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PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.
(Search “wade keller” to subscribe in podcast app or CLICK HERE to subscribe in Apple Podcasts.)
This week’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw on WWE Network drew a 1.75 rating. The show aired on Memorial Day, but boasted two big main event matches announced a week ahead of time – Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins and Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Samoa Joe.
The rating is down from last week’s 1.88 rating and below the ten-week average of 2.12 headed into this week, which includes WrestleMania season.
The rating a year ago on Memorial Day drew a 2.19 rating, a drop of 14 percent.
The first hour drew 2.69 million viewers, the second hour 2.68 million, and the third hour 2.47 million. The first-t0-third hour drop-off was 221,000. The 2017 average is 233,000, so it was a bit below normal.
The five week average headed into Memorial Day last year was 2.27 and the Memorial Day Raw drew a 2.19 rating, so a drop of 0.08. It dropped 0.10 from the prior week rating of 2.19.
This five-week average headed into Memorial Day this year was 1.94, so the 1.75 rating this week is a drop-off of 0.19, steeper than last year’s. The rating last week was 1.88, so the drop-off was 0.13, also greater than last year’s drop-off.
Keller’s Analysis: Given the loaded line-up, its fair to say the Memorial Day episode of Raw performed worse than expected and disappointingly so.