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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 (April 1, 2013) episode of Monday Night Raw (estimates come by way of the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, which you should have a subscription for):
- John Cena's show opening promo scored a 3.1 to kick off the show on a decent note. Then Randy Orton, Sheamus, and Big Show vs. 3MB lost 95,000 viewers before Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler lost 43,000 more.
- The first big gain of the night came at the top of the second hour with Shawn Michaels returning to back Triple H and Brock Lesnar coming out so Paul Heyman could cut a promo gaining 585,000 viewers.
- Wade Barrett vs. Zack Ryder lost 485,000 viewers immediately after this. Surprisingly, though, Mark Henry vs. Santino Marella with Ryback coming out and CM Punk's brief interview gained 14,000 viewers. It didn't matter much considering Alberto Del Rio vs. Zeb Colter with Jack Swagger smashing Ricardo Rodriguez and Del Rio lost 108,000 viewers.
- The Rock had the top of the third hour time slot and his promo gained just 275,000 viewers. Chris Jericho vs. Antonio Cesaro with Fandango interrupting lost 168,000 viewers before a series of video packages lost 212,000 more.
- In the surprise of the night, Cameron and Naomi vs. the Bella Twins gained 288,000 viewers. More Divas in the future?
- Finally, the controversial angle with Paul Heyman dressing up as Paul Bearer and CM Punk dumping ashes out on Undertaker gained 599,000 viewers to a 3.58 overrun.
Not bad when broken down by segments, although the overall rating wasn't great. Then again, the rating for last year's WrestleMania go home show was worse and WrestleMania 28 was a record breaker.
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.