By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

WWE Raw on Monday, May 23 scored a 3.42 rating coming off the Over the Limit PPV. The show was up from last week's poor 3.08 rating.

Raw was slightly below similar episodes over the past five weeks. The Raw Draft episode on April 25 scored a 3.47 rating and the May 2 episode following the Extreme Rules PPV scored a 3.45 rating.

Raw averaged 5.42 million viewers with the first hour interestingly averaging 5.60 million viewers and the second hour averaging 5.24 million viewers. By comparison, the NBA Playoffs on ESPN averaged 7.4 million viewers.

Overall on cable TV Monday night, Raw ranked #2 behind the Playoffs. Raw was also #2 in all key male demographics. Among teen males, Raw retained its usual #1 slot.

The following is a look at the Raw ratings the past five weeks since the Draft.

Apr. 25 - 3.47 rating (Draft episode)
May 2 - 3.45 rating (following Extreme Rules)
May 9 - 3.18 rating
May 16 - 3.08 rating
May 23 - 3.42 rating (following Over the Limit)

Post-WM27 Avg.: 3.37 rating
2011 Avg.: 3.43 rating

Caldwell's Analysis: It looks like the usual case for WWE where viewers were interested in seeing what happened at the PPV after not actually ordering the PPV. Overall, a good rebound for Raw, but, again, there wasn't a hook for next week's show and WWE is still trying to sort out the post-Draft direction for the Raw brand. Cena's next big opponent or feud could dictate whether the ratings slide back into the May 9 & 16 range or maintain the May 23 range.

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