Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: ratings, Raw, wrestling, wwe

WWE Raw Ratings Return to Pre-Thunderdome Levels for Labor Day

Published Wed, 09 Sep 2020 17:18:43 -0500

The WWE Monday Night Raw ratings, which were delayed due to the Labor Day holiday, are out now from Showbuzz Daily, and it's not great news for WWE. After a significant bump for the post-SummerSlam show in August and the debut of the Thunderdome arena, the viewership, and rating for Raw has fallen back down to the level it was at a few weeks ago.

The official logo for WWE Monday Night Raw. Credit: WWE.

Raw Viewership and Ratings Down to Pre-Thunderdome Levels

Raw this past Monday drew an average of 1.725 million viewers, with individual hours of 1.762 million, 1.800 million, and 1.613 million. In the 18-49 demographic, Raw scored a .48, also in line with pre-Thunderdome numbers. The individual hours of Raw score a .50, .48, and .45 in the demo. Raw's hours were ranked 5th, 6th, and 8th on the Top 150 cable charts, which is the most telling number of all. Any adjustment due to the Labor Day holiday, which is actually not usually a big problem for Raw, should be reflected in the show's relative ranking. Last year, Raw was ranked #2 for its Labor Day episode. That being said, Raw didn't have to compete with the NBA playoffs last Labor Day either.

If numbers stay at this level or continue to drop over the next few weeks, WWE could find itself in trouble. The company pinned its hopes on the Thunderdome to stop a ratings decline, and they were surely hoping for more than a two-week bump before returning to pre-Thunderdome levels. In addition, the previous two weeks also benefited from following PPVS, with SummerSlam and Payback airing on back-to-back Sundays. This week's episode of Raw was the first episode that didn't feature the fallout of a PPV since before the Thunderdome was built.

The Bottom Line 'Cause Chad Said So

WWE should have listened to The Chadster all along when I said that wrestling is better without fans. This is what happens when WWE tries to cater to fans by putting them on video screens in the Thunderdome arena. They're spending all this money just to show fans' dumb faces on these LED screens, only for the ratings boost to peter out after just two weeks. Maybe now WWE is ready to listen to my advice, and if so, time to drop the whole Thunderdome thing, go back to wrestling in dead silence and just have Baron Corbin appear on both Raw and Smackdown to boost the ratings.

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