10 Terrible Decisions That Led To WWE Raw’s Lowest Ever Rating
9. The Brock Lesnar Problem
In the modern age especially, there is only so long a show can go with a missing headliner.
The company experimented with Brock Lesnar as a special occasion champion following his dramatic squash victory over John Cena at SummerSlam 2014, but these were previously-unchartered waters. By virtue of that amazing win as well as his WrestleMania streak-conquering a few months earlier, 'The Beast' was to be feared unlike any performer in company history. His looming spectre almost carried more heft than his physical presence - Brock not being on screen was scarier than him actually being there dishing out the sh*tkickings.
Not only is this not the case in 2018, but absence has only made the heart grow weary following Lesnar's diminished returns. Good matches are outliers amidst the average, with Brock neither wrestling nor acting like a Champion despite his bullish stewardship of Raw's top title. When he does show up, he dominates so unconvincingly that suspension of disbelief is neither requested nor required.
Raw superstars in the mean time are left fighting for that, or nothing at all. Soothsayer and Sports Entertainment icon Stone Cold Steve Austin once noted that if you're not in wrestling to win the WWE's top title, you shouldn't be in it at all. This has never sounded more like sage advice to the roster's rank-and-file.