By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE Raw on Monday, May 21 following Over the Limit scored a 3.04 rating, up from from a dismal 2.94 rating last week.

The rating was even with two weeks ago in-between Extreme Rules and Over the Limit. However, the post-Extreme Rules episode three weeks ago scored a 3.33 rating.

-- Raw averaged 4.16 million viewers, down one percent compared to last week and the fewest viewers since February 13. Raw was down eight percent compared to the yearly average of 4.52 million viewers.

The first hour averaged 4.17 million viewers for the immediate Over the Limit fall-out. By comparison, the first hour after Extreme Rules three weeks ago averaged 4.99 million viewers.

The second hour actually decreased slightly to an average of 4.14 million viewers, which was the fewest second hour viewers since January 9 against the BCS National Title game.

-- WWE will point to the NBA Playoffs affecting Raw viewership. The Thunder-Lakers game that began during Raw's first hour averaged 8.1 million viewers and more than doubled Raw's TV rating.

On cable TV Monday night, Raw ranked #5 on cable TV, #2 in males 18-34 behind the NBA, and #3 in males 18-49 and "Pawn Stars" on History Channel, which averaged 5.2 million viewers.

-- In the demo ratings, Raw scored its lowest m18-34 & m18-49 ratings of the year. M18-49 was down slightly compared to last week and m18-34 was down 12 percent compared to last week.

After hitting a year-low last week, Raw's teen males rating jumped 48 percent this week. The m12-34 rating was steady compared to last week, as was the adults 18-49 rating.

Caldwell's Analysis: Teen males was the only segment of the audience that showed any incremental interest in the Over the Limit fall-out. Otherwise, the demos were flat or down, average viewership was down, and Raw was barely able to hold its head above the 3.0-level for the PPV fall-out. With the core male audience dropping to the lowest ratings of the year (NBA helped out), it will be interesting to see how WWE responds the next few weeks before their next PPV in mid-June.

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