10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About 2018
7. Historically Low Ratings
WWE repeatedly broke records this year - but not for any of the right reasons.
Anyone who'd seen the faces of WWE's executives the day ratings came in for the 9 July episode of Raw would have been forgiven for thinking raw lemons were the only thing on the menu in the boardroom. The show, headlined by Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre, pulled a paltry 2.47 million viewers - the lowest in the programme's history.
The dismal number was attributed to an anomaly, brought on by Donald Trump's announcement of Brett Kavanaugh's SCOTUS nomination, widely covered and widely watched over on cable news. Two months later, the time-honoured 'Monday Night Football' excuse was given a fresh airing as Raw's watchers dropped further to just 2.35 million.
A week later, things seemingly hit rock bottom. Viewership plunged to a disastrous 2.3 million, despite the show closing with supposed top draws D-Generation X and The Brothers of Destruction. The same excuses were trotted out, but the real problem was that it wasn't 1998.
Somehow, there was just about time for things to get even worse. As the year reached a close, the 3 December edition attracted just 2.29 million viewers, breaking the all-time low for a stunning fourth time in the space of twelve months. The trend is only likely to continue.