Vince not happy with RAW Ratings. Could this lead to even more BIG changes?

[Zeven_Zion]

Well gee, Vince. You didn't see a pop in ratings? I wonder why ...

Oh, I know! You have only one good thing about your show and that's your Main storyline. Everything else is a dreck. It's basic, lazy and now that you showed your fans what epicness is, it's much much easier to them to compare it to the rest of the show and go "Yeah, this doesn't work for me. I'll tune out and wait for the goodies."

Sure, the core audience is there, but the rest don't have the patience to sit through 90 minutes of average (and less) wrestling and horrible promos. Can't say you did an epic job with the final segment too. Shitty acting 101, but what transpired was great and interesting.

Start booking your ENTIRE show well, provide better wrestling, better promos and better writing, take your head out of your ass and treat EVERYONE with as much attention as you do yourself and you'll see a ratings pop.

That or bring back Stone Cold or The Rock for a night. Whatever floats your boat.

If that old fart plans on having one good thing on a two hour program then he can go screw himself or just air that one thing. No one's getting all giddy for the rest of the card anyhow. Make us giddy.

P.S: Stop making up crappy excuses about the rating. It's the first show after a PPV. These RAWs generally draw higher ratings, and this should've been at least a 3.4 because of everything that transpired. This one drew a 3.2. Week one - fail. Try harder next time.

Either that or what we all feared is true. Wrestling is dying. No one wants to tune in and watch it anymore aside from the remnants of the Attitude Era. This is the best WWE can do. 3.2, 3.3 if God is feeling generous. Shocking stuff or not - 3.2. Bullshit or not - 3.2. TNA's going through the same thing. Crap - 1.1,1.2. Awesomeness - 1.1, 1.2. If that's the case then we should stop giving a fuck about ratings, they ain't going up (or down), it's just how it's gonna be. Sit back, pick your favorite show and enjoy.

Then again, I am not surprised. Wrestling reached its absolute peak during the Attitude Era. Why should the public be interested in wrestling today if it's not as good as before? The only way for wrestling to get back to prominence is either TNA signing Jesus and getting a huge rating and insane merch. sales from fanatic Bible thumpers, or McMahon brings back a full fledged Attitude Era-like show with all the sexual content, cursing and badassery and see where that takes him. Fuck innovation. That idea's dead and buried as far as pro wrestling in 2011 goes. Stick to what brought so many people to watch you and pray to the Lord almighty it brings bak that audience. It's not like the current state of the product is doing much. Can't kill it.

 

[closet_fan]

TBH, i was quite suprised with the ratings for this weeks Raw. What with the storyline between CM Punk, John Cena and Vince Mcmahon, which has been the best thing to happen in the WWE for a while, you'd have thought people would be tuning in to see what "happens next". But here's an idea to get ratings up. Bring back the shock value. The suprise element. People will tune in. Now and then they pull a suprise, an OMDayz moment but they should do this more often...

How can they do that thought when 90% of their roster is comprised of mid-carders?

The WWE has been riding Cena's coattails for way too long. They have to start getting more guys involved in the show.

Here is how my Monday night is right now:
Watch the first segment until it's over
Turn on Family guy for about 1:30W
Watch the last 15-20 minutes of RAW or wait until the next day and watch it online.

How they keep doing this kind of concept?

 

[sTyLnK]

Obviously with all the hype coming off the PPV and everyone saying they would tune in to see what would happen on Raw, the ratings IMO are not very good. I'd be disappointed as well. I expected much better.

 

[The Underking]

Truthfully I don't see the problem. Their closest competition in thier genre is TNA and they have almost three time thier ratings so thier is nothing to worry about. I can see why though you would be upsat as they probably saw MITB getting rave reviews, all the media attention Punk was getting, Cena's firing, and expected a big rating. Truthfully though a 3.2 is around Five Million or so and that's an estimate by Nielson and that's one of the highest seen shows on cable.

So yeah it wasn't a great number but it was an improvement and they are far and above the other companies in Wrestling.

 

[Depakote]

Vince is overreacting. This angle just started. Buzz just started up again. Theyve recovering from a very stale and stagnant period creatively. Vince needs to chill out and let this pot stew some more.

 

[Derekscheapseat]

This may have been the best rating in three weeks but the last two had major competition. Last week's home-run derby and the week before's Independence Day celebration were expected to draw a low number. A 3.2 coming back is pretty sad though. I just finished re-reading The Death Of WCW and the slow ratings drops of WWE are very reminiscent. It was simply bad timing that is harming the Punk angle. Can't argue that Vince may knee-jerk and stop it either.

Regardless of how hot any angle is, when it is following an extreme low point, it will take time to turn it around.

I'm actually a fan of the ratings slipping farther (although it will probably screw Punk) as nothing will change until their is a rejection of the current product. The fact that the number is still low SHOULD show Vince and co. that more changes are indeed necessary.

Oh and BTW, it is no shock that last week's RAW did a low number. I'm sure five seconds after they said 'tournament' a vast majority went 'meh'. Give this some more time before giving up on it Vince.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Vince is overreacting. This angle just started. Buzz just started up again. Theyve recovering from a very stale and stagnant period creatively. Vince needs to chill out and let this pot stew some more.

It 'just started'? It started two weeks ago. RAW pulled a 2.9 for the show before the PPV and a 3.2 after. Face it, ratings wise, this thing flopped. I blame it on the overall quality of the show, not the storyline. The storyline's brilliant, everything else is not. If Vince doesn't plan on giving his a brilliant show, top to bottom or at least for the most part, he'll have a heart attack by Christmas out of being shocked about the ratings. The mere fact that he's surprised shows us how arrogant he is. He thought one good thing would sell his product like a million bucks, the ratings will rain and all will be good. FOUL! Doesn't work that way. You'll have to TRY, Vince. Try to book and write some good shit about other storylines that don't involve you, your son in law or your bitch boy Cena. Yes, for OTHER people! What an unknown concept. The fans care about other "superstars"? SAY WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

 

[king4day]

Well from last week it went up .3 which isn't bad at all.

I can understand Vince's frustration but at the same time he's got to realize that big angles like this don't pop ratings hugely overnight. Back in late '97 early '98 they had Austin, DX and the attitude era happening and even though there were some big angles that made a lot of noise it took a while for the ratings to really start climbing. In order for big ratings to happen you have to keep a strong showing week to week and be patient. Nothing happens overnight and it all takes time. If they keep in the direction they are going (I think this is the 2nd or 3rd solid RAW in a row they've had) the ratings will soon follow.

It took Austin's popularity almost a year to really show up in the ratings, Vince just has to remember that Rome wasn't built in a day but if they keep course and keep delivering good, compelling television then the ratings will follow.

Kudos to the 'starman' sig. He was the first guy I beat "Pro Wrestling" with. Great Puma ain't got s*it on him.

Back to the topic, I think the problem was, no Punk. I wonder if the beginning drew well. Once people realize there's no Punk they turn away. They must get him back ASAP to keep his popularity up. He is risking a lot by taking time off.
I understand why, but this could break that character and ruin his career.

 

[ralphie9181]

I just think that professional wrestling can't pull a number higher than 3.5 or so anymore. It's just not the way it used to be. Vince needs to realize that they will never get back to the 8.0s and beating Monday Night Football like the glory days. Wrestling has its audience and that audience is not growing, it has stayed the same for years now. It's not really a shrinking audience either though it just stays the same.

 

[closet_fan]

Kudos to the 'starman' sig. He was the first guy I beat "Pro Wrestling" with. Great Puma ain't got s*it on him.

Back to the topic, I think the problem was, no Punk. I wonder if the beginning drew well. Once people realize there's no Punk they turn away. They must get him back ASAP to keep his popularity up. He is risking a lot by taking time off.
I understand why, but this could break that character and ruin his career.

I think most people knew Punk wasn't going to be there because it would have ruined the angle. Plus, Punk tweeted that he was going to the Cubs game. I wouldn't be surprised if the beginning drew high ratings.

But I think they shot themselves in the foot by having to do this angle because the hottest guy over the past several weeks wasn't there. Which wasn't their fault because the angle was working.

I'm more of a casual fan, but the Punk angle got me interested again. And now that he isn't on, I'm not interested anymore.

 

[ralphie9181]

Thing is, the Punk angle didn't pop a rating before the PPV in the first place. I'm not saying that this isn't a winning angle, I'm just afraid that maybe its too inside for the general audience. I think they need to keep going with it, because sometimes these things don't pop right away, it may take time to grab people's attention. I also fear for these ratings in that Vince might get gun shy and kill the angle pre maturely and go back to what they were doing because it's safe. I know Vince has had guts to do different things in the past, and I hope he sticks with this. Even if its not bringing in new fans its damn compelling TV for us current fans.

 

[Depakote]

An angle thats been going on for two weeks is still a new angle. A new program. Good programs can last 6 months. The problem is, we as fans have gotten used to shitty fly-by-night programs that dont last longer than a month. So this program with Punk might seem halfway through its cycle in that sense, but this isnt that kind of program. This is the kind of program from the old Attitude days when everyone involved used to give a shit about the product.

I do agree that the rest of the show needs to not suck, but having this kind of program as their main event is a great start and the rest of the show will slowly get better because of it. Give them a chance to get back into the swing of making compelling programming again. Its been awhile for them.

 

[Karaoke Superstar]

This isn't good news. WWE has been known to start angles, panic, then kill them. WWE has been exciting and compelling here recently, more so than it's been in years. Keep it that way, Vince. Let it build right.

 

[closet_fan]

An angle thats been going on for two weeks is still a new angle. A new program. Good programs can last 6 months. The problem is, we as fans have gotten used to shitty fly-by-night programs that dont last longer than a month. So this program with Punk might seem halfway through its cycle in that sense, but this isnt that kind of program. This is the kind of program from the old Attitude days when everyone involved used to give a shit about the product.

I do agree that the rest of the show needs to not suck, but having this kind of program as their main event is a great start and the rest of the show will slowly get better because of it. Give them a chance to get back into the swing of making compelling programming again. Its been awhile for them.

They have to do angles like the HBK/Jericho feud. That one was great because it built up slowly, but still kept people interested.

I would hate to think that Vince will overreact, have Punk come back and then give the belt right back to Cena and then go safe mode.

Vince has jumped the gun in the past, but I am hoping HHH gets in his ear and tells him these things take time to develop.

 

[TheTruNoLimit]

Proof that no one apart from the IWC really cares about CM Punk. The angle was built up over the internet by the ROH marks because 'their hero' did something a few weeks ago.

Punk is good, but not great and lets not kid ourselves, he is NOT a draw and the ratings prove it. It has all been about Punk and the ratings have done shit. I cant believe people didnt tune in to see if he turned up last night, but then again if they dont care why would they?

The casual wrestling fan, which is probably the majority of wrestling fans couldnt give a shit about precious Punk. Thats gunna hurt a few of you marks out there but its simply the truth.

Come on, come on. How much of a cop out is this? Punk is NOT a draw and the ratings prove it?

Ok, devil's advocate here, but... ratings have been inconsistent and in the low 3's since Wrestlemania and sadly, even the Rock and the build into 'Mania they couldn't reach a 4.0... so if the Rock and the build to your biggest PPV of the year couldn't boost ratings significantly, you're putting all your eggs in one basket and saying that CM Punk isn't a draw because he didn't do a huge boost to ratings? I guess the Rock isn't either ha ha.

Facts are facts. This is the 4th week of the Punk/Vince/Cena saga. Coming off of a PPV, it also did it's best # at a 3.2. Now I also believe in the previous 3 weeks, ratings were higher in the 2 weeks that Punk was actually on and significantly lower when it was well known Punk wasn't appearing.

Furthermore, it is the Summer and WWE rating's do typically do a swan-dive in the Summer.

But my BIGGEST argument is this! Cena and Vince are in this angle too? Are they not? Regardless of who Cena beats every month on PPV, Cena is always the #1 guy, not his opponent. Are we gonna sit here and say Cena can't draw because he's the top guy in the company and the ratings are extremely average?

Are we gonna say Shawn Michaels couldn't draw because when he was champion ratings were worse then they've ever been?

The business trends in cycles and if one thing coming out of the storyline is true it's that, Punk and Vince have been right. If Punk leaves, the wheel keeps turning. And as Vince said, he can make another Cena. That's what's true.

FINALLY, knowing how amazing MITB PPV was just the night before, immediately after the show went on the air and we knew there would be no Punk and just a stupid firing angle with Cena and Vince announced the participants in the title tournament, I lost all interest.

If anything, a multi-branded tournament should take place at Summerslam as the likes of Del Rio, Riley, Kofi, Swagger, Truth, Ziggler are all pretenders. Miz and Rey have more main event credibility but not much. And if they leave things untouched and either Miz, Rey or Cena just becomes champion, it's incredibly anti-climatic.

 

[HamSwissman]

Only some out of touch old goofs living in a bubble can see a ratings increase as a "bad" thing in modern times. They've already brought the biggest name they possibly could back to WWE (The Rock), and they still weren't hitting 4's in the Nielsons. Why base everything off of this archaic way of determining buzz? Look what was trending on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Look at the exposure. Look at it from a 2011 POV rather than a 1998 POV. Ratings (with DVR and other means of watching) don't equate to nearly what they did before. Give it some time you idiots. Don't waste this moment (one of the greatest in many, many years) because of your lack of modern vision! Blaming the IWC? Get real. EVERYONE HAS THE FUCKING INTERNET. Sorry bubble-fucks, but the internet is here to stay. KEEP USING IT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE!

 

[madrox]

Was I the only one who thought the show was going to be a dud as soon as Vince announced that there was going to be a tournament? The wrestling itself was decent at times. But as far as the storyline, it felt meh.

I know there wasn't a whole lot you could do to further the angle since they want Punk off TV for awhile. But to me, as soon as Vince announced the show's intentions, I lost all interest and flipped the channel.

I only found out about the ending when I watched it on YouTube Tuesday morning.

Youe lucky then because since I heard about the first Punk promo I've been tuning in week after week and I'm sure I've said before, only the Punk segments entertained me.

This week again, I was sort of hoping there'd be something to blow off MITB but not stray too far from the fallout since what happened was pretty important. I seriously though they'd have gone with Vince punishing Alberto with a verbal attack and maybe a match for not managing to cash in on Punk like he wanted before making a Summerslam match or something for a new WWE title. That way you could've built some people towards Summerslam and had a new design to "remove all trace of CM Punk, his title isn't the actual title" etc.

Instead we had bland matches in a tournament (which included Alberto not even getting past the first round, I would've expected him to go further so that a face will have a tough time against all those cheating heels) that featured the usual bland, cookie cutter guys (Miz and Riley), a botch machine (Kofi), a guy whose talent seems to have disappeared since returning to WWE (R-Truth), a guy close to retirement who hasn't excited me in 10 years (Mysterio) and Del Rio.

We had a 14 Diva tag match which lasted maybe a minute at best for some reason (at least we got to see Beth, Nattie, Melina and Gail on tv, remind the fans who the real wrestlers in the division are even if they didn't get to wrestle).

We had an ending segment that I was hoping something big would happen and ended up first rolling my eyes at the TNA reference from Cena then thinking "oh, that guy" when Triple H walked out. I would've popped for him if I hadn't become so bored of him during his last full time run.

As far as the content of that....Vince has been "relieved of his duties" for basically making things personal and basing his decision making on his own feelings and emotions. Now excuse me if it didn't really make me go "holy shit" and mark out because honestly, if they're gonna relieve him of his duties for that now, why not in the late 90s?

We also knew Triple H and Stephanie would eventually take over but even then, I'm still not very excited because for at least two years, WWE has been a lesson in how to have a multi billion dollar company that's as bland and unentertaining as possible. Take the wrestling out of the matches and the personality out of the "wrestlers" and that's basically WWE. I don't have much hope that things will change when Vince steps down full time.

Then again, until Punk's promo and then him leaving as champ at MITB, WWE hasn't really given me a moment that stands out since the Invasion started in April 2001. Even before then in the Attitude era, which is weird because I grew up with WWF, WCW etc and then when DX formed in late 97 I just haven't felt WWE have been very entertaining or had many entertaining personalities (exceptions being Rock, Punk, Christian, Triple H during his Evolution days). So maybe it's just me but I dunno, this Raw sucked like any other in the last decade.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I feel like they have focused too much on the beginning and end of shows over the past month or so.

The 9pm slot used to be a point where WWE promoted and put out some big stuff (promo, confrontation) years ago but I am not sure if that is still important to them. I feel like that 9pm event used to carry the ratings from big swings and keep more of an constant audience.

 

[AngryCenaFan]

this sucks because all the good things they've been doing recently, could have the kabosh put on, but if anything they need to realize their shows from start to finish need VAST improvement, longer matches, continuing the intense promos and so on

 

[stephenjpunk317]

I see some thoughts that have been going in my own head. I kept thinking Punk would show up at some point, which might have helped ratings, but who knows if it wasn't done right, might not have helped. I think overall the show was pretty blah. There were decent matches, but it just felt so thrown together. And even the ending segment just seemed to take longer than needed. It's a huge surprise at the end because who knows where this will go. I think Punk needs to be on in some way to keep the momentum going.

 

[Depakote]

They have to do angles like the HBK/Jericho feud. That one was great because it built up slowly, but still kept people interested.

This is pretty much what I was getting at. We need more classic programs like that on a regular basis. The problem is, that there arent enough performers on the roster that Vince trusts enough. Virtually all the promos nowadays have the same voice. Very few guys on the mic are actually given free reign so their promos sound unnatural and forced.

If youre wondering why the current roster is pretty shallow in terms of talent, its because Vince has been strangling them to death. Theyre not allowed to speak the way they want so they arent making their characters part of themselves and the fans can tell. The reason the Jericho/HBK feud was so good was because both were flawlessly invested in their characters inside and out, and the fans bought into that.

Now we're getting a taste of it again with CM Punk/Vince/HHH angle. They need to keep this going and see it through to the end. If they can make the main event have this much meaning again, it will only trickle down to the rest of the card. Let these younger guys grow into themselves and gain some confidence. Right now, they feel like theyre walking on eggshells with Vince constantly breathing down their necks. He's a brilliant business man, but the older he gets, the more hellbent he seems on shooting himself in the foot.

 

[candy girl]

vince needs to look in the god damn mirror and see that the problem isn't the ratings!!! IT'S HIM!!! he alienated every and any wrestler that ever mattered to the business not to mention his son, in favor of his tripled nosed son-in law, and his clueless daughter.

 

[Game Boy]

I think the rating is decent, overall. Look, the CM Punk storyline is AWSOME! As a die hard wrestling fan, it has had me hooked from the get go. But remember, Punk is NOT Austin! Punk is great, but he is not Austin...neither is he The Rock, which I am sure he would hate to hear LOL.

Another problem the punk story line has, as others has mentioned, what other storyline is going on right now on Raw that is compelling?!? Austin had D-X, The Rock up and coming, and had fueds going on over almost ALL the titles....right now who is fueding for the US title?

Bottom line, I think the rating is about as best that can be expected.

 

[andres torti]

they need new things,more suprises,.im sorry for the divas but i dont think a lot of people like to watch the divas fight,i would take away the divas division or only putting it on superstars and smackdown for example.i mean,when i see the fivas fighting the only thing what im hearing is porn you hear them shouting all the time.they could spent that time on Raw for other things..

 

[californiachef84]

ratings are really a poor indicator of whos watching what...the way Nielsen works is, they count how many of their boxes are being used at any given time...but you also have to take into account how many people are watching together....if theres one box being used, they count it as one person...when in reality it could potentially be like 5....I think a 3.2 is strong, considering they count individual boxes, and stuff like DVR...so when you take the total number of people watching, if they were to count the ratings then, it would probably be like a 4.0 or something like hundreds of thousands added on if that makes sense....most people dont watch it by themselves, especially the kids who watch with their parents and maybe their friends...also, most people dont even have a Nielsen box or know what the hell it is, but thats how they tally ratings, which really sucks for good shows that get cancelled because the numbers arent accurate

This is just simply not true... Nielsen is VERY accurate. Why do you think that next week's Raw could have the same "rating", but also have a different amount of people watching? They do take into account whether or not more than one person is watching. For example, if there are multiple receivers in one person's house then it is a given that more than one person lives there... Nielsen is no different than a political poll. They sample a portion of the viewing audience to see what everyone is watching... TV shows would not let business be dictated by some "inaccurate" source...

Furthermore, DVR's are included in the TV rating! You need to do a little research before you open your mouth... Why would television shows encourage people to DVR their show if it didn't help them in the ratings?