[The Tony]

such a bad rating!

[Dark_Raiden]

IMO this is due to not promoting/advertising Rock' appearances enough. My brothers and friends don't even know that he's on the show till they ask me, whereas last year, when he returned they heard about it and watched a few shows after his return, hoping to see him. I haven't seen a commercial advertising Rock's appearance besides the Rock concert tbh.

[User ***]

Originally Posted by Dark_Raiden

IMO this is due to not promoting/advertising Rock' appearances enough. My brothers and friends don't even know that he's on the show till they ask me, whereas last year, when he returned they heard about it and watched a few shows after his return, hoping to see him. I haven't seen a commercial advertising Rock's appearance besides the Rock concert tbh.

They advertised the Rock throughout the show from the start.

[Fabregas]

Rock/Cena = Storyline ruined

Jericho/Punk = Not enough star power

Triple H/Taker/Michaels = Too tame and predictable.

No other feuds are significant enough to actually effect the ratings.

One problem is that the WWE refuse to let big storylines play out in a physical manner these days. It seems whenever we have a highly anticipated match, they don't allow the two wrestlers to have any of physical contact until the actual WrestleMania match or the RAW prior. Fans catch on to this and realise nothing interesting is going to happen so they don't need to tune in.

Sad really.

Remember Austin/Rock before WrestleMania 17? Austin stuns The Rock twice, Rock gets his revenge, they brawl on Smackdown. Thats how you build up to a match. Even Rock/Hogan had physicality prior to their match. I know they can't give the fans too much prior to the match but they need to give them something. Promo after promo gets boring after a while.

[kokepepsi]

Lack of star power when everyone is booked like shit is the problem

Expecting 3 quarters to carry the entire show is crazy
They lose too many viewers in every single segment that does not have HHH,Taker,Shawn,Rock,Cena and is not in the 10pm/overrun slot

It used to be that Raw would start high lose few viewers and have big gains in the 10pm slot and overrun.

Now they start high lose a lot of viewers gain a few back in the 10pm slot lose almost all of them again and then gain some in the overrun.

[RatedR IWC Star]

imo, if i had to blame the ratings on one thing it would come down to the fact that people are bored of the same old wrestlers year after year hogging the spotlight. the majority of the fans want NEW stars and NEW feuds . thats what made the attitude era so great was there were so many new stars being developed to go along with exciting storylines and things felt fresh and interesting and keyword again...new !

the problem is the way wwe books the new stars these days is criminal . look at dolph ziggler for example. the guy was in a title match at the royal rumble on his way to winning the wwe championship . now hes stuck in a 6 on 6 tag match at wrestlemania where more focus is on the gms and vickie/aksana then the actual wrestlers in the match . you could go down the list with ryder, miz, barrett, sheamus ( before he was re-pushed )etc ...and all these guys have been de-pushed and had their credibility taken from them by wwe fucked up retarted booking.

so fans want new stars, new feuds, new matches but wwe either doesnt want to or just cant make stars anymore. so they rely on older wrestlers who ppl are just tired of . like rock for example, hes a huge star but his return last year meant a lot more then this year since he returned last year after a 7 year hiatus . and if look at most of the matches on the card , they feature older wrestlers who just arent as excting or in some cases just plain boring. kane, big show, orton, to name a few

the only match on the card which features 2 wrestlers who are relatively new is bryan vs sheamus and that feud has basically been given 0 hype .

so thats my opinion. im sure some ppl will disagree with me but i know that this is def a reason why i am not too interested in the product right now and maybe others feel the same way

[Mike_Hickeybottom]

The Rock has been overexposed and doesn't wrestle on TV, so the non-PPV-buying fans have no reason to care about him. Taker-Triple H is unoriginal, predictable and the promos have dragged on. Undertaker should not be talking this much. He's trying to blend his cartoonish gimmick with his real-life personality and the results have been disastrous. Also, Randy Orton might be the most boring character anywhere on television.

[mb1025]

For the people saying they are the top show need to realize the reason they are the top show now is because the 2-3 shows that usually beat them all had their season finale's a few weeks ago.

[BANKSY]

This is proof WWE can ruin anything lol.

[DesolationRow]

Sad numbers.

Quarter hours will be interesting, but I'd say the "brand" of The Rock has become worn out through all of this. Ultimately, though, he's helping a bit with live gates and as Starbuck mentioned, the early indicators for Wrestlemania were all extremely bullish, including the travel packages and the general sales of tickets.

I'll give WWE credit in one regard, though. They've built up some matches at Wrestlemania this year that can't be recycled at the very next pay-per-view: Rock/Cena, HIAC, Ace/Teddy Tag and the divas match are all matches that still feel special to me in one way or another because I know WWE won't be able to simply, lazily rehash them for a couple of months and make me sick of them. I fully expect and even want Jericho/Punk to continue to Extreme Rules, and I imagine some form of Sheamus/Bryan will continue for at least another month or so, perhaps involving somebody else... Won't be surprised if Kane/Orton concludes at Extreme Rules, either. But it feels refreshing to have a good core bunch of matches, two of them being the two biggest matches on the card, that can't be sheepishly rehashed at the next PPV.

Wrestling on TV is going to experience some continued pressure, though. Almost every personal friend of mine who watches WWE regularly watches Raw, not to mention the "inferior" WWE programs, on YouTube these days. Wrestling is such a curio, such a niche product, even WWE's brand. People are enjoying the alternative means of seeing it in ways that feel inordinate for any TV program. Just something to consider, along with everything else.