The ratings for Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown have taken a hit in recent weeks. This is likely due to WWE having to host shows in empty arenas as a result of the coronavirus and the shows airing featured replays of old matches that fans have seen before to fill time slots. However, Vince McMahon believes that Brock Lesnar no longer being the WWE Champion is also to blame for Monday Night Raw ‘s ratings drop.
As quoted by WrestleTalk , McMahon opened up about the situation during the company’s recent Q1 investors call. According to the WWE chairman, the company is currently in a transitional period, but he doesn’t think the empty arena shows are responsible for the dwindling fan interest.
“As far as ratings are concerned, SmackDown has virtually been no change, very little. Raw has suffered, but not necessarily because of the environment. It’s suffered because we bring in a lot of new talent to Raw and it takes a while to get new talent over. We no longer have Brock Lesnar, obviously, but we have a new champion and a lot of new performers coming in… I’m convinced the Raw ratings will bounce back considerably.”
Lesnar lost the World Championship to Drew McIntyre at this year’s WrestleMania , and the superstar has been absent from television ever since. However, “The Beast Incarnate” is only contracted to make a handful of appearances every year, and he rarely appears on television. The brand’s regular main event stars, such as Seth Rollins, have all been present in recent weeks.
McMahon’s words suggest that the company is focused on building new stars at the moment, which could take some time to show results. This is McIntyre’s first run with the brand’s top championship, while other performers such as Angel Garza and Austin Theory are fairly new additions to the roster. Apollo Crews has also been receiving a push in recent weeks, as Paul Heyman is reportedly high on the underutilized talent.
As documented by Bleacher Report , the red brand has suffered from some record low ratings in recent weeks. The last episode drew just over 1.8 million viewers. That rating was even lower than the previous week’s show, which was the lowest rating for a non-holiday episode in the show’s history.
The next few weeks will be telling for the company, but with Money in the Bank coming up, there could be more fan interest in the lead-up to the pay-per-view event.
