10 Terrible Decisions That Led To WWE Raw’s Lowest Ever Rating
2. Character Assassination
WWE's extreme over-production in 2018 has in many ways resulted in disinterest rather than disdain. Hating the show requires actually caring about the show, with many deserters simply washing their hands of Raw rather than wringing them in despair at the plight of it all.
Indifference is the most fatal emotion of all for a wrestling company. WWE may have trotted out that "at least they care one way or the other" line about John Cena as a defence mechanism for his problematic babyface push, but it's been proven completely true by the tumultuous tenure of his replacement Roman Reigns. Crowds bailed for the exits when he headlined Backlash against Samoa Joe, and for the bogs and the merch stands when he mauled Jinder Mahal as a Money in the Bank midcarder. They've no energy to love nor hate anymore, with this wind of acceptant fate blowing across the product at large.
Babyfaces are only met with mild enthusiasm because people want to back winners and almost all of them are scripted as losers on the microphone and (every other week, at least) in the ring. Heels aren't awash with boos because they're too wet - the company can only book snivelling dorks, whilst many of the in-house performers and NXT graduates are too afraid of actual heat having experienced so little of it within the WWE machine.
Be it financially or emotionally, there are simply not enough people to invest in. And even when there was, the company punished audiences for allowing themselves to believe...