Raw takes a pounding.

rossie1977

for those that haven't heard Raw scored a year low 2.8 cable rating last night. In addition the arena was no more than half full. The effects of Cena's absence are plain to see. Its surely only to get worse from here on folks.....

Mr.Nice Guy

Bloody hell that's a very bad number. I imagine this will send them into a panic in Stamford although I would wait until next week before jumping to conclusions.

I felt it was a possibility that no Cena would equate to a wobble in ratings but this is downright alarming. Maybe Orton as champion can't draw?

ShawnRaven

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

I felt it was a possibility that no Cena would equate to a wobble in ratings but this is downright alarming. Maybe Orton as champion can't draw?

I think you're right on the former. No Cena = No Kiddies (which to me personally, is a good thing, but it will drop a fair amount of viewers on TV and in arenas)

As for Orton not drawing any money. Bit too early to tell after a week. I will agree if it's still the case in a few weeks, but until then, i'll blame the lack of kiddie interest.

VR!

Vince135792003

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Bloody hell that's a very bad number. I imagine this will send them into a panic in Stamford although I would wait until next week before jumping to conclusions.

It's been falling ever since the Hornswoggle angle (and well really since the start of the summer). A lot of people seemed to feel cheated about how it ended up. They went from a 3.9 to a 3.3 in a week. I think a 3.2 was last week and that had Triple v Vince and Cena v Kennedy. So the warning signs have been there.


For me, the fall in ratings is alot of things but I think fundamentally the WWE needs to figure out who they want their show to appeal to.

I think they've alienated alot of its core 18-34 audience (who are now watching football) with the Hornswoggle angle, the Cena title run/character that was heavily pushed and the Benoit tragedy too.

They replaced that audience with alot of kids. And now with Cena being injured, kids are jumping ship too.

Also there was a big game that night. From figure four board: Monday Night Football scored a 10.0 rating, up from last week's 9.0 rating. The Indians vs. Yankees playoff game scored a 7.0 rating as well. Both games were said to be great bordering on classics.

Clareman

I must admit but I was flicking through the channels last night and got caught up in the last few minutes of the American Football, I'm not an American Football fan but it was very close, they even welcomed viewers from the Baseball.

I would imagine that RAW has a very similar viewership to American Football and Baseball, I wouldn't think that they are too worried about the numbers, I'd say PPV buys are a bigger concern, didn't they change their deal a while back that they get a flat fee regardless of viewers (on Spike they used to get advertising revenue that was decided by viewers)

Vince135792003

Clareman wrote:

I must admit but I was flicking through the channels last night and got caught up in the last few minutes of the American Football, I'm not an American Football fan but it was very close, they even welcomed viewers from the Baseball.

I would imagine that RAW has a very similar viewership to American Football and Baseball, I wouldn't think that they are too worried about the numbers, I'd say PPV buys are a bigger concern, didn't they change their deal a while back that they get a flat fee regardless of viewers (on Spike they used to get advertising revenue that was decided by viewers)

Right now, WWE make more from their tv deal with USA network than anything else. PPV buys are really important but the money they make from tv is very important to them too.

Their contract is up with the USA network next year. I think its highly unlikely that they'll ever get canceled but their hands could be tied in terms of negotiating a bigger deal or even getting a deal like the one they have right now if ratings stay in the high 2's low 3's

ShawnRaven

Will be interesting. Especially if TNA works out with it's 2hr deal on Spike. Because lets say TNA's 2hrs don't work out for Spike, and Spike drop em, would they consider taking RAW back again.

Hypotethically (sp?) speaking of course.
VR!

krudler

thats a dying WCW rating right there, i wonder will they get cena on tv every now and again for interviews on how his progress is going, just to keep the kids interested, the ratings shot up when edge was champ briefly last january so maybe orton just isnt a big a draw, wonder will jericho returning make the ratings go up

rossie1977

possible this was the lowest raw rating since 1997 :eek:

Double C

The NFL had the Cowboys vs the Bills on Monday night, and personally, if I had the choice, I would have watched the football, it was meant to have been a brilliant match, plus, the Cowboys won

I'd put the low rating down to the football, the lame Hornswoggle angle (two good reasons for 18-36's to not watch Raw) and Cenas injury (a good reason for 4-17's to not watch Raw.) It's a bit early to say Ortron can't draw.

Fozzy

Orton by himself isn't going to draw. He needs a challenger, and HHH was the only one heading into Raw. HHH doesn't draw!

It's too early to read into it too much, but I don't know how big a factor Cena was. I'm sure there were a lot of viewers who didn't know that he was injured until Raw this week

Minto

Fozzy wrote:

HHH doesn't draw!

Since when doesn't he draw? I don't ever remember the rating being this low whenever he was champ.

Fozzy

Minto wrote:

Since when doesn't he draw?

Since he buried the rest of the roster

Minto

Fozzy wrote:

Since he buried the rest of the roster

Lets not start that again!

ShawnRaven

Oh jesus christ no, Fozzy don't you start now! We've only got that sh*t calmed down after weeks of it!

VR!

rossie1977

triple h draws as champ but its unknown whether orton does. It is a huge risk putting the belt on someone like orton straight after the most successful championship reign since the beginning of the austin era (1998).

The smart money would have been to put the belt on trips or taker but then vince doesn't always follow the smart money.

Vince135792003

rossie1977 wrote:

The smart money would have been to put the belt on trips or taker but then vince doesn't always follow the smart money.

You have to take chances though and be prepared to go out on a limb if you really want to succeed.

You never know how good someone will be until you give them a proper shot. Edge is a good example. He got the belt and it really worked for the time he had it.

If it doesn't work out, they can go with the other options. In any event, the problems with Raw are not down to Orton,

Bubs101

rossie1977 wrote:

The smart money would have been to put the belt on trips or taker but then vince doesn't always follow the smart money.

I think the smart money would have been to declare some kind of draw between Hunter and Orton and have HBK/Kennedy win the belt on Monday. I think Vince didn't want another invincible face champ

ShawnRaven

Had he wanted another invincible face champ, he would have put the belt on HHH

VR!

Mr.Nice Guy

Isn't it a pretty sad state of affairs for WWE when the only true star they have made in recent times has been John Cena? Now the guy is injured they have no one to step up and run with the ball. None of the younger guys come close to him in terms of charisma.

If you think back to when Austin got laid out for a long time at the height of his popularity, the WWE were able to turn to The Rock in 2000 and he was able to carry the company and look at the wealth of talent they had at their disposal - Undertaker, Mick Foley, Triple H.

Now here in 2007 their top guy is laid out and I notice people on this thread saying they should have put the belt on, wait for it - Undertaker or Triple H. That's pretty sad.

Personally I think they have no one to blame but themselves. When a guy begins to get over but he doesn't quite have the look they like they think 'f*ck that guy'. In my opinion Christian in 2005 was on the cusp of becoming a star but they botched his character. A more recent example is how they prevented Armando Alejandro Estrada from saying his name in his introductions. Why? Because he was getting over. Newsflash - THAT'S A GOOD THING! No way they would have pulled this crap during the Monday Night Wars. Back then Estrada would have had his introduction placed into his entrance music.

They have rested on their laurels for too long and have pushed huge guys devoid of charisma down the people's throats with little success (Lashley being an example). I think maybe if the rating remains low it might actually force them to rethink their attitude. Here's hoping.

Minto

This could be a once off, so for those of you with Sky+, set it to record now!

MNG, I agree with EVERYTHING you just said!

I feel so dirty now, lol!

rossie1977

santino is one star of the future (but he needs at least another year), MVP is another guy, punk probably, morrison definitely, jeff hardy. none of these guys are ready as of now, with the exception of hardy who is super over.

A wrestler doesn't really need tons of charisma to get over; bret hart anyone, i still think lashley has potential (whats the difference between him and lesnar who was pushed to the friggin moon )

WWE dropped the ball with guys like Christian and RVD for sure. It makes you wonder whether they want to create new stars................

Fozzy

rossie1977 wrote: »

i still think lashley has potential (whats the difference between him and lesnar who was pushed to the friggin moon )

Lesnar was a great wrestler

There's definitely guys there who they could make into big stars, but it seems that they're reluctant with a lot of them for whatever reasons

Bubs101

The WWE has plenty of potential stars of which I'd say Morisson and Kennedy are guaranteed to hit the top but as for Hardy being a future star, I think it's fair to say he's not in his prime. If you look at the last 3 big stars they made, Orton and Batista got succesful on the back of Hunter and Flair while Cena had a succesful movie. It's not easy to get stars over and keep them there with new strategies. Sure it looked like they were gonna use Edge's way to the top on Kennedy.

Also, I think there's a problem that some of the new guys aren't big enough in comparison to Big Dave, Lashley, Snitsky, Taker, Kane and Hunter

Vince135792003

Bubs101 wrote: »

The WWE has plenty of potential stars

The depth isn't there like it once was. Especially if your trying to run 3 separate brands.

You mention Kennedy and Nitro (who I think is good). In 2000 they had Benoit, Eddie, Jericho and Angle. Bit of a difference.

Just on Orton, he got just if not more of a catapult off Foley than he did being around Triple H. His programme with Foley reminded me of the one Triple H had with him in the way in which it cemented Orton as a top guy.

a-hole

if the reatings stay low vince will have the belth on hhh and hell be the old bad guy agen hes vinces only guarantee, and they have debth but the top guys keep going off with injuary rays only back so is taker edge is still out hhhis only back, lashleys out, where is carlito (not as a contender im just wondering)