— A segment-by-segment breakdown from last week’s RAW reveals some interesting surprises in terms of which WWE Superstars spur viewership interest.
*The Triple H vs. Cody Rhodes match added 467,000 viewers, which was strong for its position on the show. The Chavo Guerrero-Hornswoggle segment, nonetheless, countered with a 394,000 viewer loss, indicating that the recurring WWE comedy angle is not drawing well for the show.
*Interestingly, despite being the final match in the “Beat the Clock” series and featuring WWE’s biggest star, the John Cena vs. The Miz match lost 87,000 viewers. It appears Cena’s promo was correct this week–viewers are just not buying the Cena-Miz television feud as worthwhile.
*Jack Swagger and Evan Bourne added 219,000 viewers to the broadcast.
*Though the Carlito-Mark Henry segment lost 292,000 viewers, it is not alarming–much of the decline can be explained by curious, but noncommittal viewers tuning out after seeing Shaquille O’Neal’s opening promo.
*The final segment with Shaquille O’Neal as an enforcer gained 539,000 viewers; a solid yet underwhelming figure given how popular Shaq appeared to be with the WWE audience.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
— Regarding rumors of a Big Show vs. Shaquille O’Neal match at Summerslam, it is not in WWE’s plans, despite the fact that it ended up coming across as the most-hyped match on this week’s RAW telecast. WWE would want to allow itself more than two weeks to promote such a major pay-per-view match, and combined with the fact that Shaq’s active relationship with the NBA would likely prevent him from working a traditional match, it simply is not probable in the immediate term.
A number of wrestling critics have pointed to the fact that O’Neal was dominating the “who would win” poll as proof that the fans do not respect Big Show as a top heel. While the fact that Show has lost his past crossover matches definitely tipped the scale against him, it is important to note that WWE is not UFC. UFC polls are often about who fans think is the more dominant fighter; with WWE, a lot comes down to heel versus face. People were not voting based on who would win a wrestling match but based on who they believe WWE would script as the winner–and who fans would want to see win. Few within WWE took the poll as a major negative.
