Despite a pre-advertised appearance from WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels and more RAW Underground segments, this Monday's episode of WWE's flagship show didn't receive any sort of ratings boost heading into SummerSlam on Sunday.
According to Showbuzz Daily, the episode drew an average of 1.643 million viewers on the USA Network, a noteworthy decline from last Monday's 1.722 million viewers.
Here is the hourly viewership breakdown:
Hour 1 (8pm): 1.730 million viewers (last week: 1.811 million viewers)
Hour 2 (9pm): 1.697 million viewers (last week: 1.754 million viewers)
Hour 3 (10pm): 1.502 million viewers (last week: 1.601 million viewers)
RAW's viewership remains on the decline, and it's worrying that numbers didn't pick up leading into Sunday's PPV. However, the show did face strong competition from the Democratic National Convention, so that could explain why that third hour dropped even more than it normally does.
Among the matches featured on this week's RAW were Asuka & Shayna Baszler vs Bayley & Sasha Banks, MVP, Shelton Benjamin & Lashley vs. Mustafa Ali, Ricochet & Apollo Crews, and Montez Ford vs. Andrade. It was a fine show, but widely criticised for the way newer Superstars were quickly defeated (as well as a main event once again built around a star from the past).
What did you think of RAW?