Goldberg is a ratings draw

We internet rasslin’ fans aren’t always excited to see the stars of yesteryear show up on WWE television, but the company has reasons why it keeps bringing them out. The ratings from the Mon., Aug. 16 Raw won’t convince them it’s a bad strategy.

An appearance by the WCW legend was one of the main hooks for this week’s episode of the red brand. WWE held Goldberg until the end of the night, and the viewership pattern over the show’s three hours makes that seem like a successful strategy.

Hour One: 1.96 million viewers
Hour Two: 1.86 million viewers
Hour Three: 1.80 million viewers

It’s especially interesting who stayed and tuned in for that final hour. Per Wrestling Observer:

Women 18-49 were actually up 17 percent from hour one to three, but men 18-49 dropped eight percent. Teenage girls were up 35 percent from hour one to three and teenage boys were up 11 percent.

The final push to Goldberg vs. Lashley at SummerSlam wasn’t the only thing in the 10pm hour, of course. It’s possible that was hold over from the RKBro reunion, or even the women’s tag match set-up earlier in the show.

But I doubt that’s the lesson WWE will learn from a show that rebounded strongly from Aug. 9’s Goldberg-free episode, which delivered the worst numbers of the post-ThunderDome era. Average viewership on the night was up 4% from last Monday, to 1.86 million. Even better, the 18 - 49 year old demographic rating rose to a best-among-all-cable-originals .55, a 12% increase from the week prior.

Don’t be surprised if Bill’s back for Survivor Series, is what I’m saying.

For complete results and this week’s Raw live blog click here. To read a recap & review of the night’s events click here. For video highlights of the show click here.

H/T Showbuzz Daily (welcome back!)