The eventual reveal of an impressive WrestleMania buyrate will likely be enough to turn frowns upside down, but it is irrefutably true that this year’s ‘Mania season made for underwhelming ratings.
Monday’s RAW, which featured the fallout from WrestleMania, promos from The Rock and John Cena and the return of Brock Lesnar, delivered a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating with 5.01 million viewers.
Though the episode’s performance built comfortably on last Monday’s showing, and was the first in a while to net a viewership average in excess of 5 million, it was still softer than expected given the presumed significance of the WrestleMania buzz.
By comparison, last year’s equivalent episode garnered a 2.2 adults 18-49 rating with 5.62 million viewers. Worth noting, however, is that 2011’s “go home” edition of RAW delivered a whopping 2.3 rating with 5.89 million viewers. Quite simply, wrestling ratings were better during last year’s WrestleMania season.
Hour two of last year’s show achieved a 2.3 with 5.78 million, compared with a 2.0 and 5.07 million this time.
Competition from the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship likely took a small bite out of the potential RAW audience, although the tournament also overlapped with last year’s post-Mania RAW.
