Last Week's Raw Pulled One Of WWE's Lowest Ratings Ever
The NBA and NHL Playoffs annihilated WWE on Memorial Day.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, last week's Memorial Day edition of Monday Night Raw was one of the lowest in WWE history.
Meltzer claimed that the 1.68 TV rating for last week's show was the lowest ever, but that's not strictly true. The Christmas 1996 episode of Raw pulled a woeful 1.5, and even last year's festive edition in 2017 came close by posting a 1.69.
In fairness to WWE, they were up against some stiff competition last Monday. The NBA Playoffs drew around 25 million viewers, and even the NHL Playoffs pulled at least 5 million pairs of eyes away from Raw. That's not a usual situation, and it gives the company an excuse for the 1.68 rating.
It is true that this is a new low for the promotion in 2018. Last week's episode had a throwaway feel to it generally, so it's not like WWE were trying to keep viewers hooked throughout. The tag-team barbecue segment was indicative of the show's quality overall, and it was hardly a must-see three hours.
Still, it won't please anyone backstage that the TV rating was so low.