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In response to historically bad Raw numbers on Dec. 14, 2020, Vince McMahon used the hPhone and brought in the stars of yesteryear for the first episode of 2021.
Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair & the gang weren’t the only thing WWE and USA had going for them on Jan. 4, however. This was also the first Monday without competition from the NFL since September.
It led to an average across the show’s three hours of 2.13 million. That’s a 20% increase from the week before, and the biggest audience since the WrestleMania 36 fallout episode last April.
The holds were strong, too:
Hour one: 2.2 million
Hour two: 2.15 million
Hour three: 2.04 million
It was also a big night ratings-wise. The hourly and mean numbers among 18 -49 year olds were tops on cable. The .68 average also gave the red brand a rare sweep over its in-house competition for the week (SmackDown routinely outperforms Raw since the move to a broadcast network in FOX).
Keeping the folks who tuned in this week will be the trick. No Legends next Monday, but football is back in the form of the Collegiate National Championship. Will regular Royal Rumble hype be any match for Ohio State/Alabama?
We shall see.
For Raw results and the live blog from this week’s show click here. For a review of the night’s show click here. For highlights from the show click here.
Numbers via Showbuzz Daily