[4everEyebrowRaisin]

The entire show got a shitty rating, the "third hour" excuse is wearing thin.

Let's just blame it all on one guy, though. Going by the logic of some of the 'tards on this site, I could just as easily blame Cena for the poor ratings. Yup, John Cena's fault. Put him on Superstars.

[Choke2Death]

Originally Posted by 4everEyebrowRaisin

The entire show got a shitty rating, the "third hour" excuse is wearing thin.

Let's just blame it all on one guy, though. Going by the logic of some of the 'tards on this site, I could just as easily blame Cena for the poor ratings. Yup, John Cena's fault. Put him on Superstars.

Considering that Cena only appeared in the middle of the show in some stupid love angle and isn't pushed to the moon like Punk (who gets most of the blame) is, it makes no sense. At least make sure the person you blame it on is realistic.

[KO Bossy]

Originally Posted by Choke2Death

Considering that Cena only appeared in the middle of the show in some stupid love angle and isn't pushed to the moon like Punk (who gets most of the blame) is, it makes no sense. At least make sure the person you blame it on is realistic.

Look, I know you strongly dislike Punk, and I can respect that other people have opinions, but come on now...the statement in bold is wrong and you know it.

[Dopesick]

Lol people are STILL blaming Punk? Fucking cretins.

[TromaDogg]

I decided to look up the average Raw ratings since 1998. Source: www.gerweck.net

1998 - 4.43
1999 - 5.9
2000 - 5.88
2001 - 4.64
2002 - 4.01
2003 - 3.76
2004 - 3.67
2005 - 3.81
2006 - 3.9
2007 - 3.61
2008 - 3.27
2009 - 3.57
2010 - 3.28
2011 - 3.21

Hmm. Well obviously there was a dropoff when the 'Attitude era' boom period was over, things remained on a relatively even keel until 2007 (with gradual increases probably being down to things like the rises of Cena and Batista as the new top stars) then things took a hit in 2007 (all kinds of injuries, plus the Benoit incident), then (unsurprisingly) a larger than usual drop in 2008 when WWE decided to go all 'squeaky clean' with the return of the PG rating and (in my honest opinion) when it really started to get noticeably bad. Not really sure what caused the increase in 2009 as it was a goddawful year with guest hosts...maybe it was helped by Jeff Hardy and Batista's heel run? But then 2010 and 2011 are back to below 3.3.

Anybody know what the current average for this year is? My guess is that all these recent '2's have got to be dragging things down quite a bit.

[KO Bossy]

I think you mean www.gerweck.net, as www.gerwick.net is not wrestling related.

Gerweck does indeed have the current average for 2012, and its kinda surprising. So far, not including this week, the average is 3.06. Still crap, but I fully expected it to be in the 2.0s. Here's the link:

http://www.gerweck.net/tv-ratings/2012-tv-ratings/

[Awesome22]

Originally Posted by ToxieDogg

I decided to look up the average Raw ratings since 1998. Source: www.gerwick.net

1998 - 4.43
1999 - 5.9
2000 - 5.88
2001 - 4.64
2002 - 4.01
2003 - 3.76
2004 - 3.67
2005 - 3.81
2006 - 3.9
2007 - 3.61
2008 - 3.27
2009 - 3.57
2010 - 3.28
2011 - 3.21

Hmm. Well obviously there was a dropoff when the 'Attitude era' boom period was over, things remained on a relatively even keel until 2007 (with gradual increases probably being down to things like the rises of Cena and Batista as the new top stars) then things took a hit in 2007 (all kinds of injuries, plus the Benoit incident), then (unsurprisingly) a larger than usual drop in 2008 when WWE decided to go all 'squeaky clean' with the return of the PG rating and (in my honest opinion) when it really started to get noticeably bad. Not really sure what caused the increase in 2009 as it was a goddawful year with guest hosts...maybe it was helped by Jeff Hardy and Batista's heel run? But then 2010 and 2011 are back to below 3.3.

Anybody know what the current average for this year is? My guess is that all these recent '2's have got to be dragging things down quite a bit.

So far it's 3.06.

[Choke2Death]

The average may be 3.06 now but it will definitely get below 3.0 by the end of the year since it's almost half of the year where 2s have become the norm.

Originally Posted by KO Bossy

Look, I know you strongly dislike Punk, and I can respect that other people have opinions, but come on now...the statement in bold is wrong and you know it.

He's pushed way more than he should be, that's for sure. A one year+ long title reign... legends with a shitload more talent than him like Stone Cold, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Triple H, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle never had a title reign this long yet this joke has it. And if you suggest Cena is more pushed than him, that might have been true in the past but it definitely isn't anymore. The last few months it's been nothing but PUNK, PUNK, PUNK while Cena is stuck in some stupid angle with AJ and gets put in title matches just to bump the buyrates. It's not wrong at all.

[Cookie Monster]

This is why I couldn't care less for ratings. 2009 was the worst year out of every one of those years you mentioned yet it's ratings have been better than the previous two years and even 2008.

[TromaDogg]

Originally Posted by KO Bossy

I think you mean www.gerweck.net, as www.gerwick.net is not wrestling related.

I think you are correct and my typing is shitty I'll change that now.

I'm surprised this year's average is as high as 3.06. But we've still got another month and a half to go yet to get it down into those 2s before 2013. Certainly seems to be the goal WWE are aiming for at the moment.