Monday Night Raw‘s viewership hit a new low this week, as the July 13 episode brought in a mere 1.561 million viewers according to ShowBuzz Daily. The previous record for the lowest viewership was 1.686 million from back on the May 4 episode. As for the target demo ratings, the show still finished strong with the first hour taking third (0.49(, the second hour fifth(0.48) and the third hour sixth (0.48) on cable. The third hour was again had the worst performance with 1,504 million viewers.
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This marks the fourth time this year an episode of Raw has produced less than 1.7 million viewers. The show has not cracked two million viewers since April 6 (the day after WrestleMania 36) and hasn’t hit three million since the Raw Reunion special on July 22, 2019.
The highlights of the show included Sasha Banks and Bayley retaining the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships against The Kabuki Warriors, Kevin Owens defeating Seth Rollins in a WrestleMania rematch and the on-screen returns of Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler after months of absence.
The show also served as the go-home episode for The Horror Show at Extreme Rules pay-per-view this Sunday. Check out the full card below:
- WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler (TBD Stipulation)
- Raw Women’s Championship: Asuka vs. Sasha Banks
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. Nikki Cross
- United States Championship: Apollo Crews vs. MVP
- Wyatt Swamp Fight: Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman
- Eye for an Eye: Seth Rollins vs. Rey Mysterio
Back in April Vince McMahon talked with investors about Raw‘s poor performance in ratings, chalking it up to it taking time for new stars to be built up.
“So there’s no audience and it’s a different show, a completely different show,” McMahon said. “And I think we’re going to get there. While we may be able to take this negative and already turn it into somewhat of a positive, as far as ratings and what have you are concerned. SmackDown has virtually been no change, very little. Raw has suffered, but not necessarily because of the environment, it’s suffered because we bring in a lot of new talent and to Raw, and it takes a while to get these new talents over.
“We no longer have Brock Lesnar obviously, but we have a new champion and a lot of new performers coming in. So it takes a while,” he added. “So that’s the reason, and how you use those performers in this story or that story or what have you. So, with new talent it’s just going to take a little while. I’m convinced though, that the Raw’s ratings are going to bounce back considerably.”
