WWE Raw ratings for WrestleMania 29 fallout show: Louisville NCAA title win steals viewers

The annual episode of Monday Night Raw the night after WrestleMania is typically one of the biggest, if not thee biggest, of each and every year for WWE. That's because the promotion sets up all the new angles and storyline directions for the coming months, which are unofficially considered the start of the new "season."

And because WrestleMania occurred the night before, ratings are expected to be at their highest.

Well, WrestleMania 29 went down this past Sunday night at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and Monday Night Raw hit the IZOD Center in the same city the very next evening. The show did a 3.45 rating with an average of 4.61 million viewers.

That's good, of course, but lower than expected for a show of this magnitude, especially with late hype and intriguing surrounding the situation with The Rock.

Here's the hourly breakdown:

Hour one: 4.49 million
Hour two: 4.78 million
Hour three: 4.56 million

It should be noted that the NCAA Tournament reached its conclusion last night with Louisville defeating Michigan to win the national title in a close game that went down to the wire, no doubt eating into Raw's viewership numbers. For comparison's sake, last year's post-WrestleMania episode of Raw averaged over 5 million viewers.

Now, the real fun begins. The "Road to WrestleMania" is over, John Cena is the WWE champion, Dolph Ziggler is the world heavyweight champion, and all the part-timers who dominated the landscape in the lead-up to the "Showcase of the Immortals" won't be sticking around.

We'll see how WWE adjusts.

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.