The Raw 12/19/11 Thread: WHAT IS GOING ONNNNNNNNNN?

[rovert]

Very strange day on here lol

[Kostka]

The 12/19 edition of Raw did a 2.9 rating with 4.3 million viewers. The show did hours of 3.04 and 2.81.

[cm funk]

Rather than a "new direction" it just feels to me like Cena is in a holding pattern until they can start pushing the match with Rock again. He'll be back dominating the show again in no time. IIRC they've never done a Cena-Kane program before, and Cena doesn't do programs that aren't about the title all that often, so in one sense it's something new and different. But on the other hand, Kane has had a million of these paint by numbers feuds with top guys, I feel like I've seen it before.

 

Also, was Cole horrible during the main event or what? He doesn't usually bother me that much, it just really stood out during that match how actively detrimental he is to guys getting over.

[rovert]

From latest Observer:

 

The big story here was the main event. The overrun for the C.M. Punk & Zack Ryder & Daniel Bryan vs. Alberto Del Rio & The Miz & Dolph Ziggler match gained 59,000 viewers. That’s almost impossible given people tune in to see the following show, which basically meant wrestling fans must have been tuning out in droves (they were during the first half of the match but then started gaining at 11 p.m., but hardly gained anything). The main event did a 2.67 rating (2.55 for the first half of the match) which had to be, probably by far, the lowest rated main event on Raw of this year and maybe the lowest since 1997 for a non-holiday show in the regular time slot.

*goes to cry in the corner*

[sek69]

That really shouldn't be a surprise, it's the WWE self fulfilling prophecy in action. Book someone like a chump, decide to start giving them a serious push, they cause a ratings drop (because who wants to see guys booked like chumps in the main event) and that just seals them with the "oh well, can't draw" stamp.

[Strummer]

It will be interesting to see how much power Hunter really has. If Vince is still on the warpath then it's probably over for those three before it even started. But if this is Hunter's direction it will probably get some time

[rovert]

Can only imagine Christmas at the McMahon's with the stress of Linda's campaign, The Network, the Survivor Series number and the most recent Raw rating.

[Dylan Waco]

Again, the show put me to sleep. I'm a big WWE fan, especially by the standards of this board, and I was asleep seconds into the main event. The show may have been interesting conceptually and might have been a smark wet dream but it was not something that appealed to me on any level as a regular fan

[artDDP]

Again, the show put me to sleep. I'm a big WWE fan, especially by the standards of this board, and I was asleep seconds into the main event. The show may have been interesting conceptually and might have been a smark wet dream but it was not something that appealed to me on any level as a regular fan

I've never understood this statement. If I'm sleepy during whatever movie or TV show is on, no matter how incredibly action-packed it is, I'm falling asleep. Maybe because I know it's just TV?

[Dylan Waco]

I watch Raw every Monday, usually while laying down. I've fallen asleep watching Raw maybe ten times over the last fifteen years.

[Bix]

As for the ratings, a rare good letter to WO.com blames this week's MNF being unique:

 

http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-sto...s-weeks-mailbag

 

RAW RATING

I listened to the show and read this weeks observer about the RAW main

event rating.  A couple things you did not talk about.  As someone who

is a football fan first and occasional viewer of RAW (despite 20+ year

of hardcore fandom from the 1980s to early 2000s) there are some

things I picked up flipping back and forth.

 

The MNF game drew just under 17 million viewers (they picked up 7

million viewers from last week.)  This was the 4th time in NFL History

that two teams with 10+ wins and winning pct above .750 were playing

each other so some drop off would be expected considering how horrible

overall MNF games have been this year.  The vast majority of games are

decided by second half this year so the competition has been

abnormally weak against the WWE.

 

Since there were two major blackouts during the MNF game where all

power was lost in the stadium and the game was delayed, the ratings

may have been for skewed.  For example instead of 49ers-Steelers

starting at 8:35, it started about 9:10 - giving a ratings boost to

the first segment.  Then Orton-Barrett tanks because the game starts

and everyone flips over.

 

Then there was the second blackout when I switched back over to RAW

and noticed the Alicia Fox/Beth Phoenix match - another segment you

noted gained a number of viewers.  I think those close to 17 million

viewers were flipping channels when the stadium went dark and were

waiting for the power to return.

 

With the delays, approximately a half hour the first time, and another

twenty minutes the second time, the entire pattern of the MNF game was

thrown off.  Thus instead of the usual having half-time at 10 PM when

I flip over to RAW to watch the 10 PM angle/match - the game was still

going on.  Half-time hit at about 10:30 and they returned to action at

10:45 or so right as the main event was kicking off the second half of

the game, a very close game at that point between two of the best

teams in the league was kicking off.

 

Anyway - just putting the thoughts out there as RAW was up against

abnormally strong opposition that was in a different pattern than

usual.  There is a disconnect between seeing the six-man tag set up as

doing well but then the match itself tanking.  Though no one can

disregard the fact that the WWE has made Bryan and Ryder out to be

jobbers and one night of giving them titles doesn't make up for months

of Michael Cole burying them.

 

Take care,

Ryan Kabacynski

[NintendoLogic]

From latest Observer:

 

The big story here was the main event. The overrun for the C.M. Punk & Zack Ryder & Daniel Bryan vs. Alberto Del Rio & The Miz & Dolph Ziggler match gained 59,000 viewers. That’s almost impossible given people tune in to see the following show, which basically meant wrestling fans must have been tuning out in droves (they were during the first half of the match but then started gaining at 11 p.m., but hardly gained anything). The main event did a 2.67 rating (2.55 for the first half of the match) which had to be, probably by far, the lowest rated main event on Raw of this year and maybe the lowest since 1997 for a non-holiday show in the regular time slot.

*goes to cry in the corner*

 

I'm kind of reminded of Dave's review of the WCW DVD. He talks about how when Johnny Valentine first came to the Carolinas, he hurt business because he was so different from what fans were accustomed to seeing. But once they got used to him, business ended up being stronger than it had been previously. I'm not saying that'll be the case here, but it does suggest the need for patience.

[Al]

That post inspired me to look at Graham's Greensboro Coliseum listings.

 

1. I'm surprised how many times JCP could run out some combination of Becker/Weaver, Bogni/Lubich, Hawk/Hanson, the Scotts and the Andersons and draw money.

 

2. Johnny Weaver was all over the cards for about 15 years. How good was he?

 

3. I always thought of Valentine as a JCP mainstay but he wrestled there less than two years before the plane crash, and once in the '60s. I guess pushing Greg made Johnny a bigger figure historically in the Carolinas.

[Ricky Jackson]

Johnny Valentine is one of the wrestlers that have intrigued me the most over the last few years. Part of it is because of the mystique surrounding his career due to the lack of footage of his prime years, best matches and angles, etc. The other thing that interests me is how those who saw him wrestle describe his style as being unique and how he was obsessed with realism in his matches, to the point of working a hold for 20 minutes and refusing to run the ropes, among other things. I also love his quote regarding his wrestling philosophy: "I can't make the fans believe wrestling is real, but I can make them believe I'm real."

 

I've really become a fan of guys who worked the methodical, 60-minute draw, "real wrestler" style you don't see anymore, like Dory Funk Jr, Jack Brisco, Thesz, and others. I would LOVE to see more Johnny Valentine matches if possible.

[goodhelmet]

I've really become a fan of guys who worked the methodical, 60-minute draw, "real wrestler" style you don't see anymore, like Dory Funk Jr, Jack Brisco, Thesz, and others. I would LOVE to see more Johnny Valentine matches if possible.

That's funny because I am the exact opposite. The more wrestling I watch, the less of Brisco and Dory I want to see.

[MikeCampbell]

The more wrestling I watch, the less of Brisco and Dory I want to see.

Will, can you clarify something with that statement? By Briscoe and Dory, do you mean both wrestlers in general, or do you mean matches between Brisco and Dory?