Why WWE Has Lost 1 Million Viewers
WWE's post-'Mania Raw is supposed to be special. It's one of the most anticipated shows of the year, not only because it marks the start of WWE's new "season" of programming and fresh starts for everyone after the previous night's shenanigans, but also for its surprises.
The 2003 edition brought Goldberg's long-awaited WWE debut and electric confrontation with his first opponent, The Rock. Fans were treated to one of the best Money In The Bank cash-ins ever ten years later, as Dolph Ziggler took Alberto Del Rio's World Heavyweight Championship. 2012 saw Brock Lesnar return for the first time in close to a decade, 2002 brought the brand extension's birth, and 2014 gave us Paige's shocking main roster call-up and Divas Title win.
In 2019, we got Lars Sullivan, Sami Zayn, a short Undertaker segment, and, err, a Chad Gable/Bobby Roode heel turn. Fun moments, but not what fans have been conditioned to expect from this show.
SmackDown was even duller, with Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman's vacations from Raw the night's only eye-openers.
The audience can no longer rely on the Raw and SmackDown after WrestleMania to deliver its old promises. Now, the only thing these shows guarantee are victory laps for the likes of Rollins, Lynch, and Kingston, and a smattering of house show-calibre matches ahead of WWE's new post-'Mania priority: the Superstar Shake-Up.
Vince McMahon's bloated creative team can't even use these shows to establish new feuds and set wrestlers off in exciting new directions anymore, because everything changes the next week. What's the point in setting up Rollins' first Universal Title challenger when said opponent could be shifted to SmackDown seven days later? It doesn't work, and this is a huge reason behind the post-WrestleMania Raw's decline.
CONT'd...