Ratings Show Huge Drop for Ryback Segments on Raw; Should WWE Be Concerned?

I knew based on their competition that ratings would be low for this past week's Raw―but I didn't expect numbers to drop for Ryback's segments.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports courtesy of WrestlingInc.com that the ratings this past week for Raw concerning Ryback went like this.

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The high point of this week's RAW came in the segment with Vince McMahon, AJ Lee, Paul Heyman and Vickie Guerrero. That segment gained 529,000 viewers for a 2.91 quarter rating. This beat out the Cena segment that gained 530,000 viewers. The Miz vs. Ryback and the backstage brawl with Layla, Eve Torres and Kaitlyn lost 613,000 viewers - not a good sign for Ryback right now.
The lowest quarter-rating going back 15 years then happened as the Dolph Ziggler segment, a Ryback video and the Lumberjacks entrances lost 319,000 viewers for a 2.15 quarter.

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This is six days before Ryback is advertised to challenge CM Punk for the WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell on pay-per-view.

Yikes.

I've come to terms this week that I want to see Ryback win the match. I want to see it but it has to be done right. He wins quick. I'll be okay if CM Punk wins. I love the gimmick of him counting the days he's held the belt. If he wins, it needs to be by strength in numbers.

This is a chance for WWE to do something big. It won't be the same old John Cena in the main event. The future can be seen if Ryback is billed the right way. However, based on these numbers, how many people will actually care?

I don't think ratings are as significant as they once were. DVR, YouTube, Hulu―there are so many ways to consume the product. Ratings do still provide a good sample size as to what is hot and what is not.

If a segment does big on viewers in the ratings report, it should be a segment that gets viewed a lot on YouTube or people avoid fast forwarding around on their DVR.

If a segment loses a lot of viewers, I expect people to hit the fast forward button or not seek it out.

Ryback is in a big fight situation. He's in a career defining situation. He's in a potential company-defining situation. Trouble is, not enough people realize it, and WWE came late to the party.

Ryback is over with the live fans. They like to do his chant and he can toss people around in the ring. In terms of this being his opportunity to capture the WWE title in the process of remaining undefeated―I think WWE hasn't played that up enough.

It was only a month ago, Ryback began appearing in segments with CM Punk. This was out of nowhere. Minutes earlier he appeared to be feuding in an Intercontinental title story with The Miz.

WWE then teased for weeks of Ryback going up against CM Punk. They hesitated. They held out to the last possible second before ruling out John Cena. Due to all of this, the build isn't there. The anxiousness to see Ryback get his hands on CM Punk in a match isn't what it should be.
A perfect world would have seen Ryback in acknowledged pursuit of CM Punk and his WWE Championship for at least three months.

Wild comparison, but it should be similar in structure to how Zack Ryder chased a shot at the U.S. Championship last fall. Notice I said structure. Ryder was on this big loud campaign. That doesn't fit Ryback's character.

People knew and were chanting for months that they wanted to see Ryder in the match. Once it finally came and he won―everybody had won the World Series for that moment.

This is what it should have been for Ryback. Destroying everything in his path with that goal in mind. Rather than “feed me more” it should have been “feed me title.”

Perhaps people feel Ryback is too predictable, so they knew he was going to squash his opponent and turned away. Does that mean their assumptions of Ryback winning will make them want to see the pay-per-view to see it for themselves? I do think that for some out there, this formula is true.

You still can't avoid what it says if people don't even care enough to tune in to a match that by nature is going to be shorter, and want to invest in the character by watching him destroy one of his last victims before the big fight.

I've never been as anxious for a pay-per-view as I am this one. I genuinely can't wait to see how it all unfolds. I also can't wait to see the earliest of pay-per-view buy numbers to get an indication on how good of business Ryback vs CM Punk did.

Vince McMahon had the highest rated segments. Weeks ago, I said put Vince in the main event match. It would sell and allow the proper build to continue for Ryback. I still stand by that. Let's see if WWE feels the same after business is done.

Feed me more.......people to care.

Stats bar in Atlanta on Sunday 4-6:30pm, I'll be hosting a WWE Hell in a Cell pre-party. Food, drinks, football on, wrestling talk and Q&A.

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