WWE Raw Rating Is In: Huge Increase for WWE as the Road to WrestleMania Begins

WWE put on an excellent show last night. They officially kicked off the Road to WrestleMania with an absolutely thrilling finish to WWE Raw. Added inside the two hours was also a very entertaining program.

For my thoughts on last night, click here!

However, it is time to discuss the numbers behind the show. For those wondering, last week's Raw drew a 3.2 rating. The week prior to that drew a 3.0 rating.

This week, WWE can continue smiling.

The first hour drew 5,318,000 million viewers

The second hour drew 5,124,000 million viewers.

The official number for WWE Raw was a 3.6 rating.

My Thoughts on the News

WWE still has a little bit more work to do before reaching its usual "WrestleMania numbers," but there is still over two months to go. Also, I am just going to give up on trying to figure out why they keep losing viewers in the second hour.

That seems to be the "status quo" for WWE in 2012. Just imagine the numbers if they increased viewership from hour to hour? As for now, this is a positive sign. Very positive!

You can thank the Royal Rumble show. You can thank Punk vs. Bryan. You can thank the job status story with Johnny Ace. You can thank whatever you want.

It is no secret that WWE saw some scary low ratings figures during the last few months. A lot of that was on certain talent, but none of that is an excuse anymore. We are now in the "no excuses" zone. It is WrestleMania time, folks!

WWE is in late January and are about to embark on building up the biggest match of this generation in John Cena vs. The Rock. Throw in Chris Jericho and CM Punk. Now, you can add Undertaker and Triple H as well.

The Raw numbers should see no more major declines for awhile now. Fans that were not watching last night now know Taker is back. The same with Triple H, Kharma and other big-time performers. Just about every big name is back on WWE TV.

It would not shock me to see next week's number increase as well. It also would not shock me to see Rocky start appearing any week now. WWE has huge momentum right now. They need to keep it up.

As for Smackdown, they continue to perform well in the ratings. Last week drew a 2.1 rating with just over 3.1 million viewers. That is a great number for the Blue Brand.

Remember, it is a taped show, recorded on Tuesday with spoilers everywhere. It is also airing on a Friday night on a much smaller network in Sy-Fy.

Yeah. For anybody still not watching Smackdown, I highly suggest giving them a chance. Fans seem to enjoy the show, as numbers don't lie. Keep up the excellent work WWE!

Reminder: I am now on Twitter @JustinWatry! I give every new follower a special shoutout, so do not be shy...thanks.