10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 2014

3. The Lowest Rated Raw Of The Year...

Daniel Bryan
WWE

...was heavily promoted and featured major stars. It was a sign of the times, and the times ahead.

December 29th 2014's edition of the flagship show featured Brock Lesnar, Edge & Christian and words from a returning Daniel Bryan amongst the usual Raw rank-and-file, but it wasn't enough to address the year-on-year slide that has only really gone on pause as of 2011.

Averaging out at 3.45million (which, in today's market would have the super-villian shareholders doing backflips), the show at least peaked in the final hour with the heavily-promoted Bryan monologue, but even that packed a sting in the tail.

WWE were promoting his potential retirement in order to pop a number (which only partially succeeded), but instead were able to reveal that he was raring to go for the 2015 Royal Rumble. The cursed, disastrous 2015 Royal Rumble that was formally derailed by his elimination.

It wasn't enough just to bring the "YES" man back - audiences still wanted him pushed too.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett