The appearance of The Rock and the fall out from the Royal Rumble boosted WWE Raw viewership by 18 percent this week, with the Miami show averaging 4.09 million viewers. The key to this was The Rock, with hour two actually outperforming hour one. That hardly ever happens these days, and it proves that the tease of "a major return" worked. The three hours broke down like this: 8 p.m. 4.14 million viewers9 p.m. 4.18 million viewers10 p.m. 3.97 million viewers However, as good as this news is, the post-Rumble Raw last year did 4.41 million viewers. What's notable of course, is that episode was a studio show which replayed the Rumble, due to a severe blizzard stopping the live Raw from taking place. Nevertheless, with this week's ratings increase, WWE have to be happy. Ratings were dire in the final months of 2015, but it was always believed that WrestleMania season would boost interest. The company will now be banking on a solid few months, before returning to a dip in the May to July period. Wrestling is cyclical and fans are conditioned to know what is worth tuning in for and what isn't. That's why Vince McMahon hasn't panicked too much these last few months, even with some shocking Raw ratings lows, he knows his product will always bounce back.
