What’s the story?
On the second-to-last edition of Monday Night Raw before WrestleMania 33, the WWE posted record-low ratings when a big night was needed to create more anticipation for what’s being billed as “Ultimate Thrill ride” on April 2.
The Background
The WWE dives into a bit of a formulaic schedule on the Road to WrestleMania. As it was seen over the past few years, this year included, they tend to visit the bigger wrestling towns leading up to WrestleMania.
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WWE Raw or SmackDown Live travel to places such as Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, Detroit, Philadelphia and Las Vegas. This is done to have the bigger crowds get invested in the product right before the biggest night of the year.
In doing so, WWE officials can create even more hype than originally intended. That way, WWE stars can feed off those crowds, for better or for worse, so the road is an exciting one.
Also read: WWE News: SmackDown loses to Raw in viewership yet again
A successful Road to WrestleMania doesn’t happen every year, however, and it just so happens that the last two years were surrounded by controversial main events.
When big matches like Roman Reigns vs. Triple H and Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar are scheduled, it’s hard to promote them, considering that they involve part-time stars.
The heart of the matter
In a report done by F4WOnline, they retrieved the exact numbers WWE Raw posted two nights ago in Brooklyn, New York.
“Last night's Raw broke the record for the lowest audience to watch the show since 1997 on a night when they weren't facing major sports competition or it being a major holiday, with 3.04 million viewers.
The previous record low outside of shows during football season, or going against either the NBA playoffs or the Olympics, or on a major holiday, was 3.07 million viewers for the February 13th show.”
Dave Meltzer, the writer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, published the hour-by-hour breakdown as well. The first hour came in at 3.16 million. The second hour posted 3.12 million viewers and the third hour ended with 2.87 million viewers.
What’s next?
In true Vince McMahon fashion, he has said before that ratings aren’t the primary concern of the WWE and that merchandise sales, advertising revenue and pop-culture inclusion are his main priorities.
That doesn’t mean that he forgets about the on-screen product, but it’s evident as to where his concerns lie. When it comes to the USA Network and how much interest they’re drawing to the network, the numbers are not increasing.
Author’s take
This is bad. There really isn’t a better word to describe the current state of WWE.
Sure, Reigns and AJ Styles will sell tickets and John Cena is still a fixture on WWE programming but that last one won’t last forever and if ratings continue to go down, so will the attendance in the arenas.
When that dips, then a real problem will arise.
WrestleMania 33 must deliver, or like last year during the main event, people could walk out of the show early. At least Goldberg vs. Lesnar won’t be a long match.
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