Official Raw Ratings Thread [2.22 for the 7/18 episode]

[julesocean]

People fail to realize that nowadays, the ratings are mostly comprised of the hardcore fans. The reason the ratings were so huge in the 90s was because the extra numbers were in fact all the casuals that tuned in from the product being so good.

How many people do you know that casually have wrestling on in the background? No one. The entire viewership are fans, that post on message boards all day, that make youtube vlogs every day, that host podcasts, that post on twitter.. Whether it's the "smart" fans like us, or the kids that cheer Cena/Reigns, both are the "core" fanbase, and are two very different entities, in terms of taste.

WWE has been stumped for a long time on how to cater to both cores effectively.

 

[DANJ!]

People said they wanted different... there's no Cena/HHH/Orton/Lesnar/Big Show/etc... most of the show right now is centered around new stars and/or guys who've been around for only a few years. It's not gonna skyrocket overnight- I'm just glad they're runnin' with it for the time being. I'm not gonna do the 'girl who gives the new guy a hard time because of what happened before' thing, I know very well they could end up falling back into that same pattern, but the lane for newer stars to shine is there.

 

[GoddamnyamanProf]

People said they wanted different... there's no Cena/HHH/Orton/Lesnar/Big Show/etc... most of the show right now is centered around new stars and/or guys who've been around for only a few years. It's not gonna skyrocket overnight- I'm just glad they're runnin' with it for the time being. I'm not gonna do the 'girl who gives the new guy a hard time because of what happened before' thing, I know very well they could end up falling back into that same pattern, but the lane for newer stars to shine is there.

Its nice that theyre finally focusing on different talent, but the problem isnt who's in the lane, its the lane itself. It sucks. They built all this hype about Payback being the start of A NEW ERA, and what happened? Some good wrestling but nothing of significance story-wise, same old same old. By the numbers, no real fukkery, CenaReignsWinsLoL. Not even the brand split most were anticipating. Gotta give people SOMEthing to get excited about. Why tease major changes and then deliver none? Its like theyre trying to fail sometimes...

 

[julesocean]

People said they wanted different... there's no Cena/HHH/Orton/Lesnar/Big Show/etc... most of the show right now is centered around new stars and/or guys who've been around for only a few years. It's not gonna skyrocket overnight- I'm just glad they're runnin' with it for the time being. I'm not gonna do the 'girl who gives the new guy a hard time because of what happened before' thing, I know very well they could end up falling back into that same pattern, but the lane for newer stars to shine is there.

Exactly, even to us veteran watchers, the psychology of seeing someone new being pushed high and into the main event will come off as "oh he doesn't belong here, these indy darlings aren't drawing shyt". If you look back at some of the most successful wrestlers, they weren't immediately looked at as main event superstars once they got there. They had to have a stay at the top, where they proved themselves, and earned it. A prime example is HHH. A prime example of someone that was given the same opportunity but didn't have the skill or IT factor to cement themselves, The Miz.
As long as they keep pushing guys that deserve it (Styles, Owens, Balor, Rollins), in the longrun all of these guys will earn their Superstar main eventer tag, and we will look at them as such.

 

[DaHNIC82]

Then they need to make it popular again but putting on a brilliant show week in week out and making every Raw and PPV a must see event

Austin said recently that in the AE they made every Raw like it was a PPV, I think today is no different. I mean when was the last time a PPV didn't feel like Sunday Night Raw?

Look at the Payback card, some good matches but most of it you've seen or will see on Raw. Every match is also singles, singles, singles, singles, tag, singles, tag etc etc. Throw in a gimmick match, a triple threat, a tables tag match, etc etc. It's just by the numbers wrestling

And the so called "hardcore" matches are a joke

 

[MenacingMonk]

We can debate on what they need to do, but at the end of the day wrestling is declining. Seeing how ratings been going down EVERY year tells us how it is.

Out of all the friends i had and family members that watched it, I was the only one who kept interest. I may have stopped watching for 5-6 years, but I came back. Even now I only have 1 friend who keeps up like me and I had no clue he was a fan until after high school

 

[RammerJammer]

We can debate on what they need to do, but at the end of the day wrestling is declining. Seeing how ratings been going down EVERY year tells us how it is.

Out of all the friends i had and family members that watched it, I was the only one who kept interest. I may have stopped watching for 5-6 years, but I came back. Even now I only have 1 friend who keeps up like me and I had no clue he was a fan until after high school

And some people don't get that. I knew tons of friends that watched wrestling but as the years went on they lost interest in it. People have simply lost interest and NOTHING will change that at this point, Pro Wrestling is MLB status. 2015 was one of the best postseasons in recent memory, easily forgotten, hell most people can't even name the World Series winning unless you're an avid baseball fan. In the WWE, we're finally getting the product that people wanted for YEARS (AJ Styles and other big name Indy guys, Intercontinental title meaning something again, Tag Team division good again, Women's division actually worth something now, less big guys like Big Show and Kane in big storylines) and still that's not boosting ratings. At this point, nothing will change it so we have to deal with it.

 

[MenacingMonk]

And some people don't get that. I knew tons of friends that watched wrestling but as the years went on they lost interest in it. People have simply lost interest and NOTHING will change that at this point, Pro Wrestling is MLB status. 2015 was one of the best postseasons in recent memory, easily forgotten, hell most people can't even name the World Series winning unless you're an avid baseball fan. In the WWE, we're finally getting the product that people wanted for YEARS (AJ Styles and other big name Indy guys, Intercontinental title meaning something again, Tag Team division good again, Women's division actually worth something now, less big guys like Big Show and Kane in big storylines) and still that's not boosting ratings. At this point, nothing will change it so we have to deal with it.

Yup. sad thing too.

 

[DANJ!]

Its nice that theyre finally focusing on different talent, but the problem isnt who's in the lane, its the lane itself. It sucks. They built all this hype about Payback being the start of A NEW ERA, and what happened? Some good wrestling but nothing of significance story-wise, same old same old. By the numbers, no real fukkery, CenaReignsWinsLoL. Not even the brand split most were anticipating. Gotta give people SOMEthing to get excited about. Why tease major changes and then deliver none? Its like theyre trying to fail sometimes...

People set themselves up with that brand split shyt... people forget, the brand split happened because fitting Hogan, Rock, Austin, HHH, Taker, etc on the same show was gonna be a huge task... it's not a huge task when you have a mostly relatively-new roster and a handful of 'top' guys. It's just not the same.

Far as the New Era thing... it's not like they promised a massive overhaul in one night. If we're thinkin' they're gonna dump everyone who's been there for a while and throw everybody new up front instantly, thats probably not gonna happen. WWE right now looks way different than it did two or even one year ago...

 

[Swiggy]

I think anyone leaning on any promises from a "new era" needs to realize just how much hyperbole this company incorporates into it's storylines on a regular basis. They haven't promised shyt, won't promise anything, and repackages the same cereal in a new box each year.

Get your milk or don't

 

[GoddamnyamanProf]

People set themselves up with that brand split shyt... people forget, the brand split happened because fitting Hogan, Rock, Austin, HHH, Taker, etc on the same show was gonna be a huge task... it's not a huge task when you have a mostly relatively-new roster and a handful of 'top' guys. It's just not the same.

Far as the New Era thing... it's not like they promised a massive overhaul in one night. If we're thinkin' they're gonna dump everyone who's been there for a while and throw everybody new up front instantly, thats probably not gonna happen. WWE right now looks way different than it did two or even one year ago...

I know that but as I said, its not even the who as much as it is the what. You cant tout a new era of doing things all night and then do things exactly the same as always. A lot of people thought the brand split was a bad idea, but were still anticipating at least something, and we got nothing. And no, it wasnt all people setting themselves up as you say. They purposely went out there and set the stage to make it seem like something big was going down and then nothing went down. The beginning of Vince's speech about Raw continually reinventing itself with the times was basically a reworded version of the speech he gave that led to the Attitude Era, and that wasnt on accident. Why spend half an hour on that segment, get people hype, drag it too long to where people grow impatient, and then end the whole thing abruptly and anticlimactically with an announcement that does nothing but keep the status quo? That's how you usher in a New Era? Whole thing felt like just another troll to the fanbase. That or they're just incredibly inept at storytelling.

 

[R=G]

People set themselves up with that brand split shyt... people forget, the brand split happened because fitting Hogan, Rock, Austin, HHH, Taker, etc on the same show was gonna be a huge task... it's not a huge task when you have a mostly relatively-new roster and a handful of 'top' guys. It's just not the same.

Far as the New Era thing... it's not like they promised a massive overhaul in one night. If we're thinkin' they're gonna dump everyone who's been there for a while and throw everybody new up front instantly, thats probably not gonna happen. WWE right now looks way different than it did two or even one year ago...

I'll say this...things LOOK DIFFERENT. It really does. No Cena, No Blandy...they took Cripple H off television for the TIME BEING. They brought Shane to neutralize the Stephanie effect...Kevin Owens is getting away with some SLICK disguised Nation Rock type stuff except he's losing a little bit more...Sami gets a lot of time..Cesaro has come back getting pushed...Miz and Maryse are getting a lot of screentime. Rusev with Lana again and getting a US title shot to get him back in the mix...Charlotte and Natayla are actually getting built up while they keep Sasha out of sight out of mind for her return....the tag divison was definitely looking different with New Day on top and Enzo and Cass also getting hot...Ambrose is still over.....AJ and Roman are getting pushed in like tweener type roles even though Roman is getting ULTRA BOOED...Anderson and Gallows are getting key screentime for the time being...

When you LOOK at the WHOLE PICTURE? It looks different...I haven't seen Kane or Big Show in a minute...Ryback is off TV.....but Cena will be BACK when X-Men Apocalypse comes out and he will fukk up this entire dynamic. That much is guaranteed. His return won't matter with Roman..he's been kept away from the Cena bull$hit since day one. They haven't had NO TYPE of one on one match nor has it been remotely teased except earlier this year when they couldn't lock in the Rock for WM 32's main event.

Things are different right now but how long will this last before Cena and Blandy and Sheamus start getting infected into the energy.

 

[Spyro]

And some people don't get that. I knew tons of friends that watched wrestling but as the years went on they lost interest in it. People have simply lost interest and NOTHING will change that at this point, Pro Wrestling is MLB status. 2015 was one of the best postseasons in recent memory, easily forgotten, hell most people can't even name the World Series winning unless you're an avid baseball fan. In the WWE, we're finally getting the product that people wanted for YEARS (AJ Styles and other big name Indy guys, Intercontinental title meaning something again, Tag Team division good again, Women's division actually worth something now, less big guys like Big Show and Kane in big storylines) and still that's not boosting ratings. At this point, nothing will change it so we have to deal with it.

And not to mention the show still isn't that good. Commentary still sucks, 3 hours is still too long, the whole set/ring ropes presentation is outdated and weak; not enough must see moments/shocks/surprises; and most of the matches are formualic and predictable. Reigns is champ even though he gets booed out of every arena despite being big face (I like Reigns but he needs to turn heel or get belt off him), Stephanie still showing up for 20 minutes every week, and let's be honest an episode of Raw just isn't that great; some good moments here and there but nothing special.

And don't get me started on every PPV feeling like Sunday Night Smackdown

 

[23Barrettcity]

People fail to realize that nowadays, the ratings are mostly comprised of the hardcore fans. The reason the ratings were so huge in the 90s was because the extra numbers were in fact all the casuals that tuned in from the product being so good.

How many people do you know that casually have wrestling on in the background? No one. The entire viewership are fans, that post on message boards all day, that make youtube vlogs every day, that host podcasts, that post on twitter.. Whether it's the "smart" fans like us, or the kids that cheer Cena/Reigns, both are the "core" fanbase, and are two very different entities, in terms of taste.

WWE has been stumped for a long time on how to cater to both cores effectively.

I'm starting to think the hardcore fans are more of a problem then the cena/reigns fans as they will accept other stars and go along with storylines while the smarkier fans complain anytime they don't get their way .

You don't have to love reigns but wwe isn't trying to make you either . There are plenty of other guys on the card that people can support . Reigns is only a failure if he was getting del rio crickets he's not .

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

Too many TV channels, too many TV shows, too many other things too do on a Monday +TiVo.