WWE Raw viewers back to normal after SummerSlam high

A “Big 4” pay-per-view (PPV) is the equivalent of a sugar rush for WWE’s television numbers. And after surging to above 3 million viewers for the first time since April’s WrestleMania/Superstar Shakeup highs, this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw came back to earth.

Overall, viewership fell by slightly more than 200K, to 2.88 million from Aug. 20’s 3.09 million viewers. The Aug. 27 figure is still above where they were two weeks ago (2.82 million viewers) and in line with audiences since Extreme Rules.

The hourly breakdown showed a familiar pattern:

Hour one: 3.08 million
Hour two: 2.93 million
Hour three: 2.63 million

Next week’s show falls on a national holiday here in the United States, a fact which will likely be reflected in the numbers. We’ll see if The Bellas, Shawn Michaels and a possible Dead Man sighting can convince folks to turn on USA Network after their end of summer cookouts.

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. To watch highlights of the show click here.