“Monday Night Raw” Viewership Drops From Previous Week

The Aug. 25 edition of “Monday Night Raw” saw less viewers tune in for the program than did the previous week, going from 4.19 million viewers on Aug. 18, to 3.97 million. The episode was promoted as the return of fallen champion John Cena, who would address the WWE Universe for the first time since his humiliating loss to WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar at “SummerSlam” on Aug. 17.

The episode also boasted a main event featuring Cena and Bray Wyatt, as well as a WWE Hall of Fame panel featuring Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels to kick-off the program. The episode did not have Monday Night Football to contest with on Aug. 25, but did go head-to-head with the Emmy Awards and it’s constant cable competitor, vH1’s “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta.”

“Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta” would be the #1 show on cable television on Aug. 25, with “Monday Night Raw” closing in just behind it, according to TVByTheNumbers. The Emmys finished with their second-largest overall viewer count at 15.6 million.

The opening segment featuring the WWE Hall of Fame panel did not pull in viewers as WWE had hoped it would, as the opening hour of “RAW” only drew 3.859 million, while the second hour pulled 4.057 million, and the final hour, which featured the Cena vs Wyatt main event, drew 4.005 million.

Editor’s Note:
Yeah. That WWE Hall of Fame panel was forced, scripted, and a waste of time anyway. Have no fear though, anyone that tuned in from 9 p.m. ET until the end of the show saw a recap of that TERRIBLE segment three more times. You know, just because.