— Monday’s edition of WWE RAW posted a 3.79 rating, putting it nearly in line with last week’s 3.8. Like last week, the show did hours of roughly 3.6 and 4.0.
As with last week’s guest host Sgt. Slaughter, Freddie Prinze, Jr. does not presently have a high profile in Hollywood (he is certainly not a rival for Jeremy Piven in terms of recognition), so the solid rating indicates that the viewership number does not significantly hinge on the guest host. This week’s show’s additional interest stemmed from the DX return and the final build for WWE Summerslam; with over 6 million viewers for the second hour, it is clear that the WWE storyline elements drove the rating.
To date, Shaquille O’Neal has been the only guest host for which there appeared to be a clear ratings bump.
— WWE Breaking Point is not expected to be an all-submissions event, as was first reported. Like the upcoming Hell in a Cell event, it appears that only the top matches will adhere to the advertised stipulation.
