WWE and its flagship program, Monday Night Raw, have been suffering as of late. The global wrestling entity cant seem to hit its stride or find an engaging storyline to hook viewers. The past few weeks especially have featured some lackluster Raw broadcasts, drawing harsh criticism from viewers and the wrestling community. However, this past Mondays broadcast has brought about a new low point. Much was said about WWEs seemingly haphazard booking of the September 15th edition of Raw. The John Cena/Brock Lesnar segment was featured not during the main event slot but midway through the shows second hour. Reportedly, this was an attempt to capture some of the NFLs Monday Night Football audience -- as the featured game was in halftime during the Lesnar/Cena brawl. As such, Mark Henry and Rusev closed out another awkward edition of Raw. It seems that WWEs lackluster creative has hurt Raws viewership and ratings. While the second hour of this past Mondays Raw featured a slight spike in viewers, the third hour dropped off completely. Raw began the night with about 3.9 million viewers and peaked during the second hour with just under 3.95. However, by the end of the night, Raws numbers dipped to just above 3.6 million viewers. Altogether, Raw garnered an average audience of 3.8 million viewers -- a shockingly low number. September 15ths broadcast featured the lowest audience since May of this year. WWE is currently in the midst of a viewership drop, as fans have begun to turn away from the product following months of poor angles and a general lack of creative direction. What do you think will happen at Night of Champions and at next weeks Raw, as the WWE looks to bounce back from its recent string of blunders? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Douglas Scarpa is a freelance writer, independent filmmaker, art school graduate, and pro wrestling aficionado -- all of which mean he is in financial ruin. He has no backup plan to speak of, yet maintains his abnormally high spirits. If he had only listened to the scorn of his childhood teachers, he wouldn't be in this situation.
