WWE Raw received a much-needed boost in the ratings this week following the WWE Battleground PPV. For the first time since Daniel Bryan’s injury and his removal from the active roster, Raw rose above a 3.0 rating, coming in strong at 3.15 this week. That’s a full 11% increase from last week’s show, which faced competition from the MLB Home Run Derby contest.
The first hour saw 4.254 million viewers tune in, then an increase to 4.523 million in the second hour, and a subtle drop to 4.521 million for the final block. The final viewership average was 4.432 million, and put Raw at #2 overall on television Monday night.
Besides being a follow-up show to a PPV – or WWE Network “special event” – the only obvious draw was Brock Lesnar showing up in the final segment, which everyone saw coming. Whether or not Lesnar was the reason for the jump in ratings, or whether it was a lack of competition from other sports, will be more clear if the Raw rating and numbers stay consistent or even improve heading into SummerSlam on August 17th. This is obviously good news for WWE, especially since John Cena was not advertised to appear just 24 hours after a title defense.
