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FINALLY ... Monday Night Raw has broken the trend of losing viewers in the third hour.
Despite hugely strong competition from the Alabama vs. Notre Dame BCS National Championship Game, which was a blowout in favor of the Crimson Tide, Raw did surprisingly good numbers across the board but did its highest rating in the final hour for The Rock's return and his confrontation with WWE Champion CM Punk.
The show averaged 4.42 million viewers for all three hours, which is a big number compared to what it has been doing. Here's the even more impressive hourly breakdown:
Hour one: 4.29 million viewers
Hour two: 4.32 million viewers
Hour three: 4.65 million viewers
Whether you loved his high school level insults or not, The Rock brings the ratings. And considering how well put together his segment with Punk was, the sky is the limit.
Next week is the 20th Anniversary show that has no major sporting competition going against it. Is it unrealistic to think that show could average over 5 million viewers for all three hours? It may not be.
For full results and the live blog from Raw click here. For reactions to all the night's events click here. And for a complete playlist of the entire show click here.