Lesnar & Rousey returns lead to best WWE Raw ratings since April
The return of Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey last night led to Raw doing 2.90 million viewers on average, actually beating the final average on June 19 by 1,000 viewers. It was the best number for the show since April 30.
The big takeaway was that the audience grew strongly in hour two, and while it fell in hour three, the 2.82 million viewers for hour three was the best since April.
The storyline over whether Lesnar would appear, and if Paul Heyman would be fired if he didn’t, grew and maintained the audience at a much better rate than usual, to where hour three had nearly the viewership of hour one.
For the first time in recent memory, Raw was the highest rated show on cable, beating Hannity at 2.88 million viewers. It beat everything on television except ABC, CBS, and NBC.
The three hours were:
- 8 p.m. 2.88 million viewers
- 9 p.m. 3.01 million viewers
- 10 p.m. 2.82 million viewers
Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.