By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

The loaded WWE Raw episode on Monday, February 25 scored a 3.46 rating, up five percent from last week's 3.30 rating for the post-Elimination Chamber PPV episode.

Within the show, Raw's third hour (John Cena vs. C.M. Punk) scored the highest in adults 18-49 and males 18-34. For males 18-49, the second hour was highest-rated, followed by the third hour and first hour.

- Raw averaged 4.71 million viewers, which was only up one percent from last week's post-PPV episode.

Hourly Break Down: 4.86 million first hour viewers (vs. 4.82 million last week for immediate PPV fallout), 4.70 million second hour viewers (vs. 4.67 million last week), and 4.56 million third hour viewers (vs. 4.49 million last week).

The first two hours were essentially even compared to last week, then Raw's third hour dropped off three percent this week as opposed to two percent last week. It was the seventh consecutive week for a third-hour drop-off.

- On cable TV Monday night, Raw ranked #2 in overall viewers behind "Pawn Stars" on History Channel. Raw ranked #1 in the key male demos, but #2 in adults 18-34 and #2 in p12-34 behind "Teen Mom 2" on MTV.

The erratic teen male demo dropped off to the lowest level in a few months, but the m18-34 demo hit a four-week high.

Caldwell's Analysis: Two forces met - an inevitable drop-off for the Raw that follows the post-PPV Raw vs. WWE trying to load up this week's Raw with a stacked line-up - and the stacked line-up won handily when looking at the overall rating and key demos, but not as strongly in overall viewers.

It's also interesting to note how the three-hour Raw Era's patten has unfolded: WWE is drawing a broader, family-oriented audience at 8:00 p.m. EST, then there is a mixture in the second hour, and the third hour is predominantly adult males after the kids and families start to fall off. The loss of families and younger demo in the third hour keeps the pattern going of third hour viewership declining nearly every week, but if WWE gives adult males something to look forward to in the third hour, WWE is making up for the overall audience loss by keeping the key adult male demo strong.

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWE NEWS: Superstars SPOILERS - Results from Chicago Raw

WWE NETWORK: Monday, Oct. 12 Schedule - Raw pre-show, Sting DVD preview

WWE NEWS: Lana & Rusev reportedly engaged - follow the interesting 2015 timeline