There's a certain segment of the pro wrestling fanbase who couldn't care less about television ratings. And while I can understand why that might be the case, we know WWE often makes knee jerk decisions based solely on the numbers they get back from Nielson.
That alone makes them important.
So let's look at the numbers from this week's (March 25, 2013) episode of Monday Night Raw (estimates come by way of the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, which you should have a subscription for):
- The show opened with CM Punk cutting a promo and getting beat down by Undertaker. That segment did a strong 3.39 rating leading to the first big loss of the night when Fandango's schtick gave way to Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler and dropped 441,000 viewers.
- Fandango coming back out to attack Jericho and the backstage segment with The Shield attacking Sheamus and Randy Orton before Big Show made the save gained back 117,000.
- Mark Henry vs. The Usos lost 54,000 viewers before Alberto Del Rio vs. Antonio Cesaro got the long match at the top of the second hour. Jack Swagger interrupted at the end of this segment and it ended up gaining 371,000 viewers.
- Team Hell No vs. Prime Time Players lost 241,000 viewers just before Triple H came out for his interview pumping the Brock Lesnar match. That segment lost 6,000 viewers, which isn't the worst for that timeslot but you would hope it would be better.
- Wade Barrett vs. The Miz gained 71,000 viewers in a longer match just before the top of the third hour saw an incredibly small gain of 187,000 viewers for The Shield vs. Zack Ryder, Justin Gabriel, and Great Khali.
- Rhodes Scholars vs. Tons of Funk and Ryback vs. 3MB lost 102,000 viewers. AJ Lee vs. Kaitlyn lost another 257,000 viewers just before the main event segment.
- The Rock and John Cena having their Q&A session with Bret Hart, Dusty Rhodes, Mick Foley, and Booker T, which went on forever, gained 615,000 viewers and ended at a 3.47 rating. That's pretty good for the final segment in a show that dragged on and on and on and on and on.
Overall, this was a big improvement from last week and showcases that the big hitters -- Undertaker, CM Punk, The Rock, John Cena -- are indeed hitting big at the right time.
For complete results and the live blog click here. For reactions to the show click here. And for a playlist of the entire night click here.