*Merged* WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! Raw has bad ratings *All in here*

TheMainEvent

Pre-Show Stalwart
So this weeks Raw had a 2.70 rating which is nearly the lowest it has been in 13 years. Something needs to be done and Im sure WWE is in panic mode right now with apparent interest being lost in the current product. So I am curious what you think needs to be done. Here are a few ideas of mine.

-Reveal Triple H as the GM next week and finish his feud with Sheamus and then a heel turn.

-Turn Cena full fledged heel, ala Hogan nWo turn, and have him start to take over Raw or WWE in general with Nexus doing his bidding.

-Bring back JR

-Have Miz cash in Money in the Bank at the PPV and feud with Orton til the end of the year.

-Trade Edge for CM Punk courtesty of the pissed of GM and have Punk feud with Orton and the upper midcard

-Unify the World titles and brands?!? Keep the US and IC titles for midcarders though.

-Focus on inring action and wins/losses with meaningful feuds.

-Bring in former big names for even one time appearances and surprise cameos.... Booker T, Goldberg, Lashley, JBL, Lesner even....

So those are a few of my thoughts/ideas. Whats your reactions and thoughts?
 
This has nothing to do with anything other than Monday Night Football. Did you miss the part about the Bears/Packers being the 5th most watched cable program of all time? Hello! WWE and the NFL share a lot of the same demographic. The NFL is the most popular sport in America, and both teams were undefeated and on prime time. It is as simple as that. Raw will never draw ratings during the NFL season as good as it does without the NFL, unless its a completely unappealing football game, and the NFL does its best to make sure most of those games aren't played on Mondays. It has nothing to do with Raw, nothing to do with who the champion is, or whatever storyline is going on, and everything to do with it being up against the NFL. Their ratings drop significantly EVERY fall.
 
Sure, this week's RAW rating was very low, the lowest apparently it's been in over a decade. Granted, it's still more than double the best rating that its competitor can achieve, but I digress.

While I'm sure the folks at WWE are disappointed with this week's rating, and last weeks as well for that matter, I doubt they're in "panic mode." It's a gross over-statement to suggest there's "apparent interest being lost in the current product." What do I think the brass at WWE has to do about the current ratings dip? Absolutely nothing different. It's a short-term dip, a valley in the peak and valley cycle that has always defined the world of professional wrestling, specifically WWE. Give it another week, possibly a few, and I have no doubt that ratings will go right back to where they typically are: low to mid 3's.

WWE had pretty tough competition ratings wise with the MNF game this week. Bears/Packers, week #3, you had to anticipate some decline in ratings would result.

I agree with revealing Triple H as the mystery GM, either at the end of the PPV on Sunday, or the next night on RAW. I disagree with resuming his feud with Sheamus at the moment (although this is a loose end that needs to be tied up at some point), and I disagree with making Triple H a heel GM.

I disagree with the full-fledged John Cena heel turn. At most, a slow and gradual progression from reluctant member of the Nexus, to eventual heel might be OK, but he doesn't need to go instant heel right now.

I strongly disagree with bringing JR back, this ship has sailed a long time ago, he needs to stay away from regular commentary duties. At most, very occasional and sporadic appearances behind the mic, but not a full-time return next to Lawler.

I like the thought of the Miz cashing in MITB and feuding with Orton for a while (but not till the end of the year, that's too long).

Disagree with trading Punk and Edge. You must have some sort of fascination with heels. In this thread alone, you have heel GM HHH, heel Cena, heel Miz chasing Orton, and heel Punk.

Unification of the titles is allegedly imminent. I really couldn't care less if this happens or not.

Forget the one-time appearances/cameos. Too TNA, WWE does not need to stoop to these measures to draw an audience.

No need to re-invent the WWE just because they had bad ratings for two consecutive weeks. Stay patient, stay the course, and they'll right the ship and restore things back to the status quo. They always do.
 
Add to that RAW was Taped this week and was not Live. Like its been said MNF always takes a chunk out of the Ratings from WWE. I think possibly after HIAC it will go back up again and RAW will be Live again for the rest of the year like usual.
 
I'm pretty sure the rating was meant to be 2.37, not 2.7 because many sites have reported a 2.37.

Needless to say, that's got to be very scary for the WWE if it's 2.37. I guess the factors of it being taped, plus the fact that the MNF game turned out to be the 5th most watched program lead it to the dismal rating, but if I were Vince McMahon, I'd do something and I'd do it fast like finally get the the fans caring about the Mystery GM Angle.
 
It's funny how brainwashed you WWE fans are. I still watch WWE at times, I enjoy it from time to time.....but it's not a must-watch show anymore.....especially during football season, I'll give you that! That being said, there is an invention called the DVR. Before Raw went in the gutter I would DVR Raw every week and watch the game, watching Raw that night or the next day. Obviously many others feel the same.

You can sit and make excuses all you want. MNF had a big game, Raw was taped, blah blah blah. The fact of the matter is this was a go home show before a pay per view and this rating was the best they could do? I wouldn't mind the excuses if this wasn't the same people that are ready to bash and destroy TNA when they're ratings have a slight drop.

The fact of the matter is TNA may have had slight drops recently, but it's nothing like the decline WWE keeps seeing. For those of you that say that they don't have the same competition, maybe they don't but Thursday night is a big TV night and there is always a very good college football game every Thursday night. You can crucify TNA all you want but they do keep their audience, the WWE has not.

This should go to show WWE fanboys that what Vinnie Mac is doing is not working anymore, that a huge storyline like Nexus is not working, that shifting the majority of the talent to Raw is not working, etc. What Vince is doing is not working, it's not even keeping a steady fanbase. TNA has many numerous faults but to me I make much more of an effort to watch Impact and they are at least keeping their fanbase happy.....if not the ratings would be dropping as sharply as Raw's.
 
Just want to clarify that I wasnt suggesting that all of the above ideas happen but were a few individual ideas that could occur. Obviously a Triple H heel turn, Cena heel turn, CM Punk top heel trade would be too many heels on Raw...

Regardless I didnt mention the reasoning behind the low rating and MNF is the primary reason for the rating and that Raw was taped. However I would assume that WWE is interested in doing something to bring in ratings so thats why I brought up the thread.
 
Sure, this week's RAW rating was very low, the lowest apparently it's been in over a decade. Granted, it's still more than double the best rating that its competitor can achieve, but I digress.

While I'm sure the folks at WWE are disappointed with this week's rating, and last weeks as well for that matter, I doubt they're in "panic mode." It's a gross over-statement to suggest there's "apparent interest being lost in the current product." What do I think the brass at WWE has to do about the current ratings dip? Absolutely nothing different. It's a short-term dip, a valley in the peak and valley cycle that has always defined the world of professional wrestling, specifically WWE. Give it another week, possibly a few, and I have no doubt that ratings will go right back to where they typically are: low to mid 3's.

Now you know you're my boy hatehabs but I have to disagree with you here. This is something for WWE to worry about. Of course their ratings are going to drop every fall. It's effin' Monday Night Football baby! But look at the numbers. Last week the ratings were the lowest it's been in 3 years I believe. This week it's 13. That means at the same time last year (and the previous 11) more people were watching WWE than they were now while Monday Night Football was on. Now I understand that this particular night was a pre-taped RAW and the game on was the 5th most watched cable program in history so maybe it was just a one (read: two) time thing. I'll give it til next week and see what the ratings are before I claim that WWE needs to scramble to do something in order to get us watching but for now it looks like fans are dwindling away... And who can blame them when a major part of the show features Edge talking to a laptop?
 
As I continue to read about the downward trend on the ratings of wrestling, fans always seem to throw a "but" in there.

"But" Football was on.

"But" It was taped.

"But" Cena's hurt.

"But" Champion X can't draw.

"But" Nothing....

How about people just DON'T want to watch wrestling like they used to? How about the product just ISN'T THAT good?

In the Hogan Era as the (then) WWF began to expand, it gained popularity because Vince broke the regional gentleman's agreement, and promoted in other territories, coincidentally going national, then global. People had never seen those things before. Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Celebrities, commercials, toys, Pay Per Views! It was refreshing.

The Attitude Era drew so much damn money because were were introduced to characters and stories that we had NEVER seen before in wrestling. Austin, The Rock, nWo, DX, Vince McMahon has an on-air character, Cable Television allowed all of this to flourish. These things were new to television, wrestling, and the wrestling fan.

I am NOT blaming PG for this, but the point is wrestling fans have NO reason to watch! It is the SAME thing every week, in so far as, whatever they are doing, we've ALREADY seen some iteration of it, in WWE/F, WCW, ECW, or the territorial system.

Don't you watch and then say to yourself, "Oh that's where they went with it....well, ok let's see what happens next." I know I do. There may be some brief moments where I will get excited, but nothing for me to harp over for an extended period of time I would say. Nexus? Yeah, fun at first, but now? A lot of their heat is gone. Nothing's happened.

Wrestling needs to RE-INVENT itself. They need to do something that hasn't been done before...like they did in the 80s and 90s. It doesn't need Cena to turn heel, and it doesn't need Austin and the Rock to come back and wrestle or be the GM. It doesn't need for the WWE to have TNA as legit competition. It needs to re-evaluate itself and make itself relevant again. It is a low brow form of entertainment, and in recent years has become joke entertainment in the eyes of serious performers. Many of the fans from the 80s and 90s weren't necessarily wrestling fans...they were entertainment fans, and they were getting a unique form of entertainment. Now? Not so much.

Why watch? To see Randy Orton's opponent come in the ring through the second rope every time and get his with the same DDT each week? To see Edge set a guy up for the same weak Spear in the same spot? To see Cena set a guy up for the AA, only to NEVER hit it on the first try? To hear Michael say the SAME lines every week, and use the same monotone voice (along with the rest of the announce squad)? Do you want to hear cheap jokes every week, over watching a real comedy, drama, or sports show on another network?

The product is down right corny and cheesy right now.

Ratings are down, because the product has hit a low, not because Monday Night Football and others are on. If that was the case, they would be this low every football season.

Stop making excuses. Wrestling is stale as a form of entertainment, and it needs to re-invent itself if it wants to stay relevant outside of the niche hardcore fanbase.

Question is...what can be done?
 
I am pretty sure it's mostly because of Monday Night Football. That being said, in previous seasons, obviously Raw wasn't hit so hard by football on Monday nights.

I honestly just think that Raw needs an overhaul. It's become uninteresting and stale, at least to me, and several other viewers who I know.

The GM situation is getting a little ridiculous and rather than it having people continue to watch, it's just dragged on so long that the wrestlers frustrations are as great as ours. Even in Edge's promo, which was actually funny and entertaining, even he/the writers threw in a shot, probably just to make fun of the whole thing, about how we once used to see Austin and McMahon and now we see Edge arguing with a computer.

It's stupid, it's lame and I think even the wrestlers and the writers know it yet it's continuously pushed.

The Miz and Daniel Bryan have had a nice feud. John Morrison has looked great lately. But everything else is status quo. Randy Orton, John Cena, Sheamus and the Nexus have sucked the life out of Raw. The Cena/Nexus angle has carried on far too long, Orton and Sheamus have been feuding for a while and aside from one saying that they are more dominant than the other, literally nothing interesting has happened in the feud. And two top talents like Edge and Jericho have done nothing but argue with the anonymous GM. It's been weak.

Their roster needs an overhaul. It needs new fresh faces in there. The Raw brand in particular has been overcrowded by the same people for quite some time.

And of course, HUGE stars the caliber of Shawn Michaels and Batista retired earlier in the year, both staples of Raw. HHH has been out of action for months and that hurts. Starting 2010, if I had to tell you who the 5 biggest stars in the WWE were I would've said Cena, HHH, HBK, Batista, and the Undertaker. 4 of them were on Raw. 2 of them are now retired and another has been out for months with an injury. Cena is all that's left of that bunch and he's grown stale to everyone over the age of 15.

And on another final note, WWE needs to drop PG and stop gearing itself towards kids. The whole GM thing, Hornswoggle trying to speak... so many completely stupid, cheesey things because WWE wants to make a kid laugh and watch. It needs to SHOCK again. I for one know I couldn't wait to see what happened after DX stormed outside WCW's arena. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next in Austin/McMahon or even what ridiculously over the top thing Kane/Shane would do to one another in more recent time. They need to shock and surprise. They need to take chances. They're playing it safe. Everything they've done is a rehash of an old storyline. They could probably put their show together with a video game simulation. They pick two guys and they click a button that says insert old, generic storyline/angle here.

It needs to be fresh.
 
Now you know you're my boy hatehabs but I have to disagree with you here. This is something for WWE to worry about. Of course their ratings are going to drop every fall. It's effin' Monday Night Football baby! But look at the numbers. Last week the ratings were the lowest it's been in 3 years I believe. This week it's 13. That means at the same time last year (and the previous 11) more people were watching WWE than they were now while Monday Night Football was on. Now I understand that this particular night was a pre-taped RAW and the game on was the 5th most watched cable program in history so maybe it was just a one (read: two) time thing. I'll give it til next week and see what the ratings are before I claim that WWE needs to scramble to do something in order to get us watching but for now it looks like fans are dwindling away... And who can blame them when a major part of the show features Edge talking to a laptop?

All I am suggesting is that it's only been two weeks. Hardly time for panic mode. Are the people at WWE disappointed? Absolutely. Are they concerned? Probably a little bit. Are they in panic mode? Definitely not. A taped episode of RAW, sandwiched in between two PPV's which are ridiculously close together, in direct opposition with a classic MNF match early in the season, plus other early season TV shows, and the result is a short term ratings dip. If this continues, I'm sure WWE will dig in and get serious and do something about it, God knows they have the resources and talent to do so. If the ratings rebound on their own, it's all good. If not, WWE will deal with it, they always do.
 
So, do you guys know anything about the Nielson ratings? Not everyone in the country has a box that records statistics. I can't give you an accurate number, but by show of hands, how many of you guys have a ratings box on your tv?

A #.# is a percentage of how many tvs had channel X on, not a defined number of how many said people watched said channel. Judging by the following quote, I wonder why so many people take TV ratings so seriously.

TV Ratings are captured, stored in house metering systems and retrieved from approximately 25,000 metered households daily.

From the Nielson site
 
I love how so many of the huge WWE fans are making excuses. Monday Noght Football, taped show, etc. RAW ratings have been in decline for an extended period of time. There was a spike when the Nexus storyline began, but WWE screwed that up @ SumemrSlam. But that's not the only issue. Fact is, pro wresting is in a down period. Used to be, RAW would draw 18-20K for a live show. Now, they brag about 13K. Last time I went to a live RAW, it was close to 30K in the Georgia Dome. They don't get close to that for PPV events, unless it's Wrestlemania. The product just isn't very good, and there's no sign of it getting better. I would say that in general, the product is very bland. And it's not like they have to go back to Attitude-era style storylines, but they need some kind of personality. Every heel is the cocky, "I'm better than you" guy. There are no characters anymore. You could never introduce a character like the Undertaker or Kane in today's WWE. What the WWE needs more than anything else is a massive injection of creativity. As long as Vince runs the company with an iron fist, I don't see it happening.
 
Oh, another recent event that was completely entertaining and made me tune in to Raw every week with anticipation was the HHH and Orton build every week heading into 'Mania a few years ago. It even got my brother to watch for a brief time again and he hasn't watched regularly in years. That storyline, to me, was kind of a throwback and one where you almost second guessed logic and didn't know where it was going next. Orton taking out the whole family, kissing Stephanie as HHH is cuffed to the ropes? HHH going to Orton's home and throwing him threw a window?!?!? It was good stuff!
 
Its time to drop the PG bullshit
PG puts way to many constraints on the product, akin to the late 90's WCW which tied everyones hands.

Instead of saying you hate someone you have to "dislike" them, you can't use profanity, no blood. You have "dangerous" cage matches but won't allow any cuts to open up, you have No DQ matches which lack weapons use.

Most of all you have a boring, in-ring product featuring multiple 3-4 minute squash matches each show.

let's hope for our sake, Linda McMahon isn't elected
 
Monday Night Football is king of Monday nights not RAW everyone is making a big deal out of nuttin when u hav 2 undefeated teams in the same division with 1 of the top QB's in Aaron Rodgers people will watch that over RAW hell even i flipped bak and forth between the game and RAW but really dont worry ratings will pick back up
 
Monday Night Football is king of Monday nights not RAW everyone is making a big deal out of nuttin when u hav 2 undefeated teams in the same division with 1 of the top QB's in Aaron Rodgers people will watch that over RAW hell even i flipped bak and forth between the game and RAW but really dont worry ratings will pick back up

Wrestling has proven it can keep viewers during Monday Night Football. Both the attitude era and post attitude era has done this. For all the excuses you can just turn around and say if the WWE had a product that was capable of retaining their audience then this wouldn't happen. Over 2 million people from their normal viewership didn't watch Raw on Monday and I highly doubt they are all Packers and Bears fans. If you put on a better product people won't change the channel. They have done it before with the same amount of audience so there is no excuse. If Vince McMahon would get off the mind set that his audience will watch whatever garbage is thrown at them then he wouldn't see the ratings drop.I hope it continues to fall every week until he changes gears. I haven't watched since 2003 and refuse to do so until things change over there. I am not going to be told what I should and should not like.
 
Skip the quote, it's the OP, and you don't have to read it, I'll sum it up underneath...

So this weeks Raw had a 2.70 rating which is nearly the lowest it has been in 13 years. Something needs to be done and Im sure WWE is in panic mode right now with apparent interest being lost in the current product. So I am curious what you think needs to be done. Here are a few ideas of mine.

-Reveal Triple H as the GM next week and finish his feud with Sheamus and then a heel turn.

-Turn Cena full fledged heel, ala Hogan nWo turn, and have him start to take over Raw or WWE in general with Nexus doing his bidding.

-Bring back JR

-Have Miz cash in Money in the Bank at the PPV and feud with Orton til the end of the year.

-Trade Edge for CM Punk courtesty of the pissed of GM and have Punk feud with Orton and the upper midcard

-Unify the World titles and brands?!? Keep the US and IC titles for midcarders though.

-Focus on inring action and wins/losses with meaningful feuds.

-Bring in former big names for even one time appearances and surprise cameos.... Booker T, Goldberg, Lashley, JBL, Lesner even....

So those are a few of my thoughts/ideas. Whats your reactions and thoughts?

What he basically wants his for WWE to do every thing a smark would like. A Cena heel turn? Check. Have Miz cash in Money in the Bank and feud with Orton? Check. Triple H is the GM and a heel turn? Check. Bring back JR? Yup.

He's some reality.

Do the majority of fans want to see Cena heel? NO
Do the majority of fans want to see Triple H be the GM/turn heel? NO
Do the majority of fans want to see JR come back? Probably, but I doubt it'll help with ratings.
And what does unifying the titles do? It won't make people tune in to RAW more, it'll just mean that there's one less champion.

You bring up a few good points. A Miz-Orton feud would be cool, but Orton would go over, and I'd like to see Miz make his first main even feud a win. Furthermore, I don't think anyone except the IWC really likes the Miz.

Having CM Punk come in would be cool, but not to feud with Orton, not yet. A feud with Bryan would be cool, as would one with Cena, or a face Edge.

RAW's ratings have been down due to Monday Night Football, not because of anything going on within the WWE. This is a fact WWE will have to deal with, but it doesn't mean they need to throw a Hail Mary by screwing around with the whole show.
 
i disagree with having triple h as the new gm. he cant be wrestling and be the gm at the same time. thats just to much power. honestly i could care less if i see triple h on tv again. i mean when he comes back who is he gonna feud with. orton, cena, and sheamus. hes feuded with them countless times over. if anything have him finish the fued with sheamus and then have him turn heel. i can see him having a good technical match with daniel bryan or an ok feud with morrison. these two guy are future main eventers and having them fued with hunter could really help them climb to the top of the ladder.

i agree with turn cena heel. not instantly but have him try to fight the temptation of doing bad things and then just have him snap. having cena heel is something fresh and could really help open up some new doors for the wwe.

i disagree with having jr coming back to the announce table. i believe he should be save for wrestlemania. kind of like howard finkle.

i really dont want to see the miz cash it in just yet. although i do see miz fueding with orton interesting. i would like the miz to build up some steam and have him cash it in at the end of the year or even at the beginning of 2011. i would really like to see the miz be built up and have him be a credible champion. i dont want him to be like sheamus or swagger. swagger in a midcarder again. and while sheamus was champ he did nothing.

i agree with have cm punk come back to raw just not through a trade with edge.
 
Two things:

1. As others have said, Raw deals with Monday Night Football every year. There have been more popular teams put head to head on Monday Night opposite Raw in the past 13 years, I promise.

2. Monday night football this week was the 5th most watched cable show of all time. Monday Night Football didn't used to be on cable, it was on basic TV up until I think 2 years ago.

So it's likely that this wasn't even the most watched Monday Night Football in the past 13 years.

You can't deny that there's a drop in the rating. Some possible reasons:

-People are less interested in wrestling in general. It's basically been rehashed garbage for the past 8+ years. Find me something that's being done that's new and refreshing on the product. Don't worry, I'll wait.

-DVR's. I didn't watch Raw because I DVR'd it and watched the Packers/Bears. They're becoming more and more popular, which means less people need to watch Raw live on Monday Nights. Particularly when they know for a fact nothing incredible is going to happen.
 
RAW is a dying brand and its slowly falling into a bottomless pit of loneliness. the talent is there but the creative team isnt. WWE either needs to scrap PG or scrap itself altogether. Wrestling can't hold itself today with its cheesy lame storylines and waste of time with squash matches. There is only so much you can do with WWE and now that the football is back on WWE will slowly see more and more of a decline. They really need a revamp. They need to unify the World Title.. cross over brands .. make SmackDown! live and start creating much more interesting characters and stables. Whether Cena needs to turn heel or face doesn't matter.. Cena actually needs to lose clean, make his matches less predictable and be different and not the same stale Cena we see every week. Orton was doing great, but now hes almost turning into a Cena which sucks because that is the last thing we need. Sheamus and the Miz are great but with PG they can only go so far and its letting both of them down from their full potential as fledged heels. HHH might NEED to come back but IT IS NOT THE TALENT.. it the use of THEM .. Nexus are getting buried week in and week out.. Edge is losing via a stupid computer stipulation and Edge even said it "We've gone from austin stunning vince on RAW to Edge arguing with a computer" .. Yet they are oblivious to the reason that wrestling has gone stale because of lame stuff like that. I think the other reason WWE is deteriorating is they do too many house shows.. They should save their energy for live TV and put on the best of the best
 
2.7? This just shows you how many kids watch the show. 0.5-0.6 adults. Wonderful.

WWE blows boat people, get over it. The product is uninteresting, it's the same damn show every night, the storylines are stale, simple and therefore plainly boring. I'd be glad if it died tomorrow. Fuck the "competition" thing. Any WRESTLING company that calls its product "Sports Entertainment" should shampoo my balls. It's fucking wrestling! I watch wrestling for the wrestling! Watching wrestling for the "entertainment" is like watching porn for the acting.
 
You do realize that Spike TV pulled an episode of Impact immediately after a PPV because they knew the ratings would get crushed, don't you?

That doesn't change the fact that RAW is getting shat on. TNA pulled an episode so as not to compete with the start of the football season. Since then has TNA had a 0.5 drop in ratings 2 weeks straight? Apparently it's a 2.37 according to the dude a few posts up, if that's the case RAW's dropped nearly a full point. Comparing to TNA is irrelevant anyway, the fact is RAW has suffered from football and if this trend continues they may see even bigger decreases. Obviously RAW needs to up the ante if they wish to retain their viewership.
 
amazing how people will bash tna in a thread that has NOTHING to do with them at all. wwe takes a hit every year, none this bad but it happens all the same. they will rebound like always. i hate vince with a passion but the man is smart and knows how to overcome things like this.

wrestling as a whole is in a down shift. does not matter the company or the country for that matter. japan is sinking fast as well. this happens from time to time. in the 50's wrestling was huge, not so much in 60's and 70's. then in the 80's and 90's it came back. it will again. maybe the ladscape will be different but it always rebounds.
 
great analysis, but what would miz and shamus do differently in a pg13 format?

Take a look at Austin, HHH, The Rock, Val Venis and the stuff guys did in the Attitude Era...

Miz could kidnap Daniel Bryan and hold him hostage and force the GM to give him back the US title...

Sheamus ... i think everything hes doing is great... he just needs to be in more brutal matches
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
174,847
Messages
3,300,827
Members
21,726
Latest member
chrisxenforo
Back
Top