CALDWELL'S TAKE CALDWELL: Raw ratings decline points to past Mania Seasons
Feb 4, 2014 - 4:53:08 PM
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO BOOKMARK US & VISIT US DAILY
By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor
As I wrote in my analysis of the Raw TV ratings declining to the 3.1-level, there are any number of reasons to look at why the rating declined this week. An obvious reason is the show just wasn't very good and fell flat.
A big picture reason is that WWE has set expectations for a big star, like The Rock or The Undertaker, to return to WWE TV to "jump-start" WrestleMania Season. That person hasn't walked through the door yet.
Batista was supposed to be that person, but the "first impression" of his character after four years away from WWE TV was not good.
Batista was still supposed to be that person after winning the Royal Rumble, but we know how that turned out.
The absence of a major star returning for Mania Season has shifted the focus to an under-developed, over-exposed, pedestrian roster featuring a lot of wrestlers who need help from Creative being built up as stars worth tuning in to see every week.
Daniel Bryan could be a centerpiece star for WWE, but WWE is still one foot in/one foot out on Bryan at that level. And, removing John Cena and C.M. Punk from the equation this week, the remaining member of the Big Four was Randy Orton, whose character continues to be dragged down and devalued by The Authority storyline.
WWE set this in motion over the past few years by depending on a big returning star - mainly Rock - to pop interest in the product and sustain momentum heading into Mania Season. WWE will have to depend on that again this year if shows like last night become the standard.
But, at some point in the future, WWE will have to make their full-time, every-day roster feel special again. Special enough to not need Rock, Taker, Brock, Batista, or someone else to artificially inflate interest around Mania Season every year. Or, any other time of the year.
THE TORCH REACHES MORE COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT FANS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
PWTorch editor Wade Keller has covered pro wrestling full time since 1987 starting with the Pro Wrestling Torch print newsletter. PWTorch.com launched in 1999 and the PWTorch Apps launched in 2008.
He has conducted "Torch Talk" insider interviews with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, Jesse Ventura, Lou Thesz, Jerry Lawler, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Bruno Sammartino, Goldberg, more.
He has interviewed big-name players in person incluiding Vince McMahon (at WWE Headquarters), Dana White (in Las Vegas), Eric Bischoff (at the first Nitro at Mall of America), Brock Lesnar (after his first UFC win).
He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)
REACHING 1 MILLION+ UNIQUE USERS PER MONTH
500 MILLION CLICKS & LISTENS PER YEAR
MILLIONS OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTERS SOLD
PWTorch offers a VIP membership for $10 a month (or less with an annual sub). It includes nearly 25 years worth of archives from our coverage of pro wrestling dating back to PWTorch Newsletters from the late-'80s filled with insider secrets from every era that are available to VIPers in digital PDF format and Keller's radio show from the early 1990s.
Also, new exclusive top-shelf content every day including a new VIP-exclusive weekly 16 page digital magazine-style (PC and iPad compatible) PDF newsletter packed with exclusive articles and news.
The following features come with a VIP membership which tens of thousands of fans worldwide have enjoyed for many years...
-New Digital PWTorch Newsletter every week
-3 New Digital PDF Back Issues from 5, 10, 20 years ago
-Over 60 new VIP Audio Shows each week
-Ad-free access to all PWTorch.com free articles
-VIP Forum access with daily interaction with PWTorch staff and well-informed fellow wrestling fans
-Tons of archived audio and text articles
-Decades of Torch Talk insider interviews in transcript and audio formats with big name stars. **SIGN UP FOR VIP ACCESS HERE**
