WWE News: Paul Heyman Discusses How To Fix ‘WWE Raw’s’ Bad Ratings
WWE’s ratings haven’t been what they were hoping for. Instead of getting 4,000,000 viewers for WWE Raw, the flagship program for World Wrestling Entertainment barely goes over 3.2 million on a weekly basis. Here are the ratings for WWE Raw over the last month.
- September 9 – 3,385,000 viewers
- September 16 – 3,397,333 viewers
- September 23 – 3,397,333 viewers
- September 30 – 3,330,000 viewers
On September 16, the WWE produced the season premiere of Monday Night Raw. The fact that it was their season premiere should’ve garnered a better response from the WWE Universe. Also, it was marketed quite well the weeks prior to the program. Then again, out of the ratings provided above, it had the most success.
September 23 was the fallout program from Night of Champions. The pay-per-view was controversial, especially after Sting’s serious injury that he succumbed to at the hands of Seth Rollins. His injury was accidental, but the WWE didn’t provide any update on the Icon. Overall, most WWE fans felt that WWE Raw was flat that evening.
Last week’s episode had a lot of promising segments. The confusion from the Divas Revolution storyline didn’t help, but Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt closed it out in an entertaining fashion. WWE has a multitude of superstars. Many on WWE Raw alone could headline a big pay-per-view event. Nobody can figure out the issue, but Paul Heyman commented on the bad ratings and suggested one solution.
“I think if there is erosion in the ratings then we are in a cycle within the industry where fans are going and looking for or finding other interests. This is not dissimilar to any other forms of entertainment. The key has always been to replace those who leave, to bring in more fans at any time you are losing fans. At this particular point in time there is a search to find the new fan. I am not one who looks at the ratings every Tuesday and says, ‘Well, we haven’t replaced everybody that is left. The ratings didn’t double.’ I’m not expecting that type of increase tomorrow or the next week or the week after that.
“A long-term solution is with a number of brand new stars, all in compelling situations with riveting storylines and new match-ups. That is what will bring an upswing to the ratings ever so slowly to where the average rating goes up a little bit each month.”
Heyman has an excellent point when he talks about a long-term solution. Many ideas are constantly talked about in blogs, articles, podcasts, and social media. The most popular ideas are the firing of Vince McMahon, a brand split, the rejuvenation of the World Heavyweight championship, and John Cena out of the main event scene.
Not every idea is great, but a couple on that list make perfect sense. McMahon’s knowledge of this industry is endless. Seeing him not in a seat of power is ludicrous. However, Triple H should spearhead the WWE Creative decisions at this point. Cena isn’t technically in the main event scene, as he doesn’t own the WWE championship.
The brand split may be the perfect way to bring ratings back not just to WWE Raw, but to the entire landscape of WWE programming. When wrestling was at its peak in the mid-2000s, Smackdown and Raw were superb to watch. They had their own storylines, championships, and likeness.
In today’s climate, WWE Smackdown is considered a “replay” of Raw. While that’s a pessimistic view on the situation, the WWE became more interesting with two brands showing relevance. Plus, WWE’s stockpiling of their stars on one show would dissipate. Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, and others would headline Smackdown and have a chance to move up to Raw in the future. They gave Divas a chance, now it’s time to give a brand split a chance.
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