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WWE Raw Ratings Get A Huge Boost From Goldberg’s Return

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 04:19 PST, Oct 19, 2016

WWE Raw ratings got a huge boost on Monday night, thanks to the return of Goldberg after over a decade out of action, Cageside Seats is reporting.

Total viewership for the three-hour block of WWE Raw averaged just over 3.13 million for each hour – up 13.5 percent from last week’s disappointing 2.758 million, according to Uproxx. Specifically, each hour breaks down like this:

  • Hour One: 3.17 million
  • Hour Two: 3.11 million
  • Hour Three: 3.12 million

The major leap in ratings probably led to more than a few sighs of relief from WWE’s Stamford, Connecticut headquarters. WWE has had a rough few months in terms of ratings for its flagship show.

Things were at their rock bottom for WWE back in July, when the July 4 holiday episode set an all-time ratings low for holiday episodes. Uproxx reporter Joe Starr speculated at the time that the low ratings were causing fits back in Stamford.

“Maybe not everything is hunky dory in Stamford, of course. Is this one of those days where Vince McMahon sails the stormy seas and screams at the clouds like Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump? “I gave you a food fight and America beating all other countries, damn it! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!”

The ratings woes continued for WWE into the fall TV season. The culprits have been the election and the return of Monday Night Football. In fact, just a month ago, when up against both Monday Night Football and the presidential debate, WWE Raw set an all-time ratings low.

WWE Raw‘s Monday night ratings this week paint a better picture for the future of the show than just what the numbers first indicate. Besides being solidly over 3 million, Raw was the No. 4 rated show on cable Monday night, and was No. 2, behind Monday Night Football, in the 18-49 demographic – the block of viewers that advertisers crave the most.

So who gets the credit for the huge boost in WWE Raw‘s Monday night ratings? None other than Goldberg, of course.

Goldberg didn’t wrestle on Monday, of course. Instead, he made his return to the ring after 12 years to hype the crowd for his next – and final – match, according to Cageside Seats. Wearing his street clothes instead of his ring attire, Goldberg told a packed Pepsi Center in Denver that he is ready to take on Brock Lesnar.

“Maybe I have one last a**-kicking in me.”

Twelve years ago, Goldberg (William Scott “Bill” Goldberg) left WWE, presumably for good. He gave a variety of reasons – he told the Denver crowd Monday night that he had “created a little drama” for himself and decided to step back. There was also the fact that, at the time, he was pushing 40 and decades of wrestling were taking a toll on his body.

Still, one thing – and one thing only – has been calling Goldberg back to the ring: Brock Lesnar. The former MMA champion has had his eyes set on Goldberg ever since he joined WWE Raw. The two have been trading insults and trash talk for some time now and Goldberg has decided that one final match with his longtime rival is in the cards.

Lesnar himself is scheduled to appear on next Monday night’s WWE Raw, presumably to accept Goldberg’s acceptance of his challenge.

[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]

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