Dismal RAW Ratings Get Worse

With Benoit's death scrambling McMahon's plans for an Attitude Era revisited, the summer storylines of the WWE have been smashed, leading to little action and awful ratings. It's not just a post WM23 slump anymore, folks. Just how bad are the ratings? And what does the WWE have to do to turn this ship around?

The last time Raw drew a lower rating last night on a non-holiday edition of Raw was on September 26, 2005 - over 20 months ago.

The following are ratings of Monday Night Raw equal or lower than the 3.4 (rounded up from a 3.36) drawn last week:

-3.2 on May 28, 2007 (Memorial Day)
-2.7 on Dec. 25, 2007 (Christmas night)
-3.4 on Sept. 25, 2006 (Cena vs. Lita headlined)
-3.4 on Oct. 31, 2005 (Halloween night)
-3.2 on Sept. 26, 2005 (Masters & Carlito vs. Cena & Michaels)
-3.3 on Sept. 12, 2005 (Ten-Man Tag Match)
-2.6 on July 4, 2005 (July 4 Holiday)

In other words, that's not good. The post-WrestleMania slump usually hurts the WWE and ratings are bound to drop slightly. They aren't, however, dropping -- they're plummeting. It's a shame, because the WWE had nothing to do with the Benoit incident, and yet, they are suffering from it. Even worse, the McMahon death angle had non-fans interested. "Vince McMahon" death was one of the highest-rated search terms following the draft episode. All the stars were aligned for the dream summer that Drew Arnold and Jared Gerrard had predicted.

Being the eternal WWE optimist, I still believe that they can turn this ship around. Jared wrote recently of what they will do. Instead, I'd like to offer some suggestions as to what they should do.

1. Get Shane involved. At some point, he'll need to take over the company (which is fine by me). But if Vince, Steph, HHH, and the rest of the creative team isn't ready for that, at least let him wrestle. He's an incredibly athletic guy and would add to any show.



2. Get rid of the Legends. I know, I know...I love them too, but it's time. Vince can't keep bringing Mick Foley back everytime he needs a pop, and the bodies of Taker, HBK, and the rest are simply breaking down. Having too much of a dependence on the older guys prevents the newer ones (Kennedy, Punk) from coming up. Do we really want to be seeing The Attitude Era guys in 10 years? It won't be pretty. Additionally, they have nothing else to prove (no belts to be won, challenges to overcome). They're purely on the shows for ratings. Creative team should start to phase them out, all with the exception of...

3. The Rock. He's still young, his movies suck, and while all these other 90s guys have been smashing their bodies to pieces in an attempt to please the ever-bloodthirsty WWE fans, Rock's been sitting in a Hollywood trailer somewhere. The further I am removed from the 90s, the more I realize that it was The Rock who was the true star, not Stone Cold Steve Austin. Stone Cold vs. Mr. Kennedy would be terrible. But The Rock vs. Kennedy? Can you say five star match?

4. Complete the brand merger. The WWE has been flirting with this for some time (which is why I say "complete") as they've been putting superstars from both brands on the same show for the majority of this year. There's enough talent for one show (and ECW), but certainly not two. Moreover, there's enough trash on each brands that could be cut down, resulting in a very nice finished package. Funaki...out. Colt Cabana...in.

Post on the comment board below with your thoughts on this article along with alternate suggestions for the WWE.