Why are WWE RAW stars experiencing extended wait times in the ring before the main event?

WWE superstars have been experiencing a lot of downtime as of late in between their entrances before the main event on RAW.

In an update from Fightful Select, this has apparently been done by design. The promotion wants the show to flow better and believes that an entrance, followed by recaps and other segments, accomplishes that rather than just going straight into the main event.

It is now the norm for WWE stars to wait "15 minutes" in the ring after their entrance before the main event on RAW. Fightful reached out to several superstars and they expressed annoyance at the situation. However, the superstars were told that the format "is what it is".

One superstar told Fightful that they "talk to the crowd, dance, and get annoyed that I'm waiting that long" when asked how they pass the time.

Liv Morgan's 19-minute wait on WWE RAW

Liv Morgan battled Rhea Ripley on the May 30th edition of RAW. Morgan made her entrance first and then waited for what felt like an eternity for Rhea Ripley to arrive for the match. During that time, the broadcast featured a commercial break, some backstage segments and a Memorial Day video tribute.

The incident caused controversy among fans online, but is apparently part of the company's new initiative to make the show "flow better". If the matches aren't always going to be long, it is reasonable to pad RAW's three-hour runtime with backstage segments and video packages.

However, it does seem to defeat the purpose of trying to improve the pacing of the show when the actions taken are distracting the audience. Alex Pawlowski of Fightful's Sour Graps podcast noted that Liv spent 19 minutes waiting for Rhea Ripley's entrance.

Waiting around is not just something superstars do on television. On a recent episode of Writing with Russo, former WWE writer Vince Russo mentioned that a current star had told him about three-week waiting times to get a meeting with Vince McMahon.