By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE Raw is permanently moving to three hours on USA Network starting with a three-hour Raw on July 23. The July 23 show will be recognized as Raw's 1,000th show (actual #999) to introduce the permanent timeslot change to 8:00 p.m. EST.

In an announcement Thursday, there was no indication that the additional first hour will be a pre-show or non-arena type show. Instead, Raw will essentially become Viewer's Choice Raw every week.

WWE announced Raw will have "new ways to get involved in the show through WWE.com and social media by deciding matches, stipulations, Superstar development, and more."

WWE CEO Vince McMahon added, "Our new three-hour Raw represents the next generation in interactive television where our fans won’t just watch the show, they will help create it.”

USA Network presidents Chris McCumber and Jeff Wachtel added, "The powerful three-hour block of live TV truly makes USA the year-round destination for young male viewers on Monday nights."

Caldwell's Analysis: I'm stunned by this news. With a lack of star power, over-stretched Creative team, and too much filler already on a two-hour Raw, I would argue WWE needs to go back to one hour before they think about expanding to three hours. Adding an "interactive element" for viewers to book matches shows a lack of Creative sense creating inorganic situations and matches that plagued the themed PPVs introduced over the past few years. Overall, this comes across like WWE's latest toy to "freshen up" Raw, e.g. adding Smackdown stars to Raw, which does not make a difference anymore because it's not treated like a special occurrence.

The business perspective WWE would take is it adds incremental revenue to their TV Rights Fees every quarter from USA Network. But, how much will PPVs suffer? Will Smackdown suffer on Friday nights? Will house show attendance drop when fans get enough of WWE on Monday nights? There are so many business implications that comes with adding an extra hour's worth of TV Rights Revenue.

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