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WWE News
WWE News: Raw ratings crashes without John Cena - 1997 was last time rating was lower Oct 9, 2007 - 8:49:25 PM
Last night's Raw drew a 2.8 rating, an alarmingly low ratings and a strong indication that a lot of John Cena fans heard about his injury and decided not to tune in for a show without him. It's more than that, as the trend has been downward since the Benoit Family Tragedy, with a surge only for the big McMahon Mystery Love Child storyline climax.
Last year, the second Raw of October drew a 3.8 rating, a full 1.0 higher. Working backwards, it drew ratings the second week of October of 4.0, 3.4, 3.6, 3.8, 4.5, 5.4, 6.1, 4.8, and 2.3. The 2.3 was Oct. 13, 1997, again meaning for the second week in a row, you have to go back ten years to find a rating lower on the same week of the year. Things can get worse, as Oct. 14, 1996, Raw drew a 1.8.
It should also be noted that Raw went up against a new Heroes on NBC, a live Monday Night Football game with the Dallas Cowboys on ESPN, and a Yankees deciding playoff game. That's a lot of competition, but WWE losing enough viewers to make it a ten year low indicates the loyalty factor of viewers is weaker than it's been in a long time. Shawn Michaels is set up to look like a savior when next week's rating likely shoots back up.
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