WWE In Panic Mode.........Again

[closet_fan]

http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/255551-report-wwe-said-to-be-in-panic-mode-over-low-raw-rating

According to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the big topic of discussion within WWE yesterday was surprisingly not the suspension of Randy Orton, but rather the low rating Raw received on Monday night, which was a 2.7 and the lowest number of the year.

The rating was hurt by several factors, namely, the debut of the History Channel show "Hatfields and McCoys," The NBA Playoffs, the fact that John Cena didn't appear on the show, and the Memorial day holiday. However, WWE officials were alarmed at the fact that the CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan match lost viewers in the second hour, and the Alberto Del Rio vs Santino Marella match took in the lowest quarter hour rating the show has seen in years.

I never understand why the WWE brass freaks out whenever one show has bad ratings due to "other" things. It was a holiday. I blame that for most of it, not for the fact that another show debuted. Wrestling fans are, all of a sudden, going to change channels just like that?

With this now on the minds of the guys in the back, will we see major changes like Punk possibly losing the title? Or now even more of Cena?

 

[Straight Awesome]

They are overreacting, that much is clear. One bad show doesn't make cause for panic, if they get a string of bad ratings then its time to act. There's no way of knowing exactly what caused the low ratings and until they can keep going with what they're doing and see if ratings change, there's no way of knowing if it's actually their decisions or if it was Memorial Day Weekend + competition having a good day.

I wouldn't be surprised if Brass uses this rating as another excuse for why Cena needs to be the main event all the time and shouldn't miss shows, even though he may not be related to it at all.

 

[Ol'Canucklehead]

Perhaps after seeing how excited people got over the Revolution viral campaign before they knew what it was, they could have capitalized. With all the wrestlers in the ring after Raw 2 weeks ago it seemed it was headed in that direction yet it was for the game. They need to somehow get the edge back and I believe it could be done while still staying PG. I have noticed though they have been pushing the boundaries slightly lately. They need to hire better writers. I've said in the past that they need to look in the direction of comic book writers. They understand continuity and story arcs. Just an opinion.

 

[Straight Awesome]

Punk vs. Bryan was definitely the highlight of my RAW experience and I'm somewhat dismayed that they lost so many viewers. Not sure if it's related to their match or not, but WWE will definitely perceive it that way and that means there's no real chance of seeing Bryan/Punk/Kane main event over Cena/Show.

 

[mister5000]

I am pretty sure that the Punk and Bryan match started at the same time as the Hatfield and McCoys which had 13.9 million viewers and scored very well with adults 25-54. I would suspect that this played a huge part but crazy Vince will probably blame it on Punk and Bryan not having enough muscles!

 

[depp312]

I'm one of those fans who watches WWE RAW religiously. Every week I watch it, and around the time WrestleMania 28 I had a lot of my friends watching it too, including ones who never really watched it before. But since then to now, almost all stopped watching, mainly because of the whole John Laurinaitis\General Manager storyline. One of them pointed out how WWE runs the Anti-bullying campaign, but at the same time Big Johnny and even Eve are on-screen bullying other wrestlers. So I can understand why they were turned off, and the ratings show that the fans don't like what they see. The ratings will always stay in the upper 2's regardless since there are diehard fans who will watch no matter what (I watch regardless or what holiday it is or what else is showing Monday nights), but in order to for ratings to go up, the WWE has to give the casual fans something that they can emotionally invest in so they can keep watching. As a few already said, Punk vs. Bryan was the highlight for me as well.

 

[Honkey_Kong]

Punk vs. Bryan was definitely the highlight of my RAW experience and I'm somewhat dismayed that they lost so many viewers. Not sure if it's related to their match or not, but WWE will definitely perceive it that way and that means there's no real chance of seeing Bryan/Punk/Kane main event over Cena/Show.

I'm sure it has to do with the lack of promoting that match, the 18-35 crowd being out of town and the little kids having to go to bed.

I'm sure the WWE will respond by giving us more video packages next week, and more mic time for Big Show. And they'll not allow wrestlers to wrestle in their matches anymore.

I hope the WWE finally sinks to a rock bottom. They didn't switch to the Attitude era until WCW was murdering them and their bottomline was really hurting. The only way Vince and company does anything good is when their backs are to the wall it seems.

 

[Mr Mikey Mike]

I am pretty sure that the Punk and Bryan match started at the same time as the Hatfield and McCoys which had 13.9 million viewers and scored very well with adults 25-54. I would suspect that this played a huge part but crazy Vince will probably blame it on Punk and Bryan not having enough muscles!

No Hatfield and McCoy's actually started at 9pm same time as raw. As far as the raw rating goes it was memorial day what else would they except and not only that but again Hatfield and McCoy's did monster numbers and so did The Nba playoffs which features two of the more prominent teams in The Celtics and Heat in the eastern conference finals. As far as wwe overreacting to raw's rating I don't put much into that as I nearly would considering the competition. Punk-Bryan losing viewers does concern me though considering how those two especially Bryan seem to be more so on the up and up but again not the first time Punk and Bryan have failed to draw viewers let's not forget that they're internet darlings first not huge rating draws to the casual viewer who only seems to tune in at the beginning, middle, or end of the show.

 

[Straight Awesome]

I hope the WWE finally sinks to a rock bottom. They didn't switch to the Attitude era until WCW was murdering them and their bottomline was really hurting. The only way Vince and company does anything good is when their backs are to the wall it seems.

You might be right on this point, but we might also not have any real choice either way. They don't seem willing to take the risks they need in order to make a better product because of fear of failing, but that also seems to be driving them more and more towards failure...

I don't think this will be the end of Punk and Bryan, but it will definitely be a blow towards establishing them as the main eventers they rightfully should be.

 

[Honkey_Kong]

You might be right on this point, but we might also not have any real choice either way. They don't seem willing to take the risks they need in order to make a better product because of fear of failing, but that also seems to be driving them more and more towards failure...

I don't think this will be the end of Punk and Bryan, but it will definitely be a blow towards establishing them as the main eventers they rightfully should be.

One of their problems is they're so invested in other ventures, they're afraid to take risks in their wrestling for fear it might affect their other investments. Like for instance if they make an edgy product that focuses on good wrestling and compelling feuds how are they going to sell The Chaperone (not that it sold to begin with)? Or if they do an angle where they make fun of gays and some gay rights association complains, it's going to affect Linda's dream of accepting lobbyist money in a senatorial office because she'll get the heat for it.

So really what Vince needs to do is say "fvck it" to the other business ventures and focus on what got him to where he is. They suck at making movies and the last thing ANY state needs is a senator that comes from a business that refers to their customers as "marks." The only thing they have to worry about is their merchandising, and I don't think they had a problem in the Attitude era selling merchandise.

I'm not saying they should go back to the Attitude era either.

I hope WWE continues to push Punk/Bryan it's one of the best feuds they've had in a long time and they have great matches. It just needs time to attract the old fan who got sick of the same old WWE garbage and started watching something else.

 

[Huey]

I think it's an overreaction to one night's ratings. Monday night is wrestling night for me, but I watched Hatfields and McCoys instead. I know I'm not the only one that normally watches but would rather see the World Series or NBA finals or whatever other random thing that comes up. Even with a better product there will be weeks with higher ratings and weeks with lower ratings.

 

[mlp420]

Every time we hear about rating issues, CM Punk always seems to be smack dab in the middle of it.

WWE has to start putting some thought into their story lines again. Lately it seems like they've been going with these lackluster story lines and hoping the vocal part of their fanbase will look past it as long as Punk is champ and wrestles a 15 minute match every week.

 

[Straight Awesome]

One of their problems is they're so invested in other ventures, they're afraid to take risks in their wrestling for fear it might affect their other investments. Like for instance if they make an edgy product that focuses on good wrestling and compelling feuds how are they going to sell The Chaperone (not that it sold to begin with)? Or if they do an angle where they make fun of gays and some gay rights association complains, it's going to affect Linda's dream of accepting lobbyist money in a senatorial office because she'll get the heat for it.

So really what Vince needs to do is say "fvck it" to the other business ventures and focus on what got him to where he is. They suck at making movies and the last thing ANY state needs is a senator that comes from a business that refers to their customers as "marks." The only thing they have to worry about is their merchandising, and I don't think they had a problem in the Attitude era selling merchandise.

I'm not saying they should go back to the Attitude era either.

I hope WWE continues to push Punk/Bryan it's one of the best feuds they've had in a long time and they have great matches. It just needs time to attract the old fan who got sick of the same old WWE garbage and started watching something else.

You're totally right. The worst part of it is that if they focus on making the product as good as it can be, the other parts may simply come naturally and on their own. This over-focus on being a multi-media company and supporting Linda's political career can only damage the product that is at the core of it all and that's the real problem here: none of the limbs can survive without the heart that is the WWE wrestling. That said they definitely shouldn't go back to the Attitude Era, that's been done and we need new things to keep everyone interested.

Punk/Bryan I think is definitely a strong way forward if it's given time, investment and a high place on the card, but it needs to have the story between them driven further. Promos so far have hinted towards their past, how they come from similar roots and you were almost left feeling like they had become estranged brothers. Focusing on this would really allow you to turn up the heat between them as Punk feels disgraced by what Bryan has become and Bryan becomes jealous and hateful towards the huge success and prestige that Punk has collected in his time. It has the makings, for me, of a great feud that people could remember for a very long time if they were willing to take the risk.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

I don't see the need to panic about it at all. RAW has always done Low Holiday Ratings throughout the Years. Memorial Day/Christmas/Thanksgiving Shows are always the ones that do the lowest it seems. I am going to say that next week it will be back into the 3's.

 

[sTyLnK]

Never understood Vince cares so much about ratings. It doesn't matter what they do, they always get roughly the same rating every week. Of course the show gets better ratings with the build up to WM, but for the most part it stays the same. And common sense is during holidays and taped Raw's, the ratings do tend to be lower, but really I don't see the cause for alarm. Next week it will more than likely bump back up to it's average rating of 3.5 or so.

 

[H33LTurn]

I doubt they're in a panic. Concerned? Definitely. But I think even the WWE knows to wait until an actual trend of negative ratings to react instead of panicking over one night. If so much was going on this Monday they must've foreseen the low rating imo.

 

[Cena's #1 In My Heart]

The problem is people don't trust the WWE anymore. They are talking change... they are even showing it.... but when they do things like shove Cena into the spotlight over CM Punk... they really aren't changing.

WWE needs to consistently feature these better matches and continually put the wrestlers over the entertainers to earn that audience back. They shifted their drive towards kids the last few years, I'm sure that turned a lot of people off and I'm sure when they turn on the TV these days they don't just get snapped back into it.

WWE's got to earn their viewership... consistent showings of good things = ratings. Give people a reason to come back. Daniel Bryan Vs Cm Punk on Raw... great... there will never be a better match.... but Cena will be back next week to fight Show again...

Maybe WWE should realize that whatever they put on the top shelf is what the audience is going to be into. Maybe their just not into Big Show and John Cena again...

 

[Honkey_Kong]

You're totally right. The worst part of it is that if they focus on making the product as good as it can be, the other parts may simply come naturally and on their own. This over-focus on being a multi-media company and supporting Linda's political career can only damage the product that is at the core of it all and that's the real problem here: none of the limbs can survive without the heart that is the WWE wrestling. That said they definitely shouldn't go back to the Attitude Era, that's been done and we need new things to keep everyone interested.

Punk/Bryan I think is definitely a strong way forward if it's given time, investment and a high place on the card, but it needs to have the story between them driven further. Promos so far have hinted towards their past, how they come from similar roots and you were almost left feeling like they had become estranged brothers. Focusing on this would really allow you to turn up the heat between them as Punk feels disgraced by what Bryan has become and Bryan becomes jealous and hateful towards the huge success and prestige that Punk has collected in his time. It has the makings, for me, of a great feud that people could remember for a very long time if they were willing to take the risk.

I absolutely agree with Punk/Bryan being what should be the centre of their program. But this should just be the start. The change the WWE should make is to become a "wrestling" company again. It hasn't been one since the 1970's and few of us watching were even there to remember it. That's why this Punk/Bryan feud is a breath of fresh air.

Let's face it, the WWE is full of guys who can't wrestle and their creative team isn't very creative. But wrestling doesn't need these crazy stories to be successful. They need logical stories and solid ring work. If I want to watch bad acting and lame jokes, I'd watch Friends reruns. The WWE has a bunch of good wrestlers they had picked up from ROH and other places. It's time to use them and get rid of this failed "sports entertainment" vision.

But the WWE doesn't want to risk the low 3's and 2.7's on redesigning their product in the unproven chance that they might attract a better audience than their current one. If it fails, the WWE can be ruined. They want to be THE mainstream entertainment company, not the best wrestling company. And it's funny because they're not good at the other stuff.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

Another thing too this isn't 1998/1999 where the Ratings are the end all be all when they were fighting WCW to be on top either. Its not even 1996/1997 when Vince was getting his ass kicked (let's face it) every week by WCW. If TNA were a legit threat to WWE then I could some panic but TNA is nowhere near competition nor do I see them ever reaching the level WCW reached. Ratings IMO don't mean as much today than they did back when Wrestling was its apex.

 

[Foshinzo]

If you don't write good stories, people will tune out.

Still, this was because of other things. They're just freaking out about it, if I were to throw out a guess, because they're about to add the third hour. It's an awful time to have a ratings dip.

To defend my original statement, though: WWE is all hype, no heat. If they were to develop their characters, really at all, people would be more invested. You can't have part-timers highlighting your program and expect big numbers. DBD, Cody, Punk, etc. are so talented, yet they're just caricatures based on actions. Action derives from character, not vice versa. It's television, so script some good characters and people will tune in.

However, Monday was about other things and the WWE freaking out about it is also about other things.

One last point, though...the Big Show hasn't been a top heel in like, a decade and I would almost argue that he hasn't been since '96 when the nWo killed his and Vader's steam in WCW. Argue that all you like, I just mean that he gave us his best a long time ago. Does anyone really care to see Cena get his payback? Does anyone really care about the Big Show? He's a legend, but mostly because of length of tenure. He was once great, but those days are over. He should not be a top heel on your A-Show.

 

[Cena's #1 In My Heart]

Let's be honest though. The real reason for the decline is MICHAEL COLE.

Everytime your average viewer turns in they learn ZERO about the wrestling business.. they learn plenty about Vickie's weight and dresses though. They have Michael Cole belittle and berate their ear drums until they are bleeding. Our brains turn to mush because Michael Cole NEVER adds anything to the broadcast.

Why would people follow a match between CM Punk and Daniel Bryan when they have no clue what's happening? Why are these guys rolling around on the mat.. oh.. what kind of hold is that? Fuck if Cole knows.... Cole only knows how to kill a product.

I mean think about it... have any ratings ever gone up since Michael Cole became a lead broadcaster? No I've seen a steady decline since J.R. stopped CALLING the action.

Think about those kids with ADD.. they are not going to be focused on the match, they are going to be focused on whatever Cole is talking about.. because he comes over louder than the match anyways.

I gurantee Cole is the problem.. he is on the show for 2 hours... the ratings dropped for 2 hours! The only time the ratings do good is when their is enough buzz surrounding the rest of the show, cause Cole sure as hell doesn't know how to make you care about a match going on in the ring.

 

[klunderbunker]

Wow, you mean a match between an uninteresting main event heel and a comedy wrestler who holds a title but isn't defending it here with a match ending in 45 seconds didn't make people call their friends to tell them to watch the show like This Is Your Life Rock did?

Sarcasm aside, it's one show against the biggest cable draw in history and a big basketball game on a holiday weekend with their biggest star doing a voiceover. What were they expecting to happen? This is overreacting, again, and it'll be back to a 3.0 next Monday.

 

[Strife543]

May I add something the NBA stuff and the MCcoys thing will probably be on next monday so that will hurt raw yet again. wwe needs to do something like a major story angle such as when we had nexus , cm punk shoot if wwe wants to gain strong ratings not to mention tna is going live which also might hurt the wwe

 

[Milkyway!]

I've said it once and I'll say it again. With the demography of today's WWE the WWE needs to look into changing time slots from 9pm to 8pm. They're losing viewers during their main events. Anyone here that works a 7-3 or a 9-5 knows how excruciating staying up until 11pm can be on the body. Especially on a Monday when your body's already out of rhythm due to the weekend. A time slot change would boost ratings, and I personally think it would do so dramatically.

 

[SinCityBlitz]

I really don't believe much Meltzer has to say. I could see why they might be concerned but they are not going to freak out over one weeks ratings when it was a holiday. If they continue to sink week after week you will see them freak.

I hope the WWE finally sinks to a rock bottom. They didn't switch to the Attitude era until WCW was murdering them and their bottomline was really hurting. The only way Vince and company does anything good is when their backs are to the wall it seems.

It doesn't matter how low they go you will never see the attitude era again because USA will not allow it. They don't want the WWE to revert back to that type of wrestling again. USA is a lot more hands on this time around. Vince doesn't have free reign.