WWE Raw ratings reach year low on May 19, 2014

During a time when WWE is taking hit after hit after hit, some good news, even small, would have been nice. Unfortunately, the ratings for last night's (May 19, 2014) episode of Monday Night Raw provided no relief.

Indeed, the steady viewership decline continued for the fourth week in a row. Raw went from 4.61 million viewers to 4.27 million down to 4 million last week and finally settling at 3.76 million viewers this week.

That's the lowest total of the entire year and the 2.7 rating, as noted by the Wrestling Observer, is among one of the worst for a non-holiday, non-football season number in the past 15 years.

Here's the hourly breakdown:

There were multiple factors working against this show, namely stiff competition from the NBA Playoffs -- the San Antonio Spurs victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder drew 6.36 million viewers -- and the fact that Raw aired via tape delay. With spoilers readily available, many fans simply decided not to tune in.

WWE will be back in the States for Raw next week in Knoxville with the go home show to the Payback pay-per-view (PPV) on June 1 in Chicago. Expect a bit of a bounce back, if only a slight one.

For complete results and the live blog from Raw click here. For a full recap with reactions click here. For a complete playlist from the show click here. And if you want to listen to the Cageside Live podcast breaking down the show click here.