Viewers down for Raw this week, despite Ronda Rousey debut, Elimination Chamber fallout

That Gauntlet match really was one hell of a draw.

Last week’s episode of Monday Night Raw garnered 3.28 million viewers with two really strong opening hours. This week’s show, despite coming just one night after the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view (PPV) and featuring the Raw debut of Ronda Rousey, saw a drop down to 3.18 million viewers.

The hourly breakdown looked closer to the usual pattern too:

Hour one: 3.40 million
Hour two: 3.24 million
Hour three: 2.88 million

They saved Rousey for the third hour and viewership still dropped all throughout the show, as it typically does. Even on the “Road to WrestleMania,” three hours is a lot of ask of your fan base every week, 52 weeks a year.

They can’t do a Gauntlet match every week but the fact that viewers were down this week may tell WWE something about how to proceed going forward.

For complete results and the live blog for Raw this week click here. To read a complete recap and review of all the night’s events click here. For a full playlist of the show click here.