WWE Raw ratings for Battleground go home show among lowest in past 15 years

Last night's episode of Monday Night Raw emanated from Biloxi, Mississippi, and served as the go home show to the Battleground pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for this coming Sunday night at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. And while there isn't necessarily a strong correlation between TV ratings and PPV buyrates, it's better to barrel into an event rather than limp to it.

Too bad for WWE, it will be doing the former.

That's because Raw last night scored just a 2.68 rating and an average of 3.58 million viewers for all three hours. For context, that's one of the lowest numbers the show has done in the past 15 years.

Here's the hourly breakdown:

Hour one: 3.61 million
Hour two: 3.53 million
Hour three: 3.62 million

Monday Night Football did nearly 14 million viewers for the New Orleans Saints vs. Miami Dolphins game on ESPN. The competition is strong and one wonders how soon Vince McMahon and company will press the panic button.

Perhaps John Cena will return for an appearance or two sooner than we think.

For complete results and the live blog from the show click here. For reactions click here. And for a playlist of all the night's events click here.