WWE News: Raw viewership drops for final show of the year
This week’s edition of Raw which was the final episode of 2016 dropped in viewership, getting 2.855 Million viewers, down from the previous week’s 2.955 million viewers. This is down by exactly 100,000 viewers.
The first hour drew 2.974 million viewers, the second hour drew 2.878 million viewers and the final hour drew 2.715 million viewers. The main event of the show saw Kevin Owens face Roman Reigns for the United States Championship.
The next time they face off, it will be at the Royal Rumble for the Universal Championship. The match holds an important stipulation, which will see Chris Jericho suspended above the ring in a shark cage.
This stipulation was inserted because, in the storyline, Chris Jericho interfered in all of Kevin Owens’ Universal Championship defences so far and helped him win.
This is the second time in the last few months WWE is using a shark cage stipulation. It was most recently used at NXT Takeover: Toronto, where Authors Of Pain manager Paul Ellering was made to enter the shark cage to prevent his interference in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Final
Raw and SmackDown Live both took place in Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL. Interestingly enough, SmackDown Live sold out before Raw. The primary factor in this was not only John Cena’s announced return but also the fact that there were three Championship matches.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see SmackDown Live get higher viewership than Raw for the first time since the brand split. While SmackDown Live has inched close to Raw in terms of viewership, it has yet to cross it. It is possible that Cena’s return could help bring in higher viewers for the blue brand.
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