WWE Raw Rating leaps to 2.00 mark for first time since April, key metrics for the return of Lesnar and Heyman

The July 30 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw last night on USA Network drew a 2.00 rating, the first 2.00 rating since Apr. 30, most likely buoyed by the return of Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman to Raw, and the storyline weaved throughout the show over whether he’s leave the comforts of his luxurious locker room and appear in the ring, or if Heyman would be fired if Lesnar didn’t.

The 2.00 rating brings the July final average up to 1.88. The ten-week rolling average is 1.86.

The first hour drew 1.862 million viewers, followed by a relatively big jump to 3.012, followed by a drop off to 2.815, resulting in a small first-to-third hour dropoff of just 60,000 viewers.

One year ago Raw drew a 2.12 rating; two years ago it drew a 2.30 rating.

On another note, for the week of July 9-15, Raw’s three hours finished tied for the no. 2 spot in all of cable that week with a 0.8 rating among 18-49 adults, a key advertiser-targeted demographic. (Smackdown came in right under it at 0.7 in that demo.) In total viewers, Raw’s top hour dropped to no. 18 overall, but it was the top rated non-political-news show.