WWE Monday Night RAW viewership revealed for August 17
The ratings for the August 17 edition of Monday Night RAW have been released. Last night's SummerSlam 2020 go-home episode of Monday Night RAW saw the average number of viewers across three hours decrease from last week's broadcast. This week an average of 1.643 million live viewers tuned in to Monday's episode on USA Network.
This number is down 4.6 percent from last week's broadcast which was watched by an average of 1.722 million live viewers across three hours.
Breaking down the viewership of last night's edition of Monday Night RAW by the hour, roughly 1.730 million live viewers tuned in during the first hour. This number then declined to 1.697 million viewers during hour two. The decline then continued for hour three, in which 1.502 million viewers tuned in. Hour three also featured the third week of the RAW Underground segments featuring the likes of Dolph Ziggler and the Four Horsewomen of MMA participating.
RAW also scored an average rating of 0.48 in the advertisers' coveted 18-49 demographic, which is up very slightly from last week's average rating of 0.47 in the 18-49 demographic. Hours one, two and three of Monday Night RAW were listed as ninth, 10h and 13th in the Top 50 original cable telecasts, respectively. This is down significantly from last week's broadcast. However, this week's episode of Monday Night RAW saw stiff competition from the first round of the NBA Playoffs as well as the Democratic National Convention.
Randy Orton punts Shawn Michaels on RAW
This week's edition of Monday Night RAW saw the return of WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels to the Red brand. The Heartbreak Kid was at the WWE Performance Center to address Randy Orton after The Legend Killer viciously punted Ric Flair in the skull to close last week's episode of RAW.
After Shawn Michaels cut a heartfelt promo discussing The Viper's recent actions, HBK suggested that Randy Orton could have some Sweet Chin Music or a Claymore coming his way at SummerSlam.
However, once Shawn Michaels was done talking, Randy Orton snuck up behind the WWE Hall of Famer and dropped him with an RKO before viciously punting Shawn Michaels in the head. This adds Shawn Michaels to the list of WWE legends such as The Nature Boy, Edge, Christian and The Big Show that have fallen to the wicked boot of Randy Orton.
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre came out to make the save and get some medical assistance for Shawn Michaels. However, once Drew McIntyre had his back turned and was checking on the welfare of Shawn Michaels, the Scottish Psychopath would also fall to an RKO from the No. 1 contender to the WWE Championship.