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WWE Raw TV Ratings Down for Kofi Kingston, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley and More
May 26, 2021
Monday night's episode of WWE Raw featuring Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston for the right to face WWE champion Bobby Lashley at Hell in a Cell saw its ratings decline this week.
According to Wade Keller of PWTorch VIP (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton), Monday's three-hour episode of Raw on USA Network averaged 1.621 million viewers, which was down from last week's 1.823 million.
Additionally, Raw did a 0.45 rating in the 18-49-year-old demographic, down from last week's 0.48. The viewership and demo rating were both the worst of the year for Raw in 2021.
Raw was a wrestling-heavy show this week, but it started with a promo segment involving Lashley and MVP. They were quickly interrupted by McIntyre and then Kingston before WWE official Adam Pearce announced that the winner of McIntyre vs. Kingston would challenge Lashley for the title at Hell in a Cell.
After Kofi knocked Drew into Lashley at ringside, Lashley and MVP interfered in the match and attacked both combatants, resulting in a double disqualification.
Pearce later announced that a rematch will occur next week with the added stipulation that if Lashley shows up at ringside, he will be suspended for 90 days.
The main event of Raw was a WWE Women's Championship match with Tamina and Natalya defending against Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax.
For the second week in a row, Reginald inadvertently cost Shayna and Nia the win. Reginald accidentally distracted the referee, causing the ref to miss a pinning combination that would have won the match for Baszler and Jax, prompting Baszler to send Reginald to the back.
Before he could get there, however, flames shot up from the floor, which distracted Baszler and allowed her to get pinned. The flames likely came courtesy of Alexa Bliss after she pulled something similar last week.
As Raw went off the air, Baszler grabbed Reginald by the collar and challenged him to a match next week.
Also on Raw, Charlotte Flair beat Asuka to earn a Raw Women's Championship match against Rhea Ripley at Hell in a Cell, while Ripley could not defeat Nikki Cross in two minutes, resulting in Cross winning the Beat the Clock Challenge.
Additionally, Cedric Alexander beat Shelton Benjamin, Riddle defeated Xavier Woods with an RKO, Jaxson Ryker beat AJ Styles due to interference from Elias and Sheamus defeated Humberto Carrillo.
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