9 Ways WWE Raw Broke GOOD Ratings Records 20 Years Ago
Winning The Numbers Game.
Whether the boost came from Paul Heyman's increasing creative influence or not, WWE received a much-needed creative shot in the arm ahead of the July 1st edition of Monday Night Raw, merely by announcing his and Eric Bischoff's new "Executive Directors" roles ahead of the show. Triggering understandably cautious optimism, it spoke to an attempt from the company to try and make foundational changes to the makeup of the shows - changes far greater than any fake ones arisen by a skippable Superstar Shake-up or wretched Wild Card.
Ratings reflected it. Numbers went up nearly 10% from last week, and whilst it could cynically be argued that 10% of f*ck all is still f*ck all, the line graph at least reversing course will please those in the organisation utterly sick of the steep decline.
The Heyman/Bischoff news instilled that all-important buzz in the product - the first hour was still Raw's most-viewed as viewers dove back in to see what might come of the changes. With fixes almost always employed for the short-term rather than long, the low figure statistics remain one of the few ratings patterns left. WWE were at the other end of the spectrum two decades earlier, smashing all sorts of as records they approached their creative and commercial peak.
Those happy days almost certainly won't be here again, but a history lesson couldn't hurt whilst they've actually managed to...*checks Michael Cole's notes*...build momentum build momentum build momentum build momentum build momentum build momentum.
9. WWE's (First) Highest Ever Rating For A Raw OR Nitro - February 22nd 1999
Raw would go on to break this record repeatedly as the remaining years of the Monday Night War progressed, but hadn't ever been able to lay claim for one that smashed anything either company had been capable of during the 1990s boom.
Across the 83 weeks Nitro held all the cards, WCW set new record highs it'd take years for WWE to surpass. In February 1999, they finally managed it. As reported in the Wrestling Observer, Raw's 5.9 on the 22nd of the month was the best number either show had ever achieved since going head-to-head five years earlier.
Ironically, by the time Raw scorched the opposition (Nitro's 3.9 was apparently enough to trigger utter panic in Atlanta), they didn't really have much time to toast it. The flagship became a juggernaut almost instantly in the wake of breaking Nitro's streak a year earlier. Back-and-forth battles were kicked into a cocked hat by the controversial Hulk Hogan/Kevin Nash "Fingerpoke Of Doom" clash on January 4th, clearing the path for WWE to do this far more comfortably than they'd perhaps ever imagined.
Week after week, the company's stratospheric rise continued undaunted by something that no longer even resembled opposition. Literally one week after claiming this big "W", they took another one...