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WWE Raw drops to lowest TV rating in 18 years

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thepotatoman

Unconfirmed Member
The WWE could outright lose their television deal and simply air new content live on YouTube, Twitter, WWE.com and the Network and nothing would change with their fundamental booking and creative philosophy.

That will never change so long as Vincent Kennedy McMahon lives and breathes. There is no purpose to this thread apart from revelling in the status quo.

I truly believe the primary reason the WWE put a bigger emphasis on smackdown is to protect Reigns from Cena. Trying to salvage relations with NBCUniversal was just a side benefit.
 

RBH

Member
Final #Raw hr lost 587k viewers this week (vs. previous hr).
2nd largest loss in 90+ weeks.
https://mobile.twitter.com/mookieghana/status/740289420385996800



CkYJTaYXIAAwmp6.jpg:large
 

FyreWulff

Member
They need a competitor to make them hungry again.

I don't see it happening any time soon, though. TNA's name and being handcuffed by requiring Dixie Carter to have ultimate say at all times doomed them.
 

Anth0ny

Member
They need a competitor to make them hungry again.

I don't see it happening any time soon, though. TNA's name and being handcuffed by requiring Dixie Carter to have ultimate say at all times doomed them.

a competitor would be good

vince retiring would be better
 

AColdDay

Member
only one problem... that fucker's immortal.

I can see them selling to Disney before he dies.

People joke about Vince being immortal, but seriously his family has incredible genes. His grandmother lived more than 100 years and his mother is 96, according to wikipedia.

Also, they should have Roman Reigns segments and matches exclusively in the third hour. The Big Dog will light up those ratings like a spear to an indie darling.
 
People joke about Vince being immortal, but seriously his family has incredible genes. His grandmother lived more than 100 years and his mother is 96, according to wikipedia.
One thing to consider is that I'm willing to bet his gran and mum didn't spend a lot of time doing coke and taking steroids for decades worth of body building.

Not to say he won't live long but it's safe to say he has that against him.
 

Aiii

So not worth it
People joke about Vince being immortal, but seriously his family has incredible genes. His grandmother lived more than 100 years and his mother is 96, according to wikipedia.

Also, they should have Roman Reigns segments and matches exclusively in the third hour. The Big Dog will light up those ratings like a spear to an indie darling.

And his dad died at 69, his granddad at 72. So yeah, so much for immortality.
 

Tom Nook

Member
People joke about Vince being immortal, but seriously his family has incredible genes. His grandmother lived more than 100 years and his mother is 96, according to wikipedia.

Also, they should have Roman Reigns segments and matches exclusively in the third hour. The Big Dog will light up those ratings like a spear to an indie darling.

Steph will live to be 200 then.
 

Bert409

Member
People joke about Vince being immortal, but seriously his family has incredible genes. His grandmother lived more than 100 years and his mother is 96, according to wikipedia.

Also, they should have Roman Reigns segments and matches exclusively in the third hour. The Big Dog will light up those ratings like a spear to an indie darling.
Did his family pump themselves with roids and eat steak daily though? Can't imagine that ragging lunatic has the best blood pressure either.
 

Dazzler

Member
As much as I'd love Vince to live forever, his blood pressure must be off the charts

Steroids, coke, steak "wraps" for lunch every day - Can't be the healthiest lifestyle
 

Nerdkiller

Membeur
As much as I'd love Vince to live forever, his blood pressure must be off the charts

Steroids, coke, steak "wraps" for lunch every day - Can't be the healthiest lifestyle
Complete with ketchup, which according to GAF, is a big deal.

I don't see the problem with having ketchup.
 
I don't think there will be major changes when Vince retires

NXT is on the network and doesn't have to cater for TV networks or sponsors. The fact is WWE won't be edgy even if Vince retires.

People wanting him to die is disgusting though. Stephanie will take over and she is way worse than Vince especially her on screen character. Atleast Vince put people over.

Stephanie was the one who is hiring all these Hollywood writers.

Once the NXT wrestlers come over, Stephanie will belittle every male and female wrestler from there just like she does to every superstar on the roster.
 

Anth0ny

Member
OH BOY! 2.03. So very very close to under 2.0. Wow. #WWERaw

Wade Keller

2.03 RAW rating is a new low for the era. Lowest since 1.9 on March 3, 1997

Ck8OzN7WUAAo8W-.jpg





Thread title is accurate again!
 

Tagyhag

Member
I don't think there will be major changes when Vince retires

NXT is on the network and doesn't have to cater for TV networks or sponsors. The fact is WWE won't be edgy even if Vince retires.

People wanting him to die is disgusting though. Stephanie will take over and she is way worse than Vince especially her on screen character. Atleast Vince put people over.

Stephanie was the one who is hiring all these Hollywood writers.

Once the NXT wrestlers come over, Stephanie will belittle every male and female wrestler from there just like she does to every superstar on the roster.

Dunn will be gone, that alone will be a huge change.
 

Anth0ny

Member
If my research is correct, this Raw is the 5th worst rating Raw has EVER done. nuts.

I wonder how many people watched basketball and how many nerds watched E3 instead.
 

UberTag

Member
If my research is correct, this Raw is the 5th worst rating Raw has EVER done. nuts.

I wonder how many people watched basketball and how many nerds watched E3 instead.
WrassleGAF thread was completely dead last night... so seems like quite a number of them.
Shame we know who's winning the ladder match now but I have high hopes that Cena and Styles will deliver something special on Sunday.
 
At what point do they hotshot onto Dean.

That is the question.

Switching the main title will have little if any impact on the ratings. Their problems are way more fundamental than that. 3 hour Raw, the way they book 50/50, and the idea of "McMahons above all" have created an environment where they have no stars. No stars, no reason for a casual viewer to tune in.
 
Switching the main title will have little if any impact on the ratings. Their problems are way more fundamental than that. 3 hour Raw, the way they book 50/50, and the idea of "McMahons above all" have created an environment where they have no stars. No stars, no reason for a casual viewer to tune in.

Yep, EVERYTHING is in need of an overhaul. The show is too long, the writing sucks, the announcing (on Raw) sucks, NOTHING feels important, same fucking McMahon shit over and over. etc.

I didn't watch one second of Raw for the second week in a row, if they can't keep someone like me watching (someone who's been watching for about 30 years), they are fucked.
 

UberTag

Member
Switching the main title will have little if any impact on the ratings. Their problems are way more fundamental than that. 3 hour Raw, the way they book 50/50, and the idea of "McMahons above all" have created an environment where they have no stars. No stars, no reason for a casual viewer to tune in.
Yep, the booking philosophy where absolutely nothing that happens has any consequence has cultivated this problem and it will only continue to persist no matter who is champ.

Match outcomes don't matter. Stipulations will be outright ignored. Whether the fans react or get behind someone or buy their merchandise... makes no difference. Whether a wrestler gets themselves over even with the worst gimmick and booking imaginable... irrelevant. Nothing matters from a company that demands 6-9 hours a week of their audience's time.

That's a pretty substantial investment for a wash, rinse, repeat product that's creatively bankrupt. And the WWE's solution to this will be to double down with a longer Smackdown and more network specials where wrestlers trade wins back and forth in perpetuity with their only purpose being to make Vince's favorites look strong so they can go on talk shows and actually be themselves (instead of rigidly scripted so they all sound the same).
 

Lothar

Banned
Russo was on Austin's podcast. Very interesting hearing them both talk about guys like Sandow and Ryder and how disappointing it is that WWE doesn't listen to the fans.

The problems seem so obvious any time either Russo or Austin talk about the current state of wrestling.
 
Or anyone outside of WWE. WWE is completely up its own ass - and without NXT going on, there wouldn't be much reason to think that the future could be bright for the company.
 
If my research is correct, this Raw is the 5th worst rating Raw has EVER done. nuts.

I wonder how many people watched basketball and how many nerds watched E3 instead.

I mean, I was watching E3. I had legitimately forgotten all about Raw until I got home.

And after I watched it, I sure didn't feel bad for having missed it when it was on.
 

RBH

Member
It finally happened. Thanks, in part, to going head-to-head with Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the June 13th edition of WWE Raw fell below the 3 million viewer mark for the first time outside of football season.

The show did 2.96 million viewers -- the second lowest for a non-holiday episode of the show since 1997, as there was a show in November that did 2.95 million viewers. The prior seasonal record low was 3.12 million viewers, and while the rating isn't out as of this writing, it should equate to a 2.1 or 2.2 rating.

The Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game on ABC did 20.53 million viewers.

Raw was fourth for the night on cable, trailing Rizzoli & Isles on TNT, Major Crimes on TNT, and The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News.

The show opened weak, even though it started before the NBA game, and had a fairly significant third hour drop.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.04 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.11 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.76 million viewers
http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/wwe-raw-ratings-dip-below-3-million-viewers-214581

Monday’s WWE Raw scored a 2.03 rating, down from the 2.28 rating the show drew last week. Raw averaged 2.97 million viewers, down from the 3.254 million average from last week.

The NBA Finals Game 5 delivered a whopping 20.528 million viewers for ABC, which certainly didn’t help Raw’s cause. WWE Smackdown will be opposed by Game 6, and Money in the Bank would run opposite a potential Game 7, so Raw will be in the clear as far as major sports competition next week. The June 15, 2015 edition of Raw delivered a 2.83 rating with 4.113 million viewers.
http://prowrestling.net/site/2016/06/14/wwe-raw-rating-for-the-june-13-edition/
 
Haven't been watching it for a few weeks since AJ lost. I am just so tired of a company being built around 1 or 2 guys like its the 80's. Hard to be invested in the product when WWE just hates their fan base. I would like to see it be a bit more unpredictable. It's always "lol Roman wins, lol Cena wins" it's just boring to me. It's such an old way of thinking. WWE can't build a company around 1 or 2 guys anymore. It doesn't work in 2016
 

UberTag

Member
Kratos is stronger than Roman.
To be fair, Vince hasn't fed any gods to Roman yet.

The closest he'll come to doing so will be if he's able to feed Brock and Cena to him.
Roman's only had small-fry jobbers to make him look strong thus far.

That's like those undead legionnaires manning the ship in the very first level of God of War 1.
Kratos would have never looked as strong as he does if he only beat those guys up for the entire original trilogy.

You could make the same argument about Hogan. He needed to slay an Andre or two to build up his legacy.
 

Zabka

Member
Turned it off after the opening segment. Caught up on it today. This show just fucking drags.

Women's division is the most depressing part for me. Reminds me of the filler done to drag Nikki's title reign out.
 
Well, at least the thread title is accurate again.

Honestly, it's hard to really care about Raw since it all just seems like spinning wheels till the draft. They can take a near-literal giant eraser to every feud and rivalry with the brand split so it's really hard to justify parking oneself on the couch for three hours.
 

UberTag

Member
Well, at least the thread title is accurate again.

Honestly, it's hard to really care about Raw since it all just seems like spinning wheels till the draft. They can take a near-literal giant eraser to every feud and rivalry with the brand split so it's really hard to justify parking oneself on the couch for three hours.
Don't fret. After the draft and the brand split they'll find a new reason to spin their wheels and not bother doing anything for an extended period of time. They always find a reason.
 
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