The Rock: +430,000 Viewers After headlining two of the most lucrative Wrestling pay-per-views in history (Wrestlemania XXXVIII and Wrestlemania 29, not to mention "hosting" Wrestlemania XXVII), it's no surprise that Hollywood Superstar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has a blockbuster effect whenever he shows up on WWE television. This third generation superstar often gained more than a million viewers when he appeared in the final segment of the show - especially in 2011 (Raw episodes on 2/14, 3/28, 4/4 and 11/14 in particular). Still, after suffering several injuries during his last encounter against John Cena, it's questionable how many more matches we'll see from The Great One. Yet, there's no doubt that Vince McMahon will always be anxious harvest the lightning in a bottle that occurs whenever Rocky gets on a live microphone on Monday Night Raw.
The Undertaker: +475,000 Viewers
The Deadman has been through WWE through thick (the attitude era) and thin (the early 1990s). His last real full-time run in WWE was back in 2010 and since then he's settled into the pattern of being more of a "special attraction". In particular, he emerges each year to defend his undefeated streak at Wrestlemania. However, when he's on television, it's electric and the viewership numbers bare that out. Confrontations with Triple H, CM Punk and Shawn Michaels regularly delivered at least half a million viewers in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Even putting the UT in a video package (such as on 2/27/12 Raw), something that often loses viewers, has proven the power of the Lord of Darkness. Obviously, the appeal of special attractions is using them judiciously. If they were out there every week, it's questionable whether they would remain such strong ratings draws. Furthermore, it helps to that they both often come on television around road to Wrestlemania timeframe, when WWE often has the largest television audience.
Shawn Michaels: +267,000 Viewers
Mr. Wrestlemania hasn't wrestled since his lost his retirement match to the Undertaker, but he's been involved in several key angles since then ranging from refereeing HHH's battles with UT to having his arm broke by Brock Lesnar (which gained 817,000 viewers on the 8/20/12 Raw).
I'm a professional wrestling analyst, an improviser and an avid NES gamer. I live in Saint Paul, Minnesota and I'm working on my first book (#wrestlenomics). You can contact me at chris.harrington@gmail.com or on twitter (@mookieghana)
The Deadman has been through WWE through thick (the attitude era) and thin (the early 1990s). His last real full-time run in WWE was back in 2010 and since then he's settled into the pattern of being more of a "special attraction". In particular, he emerges each year to defend his undefeated streak at Wrestlemania. However, when he's on television, it's electric and the viewership numbers bare that out. Confrontations with Triple H, CM Punk and Shawn Michaels regularly delivered at least half a million viewers in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Even putting the UT in a video package (such as on 2/27/12 Raw), something that often loses viewers, has proven the power of the Lord of Darkness. Obviously, the appeal of special attractions is using them judiciously. If they were out there every week, it's questionable whether they would remain such strong ratings draws. Furthermore, it helps to that they both often come on television around road to Wrestlemania timeframe, when WWE often has the largest television audience. 