WWE News: Raw Viewership Increases, Rating Still Down

What's the story?

WWE delivered a solid episode of Monday Night Raw according to the fans and as a result, the viewership increased slightly.

The Raw after Super Show-Down averaged 2.37 million viewers - up 72,000 viewers from last week's show on October 1.

In case you didn't know

The show started with Triple H and Shawn Michaels challenging Kane and The Undertaker to a tag team match at Crown Jewel; ending The Heartbreak Kid's eight-year retirement.

Other key moments of the night were The Bella Twins attacking Ronda Rousey, Kurt Angle qualifying for the WWE World Cup Tournament and the main event featuring The Shield versus Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre.

The heart of the matter

Raw faced dual competition from the MLB and the NFL as the Boston Red Sox played the New York Yankees on TBS and the New Orleans Saints played the Washington Redskins on ESPN.

The following is the hourly breakdown of the October 8 edition of Raw:

Hour one: 2.533 million

Hour two: 2.388 million

Hour three: 2.200 million

The show focused largely on setting up programs for Evolution and Crown Jewel respectively with the majority of the commentary and reruns focusing on the return of Shawn Michaels to the ring.

Most of the wrestling was a combination of rematches from Super Show-Down and rematches from previous episodes of Raw, but the fans didn't seem to mind as much and had a much more positive reception on social media compared to previous weeks.

Despite the fans' appreciation for the show, Raw's rating will more than likely stay the same with a marginal increase at best.

What's next?

With both Crown Jewel and Evolution taking place in the same week, the WWE will spend the next few weeks building up both shows.

Expect more legends and part-timers to come to TV as the company progresses towards what will be a very busy weekend of the month.