Raw Rating comes in with bad number.

[humongous2002 0]

I guess Retard-a-mania and Bimbo dodgeball are not grabbing those casual fans' attention, that's why the only ones watching this crap called WWE are the frustrated die hard WWE fans.

[justcoz 0]

King my point was guys like Batista get pops from the wrestling fans left, but he does nothing to draw in new fans. That is why ratings are down, not because of Batista specifically, but because the new characters have no depth. Batista is just basically a big guy with no discernable personality.

 

I agree with you to an extent but Batista does have a look that could make people stop while channel surfing and the personality type they should push is his roided up fashionable pimp daddy/GQ/Dean Martin seemingly real life vibe he's got going . I think the casual fans are noticing him which is why he's been receiving pops. I'd seriously consider turning Batista face to feud with Randy Orton before they turn Randy face.

 

>>2004 was watchable up until Wrestlemania 20...then it seems like everyone stopped caring, as did I. <<

 

Which is funny because the end of Wrestlemania left so much hope for the product and it all got f'd up the next night.

 

We had Eddie and Benoit as world champions and we got how many **** classics? Thanks to the WWE political environment the two spent their reigns feuding with Bradshaw and HHH rather than anyone that can actual work. Think of how differently it would have been had we got Eddie vs. RVD for the championship or Benoit vs. Jericho? What if Shelton Benjamin wouldn't have made the move to Raw and would have carried over the World's Greatest Tag Team/Guerrerro tag feud with Eddie in the singles for the world title? Maybe we'd have a Summerslam where two young guys like Orton and Benjamin would be challenging the two guys who spent the past twelve years working their way to the championship. Would have been much more interesting.

[humongous2002 0]

That's truly a shame b/c I was so excited when Eddy and Benoit got the titles b/c of the feuds they could've had with RVD, Y2J, Benjamin, Rey and even Edge but all we are getting is HHH getting rematch after rematch for the big gold belt, a low midcard wrestler named JBL as a WWE champion and Cena turning into a lazy worker with unfunny rhymes getting pushed down our throats.

[Promoter 0]

Hmm...I thought I was the only one noticing these things about the wwe. I watch, but no way do I talk about it with my friends who were casuals anymore. They did have something in February and March as someone stated. I haven't even watched a ppv since WM XX and No Way Out live which should say something. I had watched every single ppv live in the attitude era and federation years. My interest did start to fall in 2003 starting with the Nash/HHH cell match for the ppv cards. In my opinion they just weren't really worth all the trouble to go see. I knew things were bad when our group of friends stopped going to a friend's house earlier this year for Backlash when he got it for free. I agree the wwe should have done something with Jericho in Edmonton or Clagary the next night. It would elevate both men, but we know what happened.

 

Someone stated the formatting being the same since the attitude era, well I think it's beyond that. It's back to the days of 1996 when Nitro was first doing it. They haven't changed since. It took the wwe to change the formatting to get people to watch again in 97 and beyond. They are like in 1991-96 mode where the formatting is the same like superstars having all the jobber matches and raw having a good match here and there with all the hype and solid stuff on the ppv. Bischoff came and changed up all of that redundant programming hate to say. The wwe has people like Bischoff and Heyman under the roof, yet they are not apart of the creative process? Make NO SENSE to me.

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

I don't think people care about Regal, Eugene, or Benoit now. People would like to see Orton as champ.

Care to actually back that up with some logic?

[Lord of The Curry 0]

You're asking for logic from the guy who thinks people want Orton as champ?

[razazteca 0]

King my point was guys like Batista get pops from the wrestling fans left, but he does nothing to draw in new fans.  That is why ratings are down, not because of Batista specifically, but because the new characters have no depth.  Batista is just basically a big guy with no discernable personality.

Let me put it this way.  I am not going to tell my friends, who used to be wrestling fans during the Russo era, to watch raw to see this great new guy named Batista.  How he his booked is wrong, he has no drawing power right now.

Tell your friends that Batista is Psycho Sid in a $1000 suit. Batista is the RULER aNd MaStER of the world~

 

People let's face facts here Retard-O-Mania is the only successful storyline of the year! Rhyno & Tajiri vs La Rez could of worked but they don't get enough tv time. Same could be said about Rosie getting the new costume. Apperently the "Creative" is too tired from the circle jerk that is the Diva Search that they don't have enough energy to come up with anything entertaining on tv.

[Guest M. Harry Smilac]

Whenever I tune in to RAW I just wanna see some wrestling.

 

When we do get some wrestling it's always completely shit on by horrible finishes.Last year it was the belt finish 99.9% of the time.Now all good matches end in

A.Roll-up with a handful of tights

B.Pin with the feet on the ropes

C.DQ

D.Interference

 

A big part of the reason I use to buy all of WCW's ppvs was out of appreciation for the great wrestling they were supplying me with on Monday nights.WWE basically forces you to buy their ppvs if you wanna see any decent wrestling not ruined by a shit finish and even on ppv you can get screwed so why order?

[Guest Tjhe CyNick]

I dont think having great wrestling up and down the card is the answer. It never has been, probably never will be.

 

I think the main problem is that people have seen too much over the last 8 years or so. We've seen every angle, every big bump and every type of match that is possible. After a while it gets stale and you need something new to get new viewers. I have yet to hear an intriuging idea that would get casual fans to tune in in large numbers. I mean we all love Eddie and Benoit, but those guys working 4 star matches every week wont draw ratings anymore than anything else that is out there.

 

The scary thing to me is that their demographic is getting so old. Perhaps they should steal a page from 1983 and try to appeal to children. If the average viewer is in their 30s that means they will likely have or be on their way to having children. I know if I were a parent I wouldn't want them to watch the current verison of pro wrestling. So maybe if they made it a little more kid friendly they could grab some new fans, which would be an investment for the future.

[razazteca 0]

And to think the ratings can only go down now that the Olympics is starting this week. Might as well push wrestling as a "real" sport and put up some ***** matches featuring Benoit, Angle, Eddie, Jericho to get the overflow of the sport fans who are tired of watching olympic swimming, track & field, weight lifting, etc.

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

Great wrestling up and down the card worked in 2000 and it was one of their best financial years ever.

 

You're asking for logic from the guy who thinks people want Orton as champ?

Heh, touche.

[King Cucaracha 0]

1999 was the year that drew the casual fans towards the product however, and in-ring product was not the most important factor.

 

2000 was more a case of capitalising on the new fans.

[Der Kommissar 0]

Despite Raw still being a "live" show, there is no excitement over that concept anymore. When you used to watch a live Nitro or Raw there was a general feeling that ANYTHING could happen at ANY TIME.

 

I agree. When was the last time the World title changed hands on Raw? Heck, when was the last time a title that any credibility whatsoever changed hands on Raw? It is pretty hard to get excited when they are all, "OMG! WORLD TITLE MATCH!" when the title is not changing hands anyway.

 

Also, wrestling is sometimes called a male soap opera. I know from watching soap operas that they usually will end their Friday show one some sort of massive cliffhanger to make the viewers stew over it for a week to wonder what will happen next week. Most weeks, it seems like whatever happens on Raw is fairly self-contained within that Raw. It's nothing more than "So and so pinned the World Champion in a tag match! Can he beat him on the PPV?" or "My god! There will be in a Hell in a Cell match three weeks from now on PPV! Tune in next week to see how they feel about this shocking development!"

 

It seems like the WWE had a lot of cliffhangers at the end of shows during the boom, whether it was something like "Triple H has secretly married Stephanie McMahon!" or the Bang 3:16 angle. I could legitimately see people talking about that the next day, and wonder where that will go durign the next Raw.

 

The week's Raw was before a PPV, and it ended with Eugene saving Benoit from a ho hum beatdown by Evolution. Wow! Compelling stuff that makes me want to go out and order the PPV to see what happens next!

 

I dont think having great wrestling up and down the card is the answer.

 

Agreed. Heck, I remember during the Smackdown 6 days, people were starting to bitch because it was the same thing with the same guys every week, and it was getting boring. I could only imagine the same thing happening should the WWE start focusing the whole show on good matches.

[Shanghai Kid 0]

Raw has become too generic as some people have said. Every Raw now just builds up to the PPV and nothing exciting happens. Back in the day they would still hype the PPVs, but they would have alot of exciting stuff happen on the TV shows. Now, Raw is just the same old boring, Evolution vs random faces every week and the ending never means a damn thing.

 

The characters are all bland. Hey I like Benoit and Edge, but why cheer them? Really? Their's no face thats even strong enough to feature constantly in the main events, so nobody really cares about the storylines and you can easily miss 3 straight weeks of Raw and come back and find out that nothing has changed and probably see the same main event as last week.

 

If your going to do all the backstage segments and promos, you need endearing personalities. Austin, Rock, Mankind are all the best faces cause they entertain and actually have depth to their personalities.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Agreed. Heck, I remember during the Smackdown 6 days, people were starting to bitch because it was the same thing with the same guys every week, and it was getting boring. I could only imagine the same thing happening should the WWE start focusing the whole show on good matches.

But that was due to the fact that it was the same guys over & over, and it never really led anywhere or elevated any of them, not because it was a bunch of good matches.

[Kizzo 0]

Great wrestling up and down the card worked in 2000 and it was one of their best financial years ever.

That year wasn't all about wrestling either "storylines" were still a big part of the product...crash tv was still being booked(but in a different way)...we had a creative director that liked entertainment more than wreslting....

 

The only way WWE will ever manage to pick itself back up is to fire all the people in the creative department....including their leader Stephanie McMahon......I mean she has done nothing...if she wasn't the bosses daughter should would have hit the door when the rating dropped to 4.5......but since Vince doesn't want to hurt her feelings...she is still there...so instead of blaming her...he chooses to blame someone else.....this is not how a creative team is suppose to operate....

 

Another thing I think they have too many writers....there is like 5 or 6 on RAW and 4 or 5 on Smackdown.....you would think with that many writers you could come up with some fresh ideas but I guess not....go back to the traditional 3 man team...

 

And finally get rid of BRUCE PRITCHARD...and BRAIN GERWITZ...

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

That year wasn't all about wrestling either "storylines" were still a big part of the product...crash tv was still being booked(but in a different way)...we had a creative director that liked entertainment more than wreslting....

 

- Never said the storylines weren't a big part. And there wasn't any form of crash TV being booked then as it turned more to the soap-ish style of writing like the fussin', feudin' McMahons, Hunter/Steph/Kurt, and Foley/HHH.

 

 

If your going to do all the backstage segments and promos, you need endearing personalities. Austin, Rock, Mankind are all the best faces cause they entertain and actually have depth to their personalities.

 

- That's more like a double-edged sword there because those guys were basically one-of-a-kind and expecting every guy they push after those 3 moved on to connect with the crowd is way too much and then there's the fact that only ONE GUY has been the focus of RAW for almost 3 years and you're not going to get good character development because the others will be mostly ignored.

 

 

But that was due to the fact that it was the same guys over & over, and it never really led anywhere or elevated any of them, not because it was a bunch of good matches.

 

- Excellent point.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

Picked this off 411 who picked it offa PWinsider.

 

Plus why the NFL game likely had almost no impact on the rating...

 

- RAW's huge drop in ratings this week, from a 3.8 to a 3.2, was likely not due to the NFL Hall of Fame Game on ABC. Last year, RAW dropped just 5% in the ratings against the game, and the year before 0%.

 

- The show started with a 3.0 rating and peaked with only a 3.6 for the overrun.

 

- As expected, everyone in WWE was shocked at the low RAW rating. Interestingly enough, there was more a feeling of "the show was good and the rating doesn't make sense" rather than "maybe the fans aren't responding to the product."

 

Credit: PWInsider.com

 

Regarding that bolded statement... Ladies and gentlemen, I give you WWE, from mid 2001 to today.

 

*is aware that it was WWF back in 2001.

[Guest BillyTheStud]

The ratings were doing great when they were giving Eugene lots of screen time. He's an interesting innovative character who connects with the crowd. They don't need Triple H stealing his spotlight...

[iliketurtles 0]

Hey WWE.

 

THEY AREN'T RESPONDING TO THE PRODUCT BECAUSE IT FUCKING SUCKS.

 

Next.

 

And you guys know as much as anyone else that unless you have good wrestling with good storylines, it won't work. One can't work without another. If you have good wrestling and no storyline/direction, you'll get Smackdown 6 from 2002. If you have good storylines and bad wrestling, you'll have...

 

Um, has that ever happened? Maybe it's just too late because I'm having a Jessica Simpson moment.

[CanadianChick 0]

Maybe it's time to spice up the tired "faces vs. Evolution" angle they've been doing for the past while. Evolution should now slowly disband, because having two top main eventers (Orton/HHH) and a upper mid card player (Batista) all in one group is stupid. Evolution was great when they had someone for every title (save the women's division). Now, you have two guys that are going for the same title, and one that will likely soon go for the same title. Don't wait until Wrestlemania for Orton/HHH to turn on each other. Do it now. And have other heels that aren't part of Evolution be top heels.

 

Obviously, this won't solve the problem. But it might get people watching again and be a less predictable product.

[Kizzo 0]

If you have good wrestling and no storyline/direction, you'll get Smackdown 6 from 2002. If you have good storylines and bad wrestling, you'll have...

...you get 1997-99

[iggymcfly 0]

If you have good storylines and bad wrestling, you'll have...

 

Um, has that ever happened? Maybe it's just too late because I'm having a Jessica Simpson moment.

 

You certainly are. Try the WWF for all of 1998 and 1999 which would also be known as the absolute peak of the wrestling industry.

 

 

As for the problem with Raw, it's pretty simple. There just aren't enough interesting storylines. The HHH/Eugene feud has been built really well, and it's excellent as the #2 feud on Raw. The problem is that there's no #1 feud to go with it. Benoit's storyline with Orton is the thinnest for a title match since.... well, Benoit's storyline with Kane.

 

I was glad to see Benoit finally interrupt Orton this week, like he should have been doing all along to Kane and HHH, but it's not enough. The thing is HHH and Eugene make up maybe 2 segments a night. The people who sat through them might be interested enough to watch the PPV, or at least the next Raw.

 

However, the two segments aren't enough to make casual fans sit through endless Diva Search segments, or permutation #79 of the pointless women's tag match, or 15 minutes of Edge and Jericho doing stalling and restholds, or Matt Hardy and Kane glaring at each other and throwing a table.

 

Also, they're looking to Orton to be the next big guy to carry Raw, so what do they do? They have him tap out to Benoit in 10 seconds, lose a handicap match where he was partnered with the top heel, and then get beat up by Eugene. I guess someone's "Booking Wrestling for Dummies" must say that the winner of the PPV match should look like shit on the show before the PPV so it's a "surprise" or something, but all this does is really hurt Orton's chances of getting over.

 

If they really want to raise the Raw ratings, here's Iggy's prescription

 

1. Cut the diva search- This is the most boring thing ever. Either cut it to one segment a night or get rid of it altogether. The only reason people ever care about wrestling T&A is that they get into the characters. Then it's like a real person, (especially to 14 yr. olds that haven't made it with a girl yet), and they kind of want to see them naked or near naked. Random chicks in bikinis every week= boring, change the channel.

 

2. Build up the main event storylines more- Since wrestling first started, it's always been the main event guys that draw the fans. If Benoit and Kane are fighting because, well Kane won a battle royal, and there wasn't anybody else to fight, and Kane might kind of like the title if he's not too busy, then it's not gonna work. They need to at least give a decent build to every main event storyline.

 

3. Build some auxilliary heels besides Evolution and Kane This is a point that a lot of people made and it's a valid one. When there aren't enough credible main event heels, the faces never get over because they're always either fighting with the same people or getting pushed down the car. This has been a problem since HHH first was awarded the World title from Bischoff. It's the reason Booker T never got over in 2003, and it's the reason that Jericho's not getting over right now.

 

4. Cut the ridiculous storylines When Lita inexplicably agrees to marry Kane if Matt loses a match, it makes people say "This is stupid, I'm changing the channel." When Bischoff says he can't fire Eugene because his sister will find out that she doesn't like him, and then HHH points out that Bischoff's sister watches Raw with Eugene, it makes people say "This is stupid, I'm changing the channel." Continuity gaps are easy to fix, but a lot of the time, the WWE doesn't bother.

 

5. Get rid of stupid match finishes When people watch a 20 minute match, only to have it end because someone got distracted and rolled up, or pinned when someone got a little extra leverage from the ropes, it just pisses people off. If you're not going to do a clean win, at least do a ref bump and a chairshot or something, so that people feel like they got their money's worth.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Its gotta be the Diva search.

[strummer 0]

If you have good wrestling and no storyline/direction, you'll get Smackdown 6 from 2002. If you have good storylines and bad wrestling, you'll have...

...you get 1997-99

and basically the second half of the 1980s.

[Guest GreatOne]

Problem with WWE is the same thing they went through when Hogan got stale and left, then Austin/Rock same deal. An argument for ending the brand split is repetition at the top and an even less developed midcard. The brand extension is working just like the salary cap in the NFL, good idea in theory but bad (and to some extent even worse) in practice.

 

Plus when the famed I FARTED promo counts for great promo work, we got problems. Anybody remember the last, hate to semi drop names here but, 'electrifying' or energetic promo? I mean could we get Edge coming out on Monday and morphing The Rock and get some excitement going? Like:

 

"I wanna talk about the main event last night. First, Randy Orton. It's really too bad that you're the world champion now, and this happens:

 

(Think 'God Spoke To Billy' here)

 

RO: Hi I'm Randy Orton, the new world champion

Sec guard: Ricky

RO: Ran.....

Sec guard: I don't care what your name is (don't make it too obvious)

, you need to have a backstage pass or go back to your seat

RO: But I'm the world champion

Sec guard: Son that's a replica you bought at the souvenir stand, you're not the world champ.

RO (starts crying): I'M RANDY ORTON, I BEAT STEVE AUSTIN, SHAWN MICHAELS, MICK FOLEY, CHRIS BENOIT'

Sec guard: what'd you say your name was?

RO: Randy Orton

Sec guard: Like Bob Orton?

RO (jumps up and down): YEAHYEAH YEAH

Sec guard: He was a gay cowboy. Look son you're gonna have to go back and take your seat.

RO (starts crying again):

Ric Flair: Hey it's Randy Orton. Oh what's a matter? Security guard picking on you? There there let it all out. (Starts looking at him) Hey you want a nice QUARTER?

 

"And then there's Chris Benoit......

 

(Starts walking around like a robot)

Me...angry....me......want.....title. Oh wait youre the WOL-VER-*INE*. Well there's one thing you do, and you do it better than anyone else, and that's absolutely SUCK!!!!!!!"

 

Then he could continue with Batista, "All your fruity shirts and DUHHHHHHHHHH, and all your stupid crap", Jericho "Yes I really do like girls", Eugene "ARRAARRARRAH WILL YOU BE MY FWEND?" and bust out his old "I.....AM.......PARCHEEZI" for HHH. Maybe work in a Kane "(heavy breathing)would you like to touch my penis?"

 

If we're gonna have seven or eight guys in the main event, let's USE them. Maybe the above sounds stupid but I want some damn EXCITEMENT. The 98-99 shows were exciting even if the booking was a little lax at times, of course having guys like Austin and Rock will do that for you. Of course the above guys who lack in the promo/persona department currently will have to develop it.

[CanadianChick 0]

How about not? It would really come off as a ripoff of the Rock. Comedy's good, but that's pretty overload.

 

And Edge is too much of a dork to do that. Way too much of a dork.

[Guest GreatOne]

Well that IS true, we're liable to hear 'Huh huh huh, Jericho, Batista. Those guys really sucked ass. What a couple of dorks!!!!!!!' if you give him promo time.

 

I'm still always in favor of rehashing good stuff than mediocrity (or worse) for the sake of originality. Besides if we're doubtful that many current WWE fans remember the Malenko/Lita angle, they probably won't remember Rock's 'Jabroni Jackpot' or 'Kane The Big Red Retard' promos.

[razazteca 0]

Randy Orton & Bradshaw need to be seen backstage at Summerslam eating chocolate pudding and watching some indy movie.

[humongous2002 0]

The casual and some of the regular fans could give two shits for Benoit's workrate or JBL's uncharismatic midcard act, they want to see compelling storylines instead of Vince insulting their intelligence all the time, nobody wants to see Divas dodgeball on a big p.p.v. or a retard as a serious main eventer. Without a good brand new storyline I don't see WWE improving in the ratings at all.