Only about 300k of WWE's RAW viewers are under 25

Not a good sign for pro-rasslin's future possibly

Can trace that back to WWE's terrible job during the Cena era of building Cena's young fanbase into their future viewerbase.

Cena as the only mega star and the PG era ended up being great for WWE generating a huge new child fanbase but terrible in the long run since WWE never bothered to improve their terrible booking habits and treated the majority of the roster as a bunch of nobodies.

Led to those young fans getting bored after a few years and quitting being fans of wrestling. Unlike something like Pokemon, those fans didn't come back after a few years as new young adult viewers.

WWE's numbers would be even more dire if it wasn't for NXT and Total Divas causing a revival in interest in women's wrestling in the company since that led to a lot more female viewers becoming fans of wrestling.

AEW, learn your lesson - no more long Jake Hager matches.

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NXT - 692k
AEW - 683k


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AEW probably dead by May

At this rate all of rasslin might be dead by July

The main problem i had with the Hager/Mox match was the decision to only have JR call it, it was awkward and him pointing out the dumb shot (why is there a guard rail, why are there chairs) hurt it. Especially considering Jericho been killing it on commentary

It was too long and the empty arena did it no favors. 10-15 minute brawl would've been just fine.

I'd also like to point out that his name is Jake Hager.

Seems both shows are starting to settle in the 600k range for these empty arena shows.

Also seems NXT's older audience is once again doing all the heavy lifting for the brand considering its been a month since they last ranked in the Top 50. Them keeping almost the same viewership but going down by several spots proving that to be the case.

Either NXT got another very strong start this week or that Hager vs. Moxley match really was the cause for NXT's win. That match had the same problem as the Edge vs. Orton match where it was too long and slow paced and really needed a crowd around to feed off on.

I’m really struggling with attention span with these empty arena shows. Anything more than a few minutes for a promo and my mind wonders, can probably do 10-15 mins max on a match.

I'm all for them piping in crowd noises, honestly. It is part of the whole "presentation" and would make things seem as close to "normal" as possible. I would imagine it would also cost to have more editing done..... but that would be a good thing to pay for, if the money is available, ofc.




Also, Hager just looks like he doesn't belong in his body. He's a big dude, but he reminds me of Bambi trying to get her legs, just awkward AF. More entertaining in MMA, where he definitely seems to be "better off".

Turns out the Gargano-Ciampa match was a big draw for NXT but only for the 1st 10-20 minutes and then it declined badly afterwards. The ladder match also ended up being somewhat of a dud in terms of viewership interest since it squandered the big audience it had coming from the lead-in.

Also turned out that the Best Friends vs. Omega & Nakazawa match performed the best in terms of viewership for AEW last week and AEW's main events have been a big weak point these past couple weeks.

Gertner is right when he says 20 minutes or less, with very few exceptions....




re: dropped after 20 mins

Also feel like Gertner would have a great blog//podcast about some obscure, but super interesting things in the world of professional wrestling.

SD 2.19 million, trending downwards continues

Good news for WWE is it's still #1 in Men 18-49 and Adults 18-34


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WWE probably could drop by another 100k to 200k within the next few weeks but this is likely their basement range for the foreseeable future with these empty arena shows.

NXT already settled into a 600k range these past few weeks while RAW is basically what SD would be now without the FOX boost.

AEW probably also going to stay in that 600k range as well until this coronavirus stuff clears up.

I could see RAW and SD dropping another 500k each from where they were this week in the next two months tbh.

I do think AEW/NXT have their hardcore fans in the 500-700k range though.

500k seems a bit too much even if these empty arena shows have been mostly disappointing but then again SD did reveal that one time when it aired on FS1 that WWE's real main brands viewership floor is very small.

Feel bad for AEW since they were settling into that 900k range and moving closer and closer to hitting 1 million again before this coronavirus stuff wiped out all of their momentum from earlier in the year.

Same for feeling bad for MLW since they were on pace to grow very well this year on tv, especially had they managed to sign that rumored Showtime deal before this virus wrecked things.

JR not pointing out that something is stupid doesn’t make that thing any less stupid. Why does JR get blamed for AEW being idiots? Everyone at home is thinking “hang on,” so why shouldn’t JR voice that as their conduit.

AEW were not going to get back to 1 million viewers, lol. I do feel bad for MLW, but I hope they can get something together at the end of this.

RAW tops the demos but continues to drop


1.84 million
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:
Drew vs Garza - 621k
Liv vs Ruby - 361k
Aleister vs Theory - 319k


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Was "everyone" at home realy thinking that though? I was too busy enjoying the show to care and never even thought about it, at least until JR actually brought it up of course. Honestly, I don't give a shit if, why, or whether there are or should be any chairs, rails, etc., in an empty arena show. It's such a stupid thing to care about when there's an actual match going on, and especially when there is oftentimes talent in the "crowd" to justify it anyway.

Only around 67k away from matching their all-time low for RAW.

That gap is small enough to basically be a lock RAW is going to set a new all-time low record very soon.

It occupies way too much of my brain

WWE had half the TV viewers for the RAW after Mania 36 they did for the RAW after WM 32.

For all the profits the E is making the fanbase is doing the opposite of growth. That's a bad sign for all wrestling companies that aren't based in Japan or Mexico.

Absolutely. It's part of the setting, which ties directly to the psychology of what is going on. If you watch a fight and someone pulls out a giant hammer out of nowhere, you ask "Where the fuck did that giant hammer come from?" It's stupid when WWE does it, and it's stupid when AEW does it.

Overall, given the circumstances, I think it not being their lowest period is a fine deal. You'd expect these shows to be the lowest. It wouldn't be a good thing if they were, but it wouldn't be anywhere near a surprise.

Apparently FS1's all-women themed block of WWE programing and WWE Backstage episode last night ended up being a bust.

The first two specials focusing on Ronda Rousey and Charlotte managed to rank while the two specials on Becky Lynch and the all-women panel for WWE Backstage didn't. First time since its return earlier this month that Backstage failed to rank.

AEW - 731k
NXT - 665k

NXT back in the top 50 this week

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More non-news shows hitting the Top 10 and Top 20 seems to be a sign that the news' iron grip during these coronavirus times is starting to loosen up a bit.

Seems women were the reason for AEW's boost while teenagers, especially boys, were the reason for NXT's decline in viewers this week.

lol this can't bode well for Hager having any prominence on the program anymore.

He should alwaysbe used as the muscle and to be fed to a hot babyface

Yeah Hager works a ton better as the muscle for Jericho and not someone who really should be getting the big spotlight or fighting for himself.

Same mistake Lucha Underground did with him for their final season. Should have never pushed him that quickly or made him their top champ considering by the end of the season, he turned out to just be the muscle for a new mysterious group.

He's fine being used like Wardlow as a gatekeeper to the final boss. But it shouldn't be in a 30 minute match.

NFL Draft did a number on Smackdown


Avg - 2.02 million
(credit - showbuzzdaily)


Most Watched on YT:
HBK roasts HHH - 571k
Vince McMahon appears - 496k
Recap of Braun/Bray - 298k


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Weekly rundown:

Smackdown - 2.02 million
RAW - 1.84 million
AEW - 731k
NXT - 665k

Bruce Prichard was such a terrible hire as the lead creative of SD.

Neither RAW nor SD have been that appealing to watch since the new tv deals kicked in but at least with RAW, Heyman and co. have been trying to build up new things while on SD, it just feels mostly boring and bland despite being an hour shorter.

I watched the clips on YT of the rest of SD -- I remember when this was advertised to FOX as a SPORTS program.

What they have instead is something that comes across as a badly scripted kid's tv series.
Can't imagine why new viewers aren't interested in picking that up.

2 million isn't the worst number they could have done going up against the draft.

I'm not a fan of Prichard at all, and I don't watch WWE despite them putting on a great Rumble match, but some of the stuff they seem to be doing on paper is pretty good.

Glad they got Goldberg in to beat Bray. It seems their hands were tied with his contract situation and they were kind of forced into going with Braun, which is meh. I still don't get the Braun hype. Honestly, I'd be more interested if they went full-blown conservative heel with him and let Roman beat him when he gets back. Or go with someone completely fresh in lieu of that. Keith Lee? Man, Keith Lee smacking around Braun would be fine with me.

Sami Zayn is very entertaining in his spot. I feel like Cesaro and Nakamura are kind of in this dead space, but when you're talking about a guy that doesn't have the personality Vince gets in Cesaro and Nakamura is excellent giving his little sideways faces (from what I have actually seen) and it's at least a functional role where they can potentially have great tag team matches and the like. Would love to see Daniel Bryan & Drew Gulak vs. Cesaro & Nakamura, for example.

I ideally wanted Bryan in a more focused role, but while he's negotiating his new contract they are letting him work underneath with guys he seemingly wants to work with. He's a valuable player.

The Otis/Ziggler/Mandy stuff was very WWE, but it's the sort of very WWE stuff that the WWE actually does well. It's their wheelhouse, and that's kind of the perfect spot for Ziggler in 2020. I'd actually like to see him and Roode move down to NXT for a while or something. Their act feels very similar to Miz & Morrison.

Speaking of Miz & Morrison -- I like them as a team. It's the best role for Miz as an active wrestler. Morrison is still tremendous and looks like a star every time I see him. In the Edge & Christian role of prick heel champs you want to see the babyface brother team and the established popular act beat, that's not a bad start for a tag team division that also has Bryan & Gulak and Cesaro & Nakamura to throw into the mix.

The flattest act there, in my opinion, is Bayley as heel champ. I'm sure there are plans to turn Sasha babyface and do something with Snoop at some point, but it's just...eh. Feel like they need to "go away" to freshen up. But them being so cold right now could lead to them feeling a bit more reinvigorated when they actually start doing something.

I have no real compulsion to watch the shows, but on paper, I get what they're going for. It's all fine stuff...in theory.

Really wish they'd do something proper with Chad Gable and drop the Shorty G stuff completely. That dude's a heck of a talent.

SmackDown somehow manages to be “less than the sum of its parts”. For me, outside of the (lack of) creative, the mix of talent isn’t right.

That's a much more succinct way of explaining the impression it gives me, haha. :y:

It's so weird when you've got two top babyfaces like Daniel Bryan and Braun Strowman, who are just so mind-blowingly different. I can get Bryan and Roman together, because their personalities and presentations are so different, but they've kind of got similar motors and could probably have a great match beside each other or against each other. Then you've got this big lumbering fuck. Throw in goofy Bray Wyatt.

They need to pick an identity for these shows. Braun could work as a heel for Drew, talking shit about how people should just not be poor. If they don't like him, stay home, sell your ticket and go and make your dreams happen instead of watching real men like him. Drew kicks him the face. Yay.

The Bryan show needs to be built around guys that Bryan can really work with. Not always the best technical matches, but guys that he just knows he can get a lot out of. That's mostly everyone, I guess, but I'd send Brock to SmackDown and do a Bryan vs. Brock program, because that's proper money.