total garbage.

So, it remains to be seen. In the end, it comes down to you, the fans, the people who are invested in this business and want to see it improve. Whether or not three hours of Raw keeps you wanting more, or pushes you away. At this point, the ratings remaining the same as they have been would be a success for an additional hour every week. If ratings begin to decrease, however, will WWE stick with it or pull the plug? Figuring that out is figuring out the mind of Vince McMahon and that takes much longer than three hours.

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Its all about voicing your opinion here on RingScoops.com and we just found out about WWE’s plans to have RAW go live 3 hours every week permanently after the 1000th episode this July.  So we want to know what you all think of this!  Feel free to voice yourself and vote in the poll below.

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Webmaster & Tinman answer your questions in the RingScoops.com Mailbag Show! Topics this week include Kevin Steen winning the ROH World Title, if WWE should bring back the Cruiserweight Championship, a dream Diva vs Knockout match and more!

On this edition of Triple Threat Talk we go over the NBA/NHL playoffs, go over the week in wrestling with OVW and WWE, and Big B has a wild card that could change Triple Threat Talk forever.

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PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
www.empirewrestlingfederation.com

EWF brings the action live with iPPV and ON-Demand products

Empire Wrestling Federation of San Bernardino, the longest running independent professional wrestling promotion in southern California is launching a new avenue for which EWF fans can view the high-impact shows they might not be able to attend, every month. Starting with the XVI Anniversary Extravaganza hosted on May 4, EWF will be streaming multiple shows on iPPV for fans to view at their convenience, for a charge of $5. With this venture, EWF hopes to continue the years of success and tradition as it is known for throughout the southern California region, but also nationally. Currently the EWF roster carries 30 single wrestlers, six tag teams and six women wrestlers. Their events are hosted every month in Covina, CA at the Knights of Columbus and in San Bernardino, CA.

“We are very enthusiastic about the venture we’re entering with iPPV and ON-Demand,” EWF owner and founder, Jesse Hernandez said. “This is going to give all of the guys and gals in the back so much more exposure they could imagine and the fans that are no longer local, can still enjoy the EWF from wherever they are.”

EWF’s former wrestlers such as Melina Perez, Rico Constantino were signed with WWE for several years. Talent such as TJ Perkins and Christopher Daniels, who’ve graced the canvas of Ring Of Honor and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling are also EWF veterans.

“We look forward to extending our brand of entertainment to the masses, and I cannot wait for everyone to enjoy us from home.” Hernandez said.

IBELIEVEINWRESTLING
Orlando, FL – May 5, 2012
Report by The DA

The night started off with Chico Adams bring out Tony Torres for a in-ring interview. Chico Adams was poking fun at Torres, much to the crowds enjoyment. Mister Saint Laurent came out to back up Torres and attack Chico. JD Amazing comes in for the save and it looks like we have a tag match set up.

Chico Adams & JD Amazing defeated Tony Torres & Mister Saint Laurent
With Chico received a beating from his opponents most of the match. Classic tag team wrestling, cut the ring in half and keep tagging in the fresher man. Chico was finally able to make the tag to his partner JD Amazing, who cleaned house and gain a win for his time after a big spinebuster.

Chasyn Rance defeated Aiden Altair
Altair tried his best to keep Rance grounded but it wasn’t enough to score a win this night.

Santana Garrett defeated Radiant Rain
The battle of the former TNA Knockouts ended with Santana coming out on top after a beautiful springboard moonsault.

Heavyweight Championship of Florida
Ray Beez (C) defeated Biff Slater
With his “Will Wrestle For Food” sign and Heavyweight Championship belt in hand, Ray Beez was able to defeat his much larger and stronger opponent, Biff Slater, after delivering several punches to the head.

“Hot Shot” Mike Reed defeated Tim Zbyszko
Both men in this match had one goal. To out-wrestle each other and in the closing moments of this contest, Mike Reed takes the easy way out. With both feet securely on the middle rope for extra leverage, he was able to defeat the son of the “Living Legend” 1…2…3.

Title Unification Match
Florida Cruiserweight Champion, Lince Dorado defeated FOW International Champion, Johnny Vandal
With near fall after near fall, Dorado left  Orlando, FL with 2 title belts, after delivering a vintage Shooting Star Press. Johnny Vandal clearly was upset over the lost and surely will be seeking revenge in the near future.

The next IBELIEVEINWRESTLING show is Saturday, June 2 and all the details for this show can be viewed at IBELIEVEINWRESTLING.com.

On this week’s edition of Triple Threat Talk we go over a little bit of playoff action with the NBA, and the NHL. The Doctor and Postmaster Jones preview The Kentucky Derby, and as always we go over this week in wrestling.. well mostly PostMaster and Doctor do for some reason Big B was giving them the silent treatment.

You can subscribe to Triple Threat Talk by clicking here!

Wade Needham and Matt Sinister are back with a new Empire Newswire and discuss the history of pro wrestling in the Southern California region, as well as the EWF’s upcoming 16th Anniversary on May 4th!

PWX Report 4/28/12 – Orlando, FL
Report by The DA
(Photos from this event can be found by clicking here!)

Chasyn Rance defeated Tim Zbyszko
Before the match started, Tim Zbyszko called for the mic and told the PWX crowd that when he started wrestling 7 months ago, he was asked who he wanted to wrestle in his debut match. He choose his trainer, Chasyn Rance, but Rance declined. Stating that he couldn’t fight a student, it wouldn’t be a fair fight. Tonight, these 2 men will meet. Teacher Vs. Student!

We start off with some good old fashion, anything you can do, I can do better. In the middle of the match, Zbyszko hit a powerful spinebuster to get a near fall over Rance. In the end, the teacher knew just a little bit more than the student as Zbyszko applied a sleeper, Rance forced him to the corner, kicked off the turnbuckle, and used all his body weight to get the victory.

Triple Threat Elimination Match
Lince Dorado defeated “The Real Deal” Mike Michael A. Cruz and Rocky Santiago
Rocky was the first man eliminated when Cruz connected with a Senton off the top rope. In the end, Dorado scored a win with a amazing Shooting Star Press.

Tag Team Match
The Dead Presidentz defeated Tha NuYoRicanz
The fan favorites, NuYoRicanz spent most of the match on the mat as the Dead Presidentz used every dirty tactic in the book to get the win.

PWX Women’s Championship
Shooter Storm defeated Jillian Hall to become the new PWX Women’s Champion.
Before the match, Shooter Storm came out to address the former WWE superstar Jillian Hall and Women’s wrestling in general. Although most of the statements made can not be repeated here, the one thing that stood out was that there was only 1 female in the history of wrestling that knew her place, Ms. Elizabeth. Why you may ask? Because she stayed on outside and never got in the ring.

Jillian Hall has had enough and clocks Storm right in the jaw. The 2 go back in the forth but Hall falls victim to Storm’s willingness to win. With his feet conveniently on the second rope and the referee out of position, Storm wins the match.

After the match, Shooter Storms demands a mic once again and renames the Women’s Championship, the PWX United States Championship.

Triple Threat Elimination Match
Chico Adams defeated Luke Spencer and Jayson Falcone
Jayson Falcone gets eliminated first by Luke Spencer who later tastes defeat at the hand of Chico Adams.

The Almighty Sheik defeated 1/2 of the NWA World Tag Team Champions, Kory Chavis
Early in the match, the Almighty Sheik got thrown into the ring post on the outside and was bleeding buckets of blood in and around the ring. Kory Chavis got caught into the dangerous and painful Camel Clutch many times in the match but the third time was the charm for the Almighty Sheik. Chavis has no other choice but to tap out.

“Off The Wall” Sam Shaw defeated Jesse Neal
Sam Shaw refused to get into the “bloody ring”, so Jesse Neal brought the fight to him on the outside. After numerous, painful, back breaking spots on the outside, both men found themselves in the ring. Shaw is able to knock his opponent’s head off with a Superkick to score the win.

After the match, Jesse Neal’s girlfriend, Christina Von Eerie went to check on him as Sam Shaw set his sites on her assets. Before he could do anything Neal chases him off as Shaw retreats to the back.

Vordell Walker defeated 1/2 of the NWA World Tag Team Champions, Jon Chavis
For “mat game” fans, this is the match for you. Both men simply trying to out wrestle the other one as Vordell Walker gets the win with a superplex off the top rope.

PWX Tag Team Championship
Francisco Ciatso & Simon Sez (c) defeated DEMOLITION: AX & SMASH via DQ
As the crowd chanted “Where’s my pizza?” and “Simon sucks”, the champs threatened to leave and not defend their titles. Sez and Ciatso tried every trick in the book, including introducing brass knuckles into the match. Smash grabbed the brass knuckles and used it on his opponent right in front of the referee, forcing a DQ.

PWX Championship
Steve Corino (c) defeated “Wildfire” Tommy Rich
With chairs, guard rails and anything else that can be found on the outside, Corino tried everything he could to take Wildfire down. In the end, Corino grabbed something from his tights and used it to score a win over his childhood hero, “Wildfire” Tommy Rich and retain his title.

People have been wondering where I’ve been. I’ve been getting emails, tweets and messages on Facebook asking me what I’ve thought about the post-Wrestlemania / Brock Lesnar era taking place on WWE television these days.

I haven’t been answering. I haven’t been saying much. I haven’t been too interested in what’s going on. Frankly, I’ve been finding it hard to watch anything WWE lately. I haven’t been caring.

I’m well aware that Brock Lesnar has come back, and yes I’ve tuned in enough to see him F5ing Cena, cutting his pretaped promo and doing that awful contract signing segment. I saw Edge return to tell Cena that he needs to be the Cena he used to be (which I’m fairly certain is the same Cena we’re still watching.) Ultimately, I haven’t been pulled in.

There is some argument that could be made saying I’ve fallen victim to the infamous Wrestlemania hangover. I can’t argue against that, but to say I think that is only a small fraction of why I am not enthralled by current WWE programming.

I consider it more logical to chalc it up to several factors. After watching WWE for years, and seeing the past few where it has been, debatably, bouncing from good to dreadful, it can be difficult to replenish that interest which caused me to tune in in the first place.

Sure, I like Brock Lesnar and I popped just as loud as most people did when he arrived and wiped the floor with John Cena. Internally, I can’t help but wonder if this is half because of my interest in Lesnar and half because of my hatred for Cena. I watched Jericho smash a bottle of Punk’s head with as much interest as the next guy, and laughed just as hard when Jericho slipped in the fake liquor. Still, something is missing here for me as well.

So, what’s the problem? I’ll tell you. First and foremost, I just sat through an entire year of John Cena being the main event focus while not in the title chase and I’m simply not interested in watching it happen again. I don’t care how many times he makes his boo-boo face and puts a ridiculous looking chain around his neck. I’m tired of Cena and I thought, I hoped, I wished, I pleaded, that after Wrestlemania we’d get to see just a little less of this guy. Well, we’re seeing more. I can’t take it. I can’t take this guy.

I love the Rock, but wasn’t too into the angle because it involved Cena. I think Brock is awesome, but I’d rather watch him feud with Santino than John Cena. Cena has the magical ability to disrupt any sense of realism (I know, it’s fake, but you want suspended disbelief) that could exist without his BS. I can’t torture myself to watch this guy.

The Jericho / Punk thing was certainly interesting. I thought it was a little unnecessary to involve family members, but I did think it was funny because Jericho is a promo master and he sold it like gold. I thought Jericho breaking the bottle over Punk’s head was great. Then they had to do that angle with Punk coming out of the Pub which I found to be stupid. I thought they couldn’t get much stupider until I saw the retarded sobriety test angle. I changed channels back to the NHL Playoffs faster than it became clear Punk was only pretending.

These are two talented wrestlers, great promo men and interesting personalities who are trying to sell a match by acting like total goofball morons. It’s a sad state of affairs when the best way to sell what could be a fantastic match is to have them acting like children. Jericho comes off like he’s too stupid to see what’s happening, which is fine if you do it after the buildup, and Punk looks like a fool for playing along with it. Remember when he was all about pipebombs?

The rest of it, I’ll just run through quickly. If a Bella is Diva’s champion than Kharma better be coming back.. oh it didn’t matter, WWE could care less about the title so why should I? Orton vs Kane.. again.. really.. don’t do this to me. The Miz is challenging for the US title against the great champion of…. Santino. Right. Usually Santino is telling jokes, but here the joke is on us. I could go on, but why bother?

So, I’m trying WWE. I am. I’m trying to watch and I’m trying to care and I’m trying to fight through this, but they’re certainly not making it easy on me. Maybe I’m alone, and maybe you guys are loving this right now. I’m glad for you if you are, but I’m certainly struggling to keep my television tuned in. Maybe it will get better.

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After former Barbwire Press employee Joesph “The Trucker” White called out Makavoll on his views on the current WWE product. Makavoll decided it was time to respond off the keys and on the air! Listen as Makavoll debates, shoots and calls out “The Trucker” on his views “Or lack there of”. Listen to this great debate! A must listen!