WWE: Monday Night Raw part 116: TMZ >>>>>>>>>>> WWE Creative

[Serac]

Their only hope is to have something shocking happen at HIAC and hope it drags in a few more viewers

Like they throw a real curve as to who challenges Cena
Or...well, I honestly don't know what else they could do

The fallout from Brock - Taker doesn't draw me
Neither does the fallout from whatever happen with Rollins and Kane
Though I'm even more worried they'll actually give Kane the title

 

[M.C.G. 31]

At this pace, next week's third hour will hit 2.9 million viewers.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Their only hope is to have something shocking happen at HIAC and hope it drags in a few more viewers

Like they throw a real curve as to who challenges Cena
Or...well, I honestly don't know what else they could do

The fallout from Brock - Taker doesn't draw me
Neither does the fallout from whatever happen with Rollins and Kane
Though I'm even more worried they'll actually give Kane the title

Give Kane the title and have Sheamus cash in on Kane so we can have what we've waited no one's lifetime for...Kane-Sheamus program for the title or another two months of Kane in the main event.

There won't be any fallout beyond whatever promo Heyman does. Brock will be done until the Rumble at the earliest. Taker can't really be bothered with even building a program, much less wrapping it up beyond the actual match.

The Cena thing is already dead as far as I'm concerned. They didn't strike when the iron was hot which standard operating procedure for WWE. The time to have Cena drop the title in the US Open challenge and have it mean something was before he dropped it to Seth Rollins for no real good reason...especially since they've gone out of their way to make Rollins look like an idiotic loser as a champion. I don't mind him looking like a coward or even weak but he shouldn't actually lose matches on free TV and he shouldn't be treated as a simpleton when one of his monikers is the architect.

Not promoting Austin on the program is a reason why they won't pop a rating. A reason why his drawing power as a cameo will fade is because they use them as promotional puppets. The only guy left that will pop a rating is The Rock.

 

[SladeWilson23]

Bringing in those legends last night was so utterly pointless.

 

[ColePens]

I think now more than ever fans want to see a new era of wrestling. Old guys and nostalgia really aren't getting the pops or ratings Vince thinks they will. People want good shows, natural booking, and something new. WWE is not giving it and viewership is showing. You have ten to twenty percent drops each week from seeing Lesnar to just giving up on the show. That's bad.

 

[Blitzkrug]

WWE should considering themselves lucky that the Colts and Patriots played on Sunday. Otherwise those ratings would look worse.

That rating is going to challenge the under 3 mil barrier by months end; the World Series could start by Monday depending on how the LCS shakes out, Monday Night Football will still be here and the NBA starts towards the end of the month.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

I think now more than ever fans want to see a new era of wrestling. Old guys and nostalgia really aren't getting the pops or ratings Vince thinks they will. People want good shows, natural booking, and something new. WWE is not giving it and viewership is showing. You have ten to twenty percent drops each week from seeing Lesnar to just giving up on the show. That's bad.

That, or people are just done with wrestling. Remember in 2009 and 2010 where we claimed WWE was aiming towards kids so as they grew older, the product would grow edgier? Well, those kids they targeted the show to in 2009-2010 are 16-18 years old now and have most likely moved on. Not to mention that hardcore fan base they thought they'd always have has clearly left. Hell, they've turned me into a super casual viewer and I considered myself a "hardcore viewer" just a year ago, despite what the state of the product was.

I don't even watch other wrestling anymore. I just feel like I've completely checked out from it.

***

The low viewership numbers for Raw and Smackdown are not the only problem for WWE. The attendance at shows is dropping. Fans at the Smackdown taping on Tuesday noted that the entire upper arena was tarped off and half of the upper deck was tarped off at the 10/6 tapings in Philadelphia. They drew just 3,000 fans for the show this week.

The Wrestling Observer notes that the 10/26 Raw in San Diego has sold 6,000 tickets. The arena is set up for 8,500 fans. That is the post-Hell in a Cell edition of Raw. They did draw 10,000 fans in Chicago for Raw this week but they were a few thousand fans short of a sell out even though they announced that they sold out the arena. Chicago is a hot wrestling town but they didn’t seem as hot as in the past. Keep in mind that they usually sell out Raw when they are in Chicago. It’s hard to use the Chicago Cubs as an excuse because they usually sell out months in advance.

 

[Blitzkrug]

That's the problem with WWE. For the most part, it's the most accessible form of wrestling. People watch it, loathe it and then it burns them out on the industry altogether.

The reason why i watched Lucha Underground was because it didn't market itself as a wrestling show on paper.

They threw EVERYTHING at this Raw; Austin, Lesnar, a ****ing Shield Reunion and it barely made a difference. That would concern me if i were a shareholder.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

That's the problem with WWE. For the most part, it's the most accessible form of wrestling. People watch it, loathe it and then it burns them out on the industry altogether.

The reason why i watched Lucha Underground was because it didn't market itself as a wrestling show on paper.

They threw EVERYTHING at this Raw; Austin, Lesnar, a ****ing Shield Reunion and it barely made a difference. That would concern me if i were a shareholder.

The Shield viewership actually continued the decline of viewership instead of providing any pop. It should concern everyone.


The reason wrestling isn't as accessible as other things is because no one wants it on their networks. No advertiser wants their advertisements there. It doesn't help that I hate watching things online for the most part and will always choose to watch something on my 50" TV, whether it's via cable, PS3 or Apple TV.

Now, if they ever put Lucha Underground on Netflix, I may give it a go. As of now, I just feel completely cut off as a fan.

 

[Marv4Life]

Final number: 2.21 http://prowrestling.net/article.php?WWE-Raw-rating-for-the-October-19-edition-44495

And this is with all of these names. Couldn't even get a measly 2.5.

 

[GKJ]

Don't tell me there was a Shield reunion. That was hardly a reunion, and certainly not anything anyone already knew unless they were watching the second hour of the show. It would have made more sense if they led of with that at the end of the first segment, put Rollins in the match and had a run-in or something in the middle of the show.

 

[GindyDraws]

Undertaker, Austin, HBK, Flair and Lesnar. They couldn't even get a full 100k bump in the average. Oh man, this is fantastic.

And all this was for a 2.21 rating! Even with all the crap throwing against the wall, this is amazing. These numbers haven't been seen since Nitro in 2001 & RAW wasn't this low in nearly 20 years.

Hell, even the utilization of those guys was dumb:

*Austin: Introduced Undertaker, then disappeared.
*HBK: Ate a kid's pizza that went down the wrong pipe.
*Flair: Obligatory Reigns rub attempt #96
*Taker & Lesnar have their encounter at the beginning of the show.
*Oh, & by the way... the Shield sorta reunited, which meant WWE wasted that, as well.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Sorry John but your personal time off is cancelled. We need you to take the WWE title for a run and get those ratings up. Thanks, brah.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Final number: 2.21 http://prowrestling.net/article.php?WWE-Raw-rating-for-the-October-19-edition-44495

And this is with all of these names. Couldn't even get a measly 2.5.

I said they wouldn't get over 2.45... I didn't think it'd be lower than 2.25, though. This is hilarious.

This is tied for the lowest rating in 18 years.

Raw is getting its lowest next week. 2.17


The thing is this will continue until Vince dies. He simply doesn't have the patience to do what's needed to rebuild the product to at least be decent television.

 

[Karma]

Eagles game was on so I didn't even bother watching. Only thing I saw was the open with Austin/Taker/Lesnar. A desperate attempt to get viewers.

 

[Frankie Spankie]

What happened with the final match? I fell asleep like an hour before it ended.

 

[Emperoreddy]

What happened with the final match? I fell asleep like an hour before it ended.

Seth just left and it turned into a smoze with kendo sticks and Roman trying to be super man. Aka it sucked.

It wasn't official but they still wasted the first ever reuniting of the shield literally to attempt to get a ratings pop.

This was the first time all 3 were in the same ring in ages and they did nothing with it and for long time viewers it taints it when it finally does happen because some actually remember continuity.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Their only hope is to have something shocking happen at HIAC and hope it drags in a few more viewers

Like they throw a real curve as to who challenges Cena
Or...well, I honestly don't know what else they could do

The fallout from Brock - Taker doesn't draw me
Neither does the fallout from whatever happen with Rollins and Kane
Though I'm even more worried they'll actually give Kane the title

They can't even try to sell Brock taker fallout because they advertised it so hard as the blowoff.

So unless they have a major run in planned to promote a new program with Brock or Taker there is nothing to carry over into raw since Taker odds are won't even be there. Brock might but just to cut a quick promo before he goes back into taking time off (since this is actually extra work for him beyond his initial contract)

 

[The Gongshow]

The only downside is the product won't get better because Vince will try to get ratings up with more Cena and old people.

 

[Frankie Spankie]

Seth just left and it turned into a smoze with kendo sticks and Roman trying to be super man. Aka it sucked.

It wasn't official but they still wasted the first ever reuniting of the shield literally to attempt to get a ratings pop.

This was the first time all 3 were in the same ring in ages and they did nothing with it and for long time viewers it taints it when it finally does happen because some actually remember continuity.

Figured it'd be bad, glad I didn't stay up for it now.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

meltzer says the original idea for punks return in 2011 was for triple h to lay him out

i wonder who pitched that?

 

[M.C.G. 31]

meltzer says the original idea for punks return in 2011 was for triple h to lay him out

i wonder who pitched that?

I legitimately hope Triple H can put any ego or grudge aside when he's in control of the entire company. Granted, this was 4 years ago and he seems to have changed a lot, but, yeah...

 

[The Gongshow]

Vince will live forever so WWE will suck forever or die out

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I legitimately hope Triple H can put any ego or grudge aside when he's in control of the entire company. Granted, this was 4 years ago and he seems to have changed a lot, but, yeah...

Yeah but his issues with Punk are still pretty fresh. I think it's going to be difficult for him to get over the fact that he just doesn't like the guy and doesn't think he's worth the headache.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Vince will live forever so WWE will suck forever or die out

"Life sucks, and then I don't die."

-Vince McMahon

What a great promo that was, too.