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With Brock Lesnar, Undertaker, and John Cena all missing the show, expectations weren't exactly high that last night's episode of Monday Night Raw from Everett, Washington would deliver a strong rating for WWE. The company's flagship program has been struggling for viewers all summer, and with the big guns on the shelf there was little reason to believe there would be good news come today.
Except there is good news.
Last night's show averaged 3.83 million viewers, the best number Raw has posted all summer. Here's how the hourly breakdown shakes out:
Hour one: 3.79 million
Hour two: 3.94 million
Hour three: 3.77 million
It appears Daniel Bryan's return, Stephen Amell appearing to set up a match at SummerSlam, and Seth Rollins defending the WWE world heavyweight championship against Randy Orton in the main event did the trick. It should only get better next week with the go home show to the biggest party of the summer.
For complete results and the live blog from Raw click here. For a recap with reactions to all the night's events click here. To watch highlights of the show click here.