WWE Raw ratings for April 15 show fall to start post-WrestleMania 29 period

Each and every year, WWE goes through a boom period in the lead up to WrestleMania, the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) in all of pro wrestling. That means every year WWE also goes through an inevitable let down period, one the company consistently tries to combat in various ways, including running big angles with big stars and even having its biggest part-time stars stick around to work the next PPV on the schedule, Extreme Rules.

We're looking at you, Brock Lesnar.

Depending on how you want to gauge success, the promotion wasted no time getting to its let down period with last night's episode of Monday Night Raw scoring a 3.08 rating, down big from last week's 3.45 for the night after WrestleMania 29. The show averaged 4.15 million viewers for all three hours, the lowest number all year.

Here is the breakdown for each hour:

Hour one: 4.18 million
Hour two: 4.23 million
Hour three: 4.02 million

That third hour represents the lowest of the year again. Things look like they could be bleak for a while too. Sure, Lesnar is sticking around to work a few shows and the PPV next month but that's only to continue his program with Triple H.

That feud is long past its expiration date.

John Cena, meanwhile, is forced to work with Ryback, who is still getting pushed despite having lost all his heat through bad booking throughout much of the past six months, and CM Punk appears to be going on hiatus to heal some nagging injuries. There's no word on how long he'll be gone either.

Look for things to get worse before they get better, though to keep perspective there are plenty of television shows that would kill to do numbers like this.

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.