10 Most Significant Reasons For WWE Raw's Low Ratings

5. NXT Has Become More Popular

With the notable exception of any storyline involving John Cena as of late, most of the wrestling on RAW has been stale and repetitive. Some rivalries feature several consecutive matches that don€™t differ from one another, and don€™t advance any stories between two competing athletes. Furthermore, RAW€™s insanely-tight schedule requires some matches to be short and insignificant, leading to such godawful contests as R-Truth vs. Wade Barrett. Small wonder ratings are lower than expected, especially when WWE€™s developmental territory NXT is providing everything that RAW should be providing. Thanks to the dominance of NXT on the WWE Network, as well as its popularity spreading through word-of-mouth and constant praise in online communities, fans have a show where they see long-term storylines, realistic characters, stories that are easy to invest in, and most importantly, competitive wrestling. Despite its status as €˜the minor leagues€™ of WWE, NXT gets more regular praise than RAW and SmackDown combined. This reputation is encouraging more people to tune in to the show on the WWE Network, effectively discouraging fans from watching RAW by offering a superior product. Triple H once said that his goal for NXT was to make it similar to WCW (minus the closing). Considering how much better it€™s doing when compared to RAW, it looks like he has succeeded.