WWE News: WWE Must Build Momentum from Massive Raw 1,000 Rating

The hype paid off. After months of touting the 1,000th episode of Raw, Vince McMahon got the result he wanted with a massive viewing audience for the historic event.

Now comes the tough part. The WWE has to get at least some of those people to become weekly fans.

Adam Kepler of the New York Times reports the Monday night show had an average audience of six million, an 18 percent increase over the previous week. It was only beaten out by two shows on broadcast networks for the night.

Those are some mind-boggling numbers when you consider the ratings usually remain relatively constant throughout the year aside from the shows leading up to marquee pay-per-views. Otherwise, it's usually the same core group of fans every week.

The casual fans who tuned in to watch the monster event were treated to quite a show. From appearances by The Rock, Undertaker, D-Generation X and a boatload of other superstars, it was a show full of nostalgia and plenty of fun.

But those megastars won't be making an appearance every week. So the WWE had to give the viewers on the fence about watching every week a reason to keep tuning in to make sure the ratings don't immediately return to previous levels.

That's why the show's ending included CM Punk standing tall.

He's been the company's fastest-rising star over the past year and has held the WWE Championship since last November. The creative team clearly wanted to feature him prominently.

Just when it looked like The Rock, who's one of the most popular wrestlers in history, was going to steal the spotlight once again, Punk leveled him with a terrific clothesline. It was a tremendous ending to a show that desperately needed one.

Along with the milestone, Monday night's show marked the beginning of a new three-hour era of Raw. That means next week's episode will carry nearly as much long-term significance as the 1,000th.

Any new members of the television audience who were intrigued by the ending will likely watch again next week to see where the storyline is heading. It's crucial that the WWE puts on another memorable show to build off its incredible momentum.

Normally at times like this, namely right after WrestleMania, there is a string of lackluster shows because so much effort was put into the year's biggest event that there's a lull before things can pick up again.

The WWE can't afford that situation here if it wants to retain at least a portion of the casual fans. Basically, the next few Raws will be like a trial run for viewers, and after that, they will either be hooked or start tuning elsewhere again.

Expect to see a lot of Punk, John Cena, Triple H, Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan next Monday. They are the stars everybody wants to see most right now.

Overall, Raw 1,000 turned out to be a very successful night for the WWE. But the work has just begun.