SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Last night’s WWE Monday Night Raw in USA Network drew a 1.54 rating among live and same-night-DVR viewers, essentially even with last week’s 1.53 rating, which was among the lowest non-holiday Raw ratings ever. The first hour viewership was pretty even with last week – 2.351 million tis week, 2.326 million last week. However, the first-to-third hour drop-off was 502,000, as the third hour dropped to 1.849 million viewers. It’s among the four lowest viewed hours of Raw. The main event was the relatively unknown (i.e. relative to top stars on Raw and Smackdown every week) Adam Cole, NXT Champion, facing the ice-cold Raw lead babyface Seth Rollins for the NXT Title.
One year ago this week Raw drew a 1.70 rating, two years ago a 1.95 rating, and three years ago a 1.95 rating.
The average rating for Raw so far in 2019 is 1.75. The ten week rolling average is 1.66.
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There is no reason to watch this show any longer. None. And a year ago this time, maybe not quite that long, Rollins was hit. They destroyed it, and have no idea what they’re doing. I’m a wrestling fan, so I’ll read recaps here on the Torch. I’m out until things REALLY change.
I’m pretty sure some ignoramuses would claim that it’s because nobody cares about seeing the likes of Adam Cole on Raw. But the fact is, if people cared even one whit about Seth Rollins, they would still have watched.
NXT’s numbers are probably befitting its status as the developmental brand with mostly unknowns. But WWE’s main brands Raw and Smackdown are supposed to do much better than they do, with it’s casts of so-called “superstars”.
Vince McMahon apparently does not want to build any real superstars anymore (although he certainly tried like hell with Roman Reigns), and thinks the WWE itself is the “superstar”. Well, the ratings certainly are not in agreement with him that WWE as such is a real superstar. And why would it be? People watch because of the content. And if you think the specific content is not what it’s supposed to be about, then why should anyone watch?
It’s ridiculous not to build superstars. People have to connect to the wrestlers and want to see them. You can’t just throw a bunch of randoms together, book badly, make sure the results don’t really matter, and still expect your audience to feel any connection to what’s happening.
That’s one of the reasons why it’s also so stupid that so many of the bigger babyface names are acting like tough talking, arrogant, smug, obnoxious douches who think they’re better than everyone else and always talk down to people (Cena, Reigns, Rollins, Becky Lynch). People can’t identify with that behavior. That’s why they either end up being hated by large sections of the audience, or end up being ice-cold. And it’s why babyfaces that Vince doesn’t actually want to push end up getting over by themselves (Daniel Bryan, many midcarders who don’t behave obnoxiously).
The bad ratings are the result of Vince simply not knowing what kind of characters his potential audience wants to see. And that’s not mentioning the ridiculous soap opera, stupid booking, defining down the importance of titles and champions, etc. Vince is the destroyer of his own product.
Transplant the NXT mentality to the main brands with its more recognizable names, and i think the ratings would be much higher.
THe product is horrible. Raw and Smackdown, snorefest.