Raw Viewership Second-Lowest in WWE History

Maybe it was Memorial Day. Maybe it was the NBA playoffs. Maybe it was the lack of Roman Reigns. Maybe it was the Women’s Gauntlet match. Maybe America is still in a WrestleMania induced coma. Regardless of reason, RAW was quantifiable awful this week.

The May 28 episode of RAW drew 2.494 million viewers—the second lowest in company history. The flaccid viewership was just a shade above WWE‘s worst performance, a 2016 RAW that went up against the Presidential Debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton which drew 2.478 viewers.

Here’s what it looked like by the hour:

Hour 1: 2.593 million

Hour 2: 2.591 million

Hour 3: 2.300 million

These low numbers mark the continuation of a very slow May for RAW as this month’s viewership is easily the worst of 2018. For context, outside of May, RAW has only done less than 3 million viewers on two ocassion—one of which being New Year’s Day.

So what’s the issue? Is WWE doomed? Should Ring of Honor be lickig their chops? Are we in for a New Japan takeover?

Well like anything that makes headlines in 2018, this is multifaceted. For one May has been an objectivley boring month of WWE. With Backlash coming in the first week, the rest of May has been mostly pointless. Whil Money in the Banks holds some excitement, it’s still three weeks away.

RAW’s actual roster is pretty thin, with Seth Rollins and Ronda Rousey being the only stars that can command attention at the moment.There’s no Brock Lesnar, nor John Cena. There’s probably a decent chunk of fans suffering from Roman Reigns fatigue, too.

But we can’t ignore the enema that was April.

WrestleMania 34 ran nearly eight hours. The Greatest Royal Rumble came in around six. We knew that consumed both of them would be detrimental, but what can we say, we’re addicted to this stuff. And like any good addict, we swore off our substance, at least for a few weeks.

WWE seems well aware fo this – April was tough for them, too. As tought as it was to consume that gluten bomb of content, it was even harder to produce. So while we take our breaks in May, WWE is using the month to catch their breath—at least on camera.

While nothing beats good content, a billion dollar deal with Fox is a pretty good way to invest in one’s future. So while we jabber about how bad WWE’s prodcut is at the moment, Vince Mcmahon and Co. just inked the biggest deal in company history.

Things will get better, for us an WWE. But, we’ll probably have to wait until Money in the Bank.

[H/T ShowBuzz Daily, Wrestling Inc.]