10 Most Significant Reasons For WWE Raw's Low Ratings

By Alexander Podgorski /

9. WWE Merchandise Isn't Being Used To Build New Stars

The simple formula for WWE as a business is that the more a Superstar sells merchandise, the more popular they are, and the higher their popularity, the more likely fans will tune in to see them perform. Thus, the best way to build stars is for the WWE merchandise department to invest in multiple stars, which would allow for those other stars to grow, and in turn become bigger draws. However, when it comes to WWE merchandise, the company seems to be invested far more in John Cena than anyone else, and thus he€™s the biggest force in ratings changes. However, this cannot go on forever, and unless something€™s done now to ensure stable ratings in the future, a Cena-less WWE is doomed to even worse ratings than Monday€™s. If WWE were serious in investing in new Superstars, they€™d be churning out merchandise for wrestlers like Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, etc., knowing that fans would buy it. Instead, the merchandise that€™s always in both highest supply and highest demand belongs to a handful of established main-eventers, which keeps things at the status quo. If WWE really wanted to make new stars, which would encourage higher viewership, they€™d interfere in their merchandise market directly, encouraging the sale of other Superstars€™ stuff. They did this with Austin, the Rock, and Triple H over a decade ago and it work. So why can€™t they do the same thing now?