WWE: Raw Viewership Soars for the Night After WrestleMania XXX

After the shocking events of WrestleMania XXX, the fans wanted answers.

Why had the streak been allowed to end? Was this The Undertaker’s last-ever match? And what would be next for Daniel Bryan having finally been crowned WWE World Heavyweight champion?

Ultimately, many of these questions remained a mystery. Paul Heyman played up Brock Lesnar’s mammoth victory, though there was no sign at all of The Undertaker himself. And furthermore, Daniel Bryan stood tall once more, but it’s still not clear who will challenge him next.

Despite this though, Raw was absolutely great this week.

We saw Bryan’s deserved championship coronation, another excellent tag match involving the Wyatt Family, Paige winning the Divas title on her full-roster debut and, of course, the teasing of a colossal showdown between The Shield and Evolution. Not too bad for an evening’s work.

And it would appear that this quality is reflected in the ratings. WrestlingINC.com reports:

"

Monday's WWE RAW, the post-WrestleMania XXX show from New Orleans, drew 5.15 million viewers. This is up 17% from last week's go-home show that drew 4.39 million viewers. RAW was the #1 show on cable for the night.

This week's first hour drew 5.313 million viewers, the second hour drew 5.094 million viewers and the final hour drew 5.032 million viewers.

"

To put this into context, average viewership during this year’s WrestleMania build has been down on that of last year. However, this week’s figure of 5.15 million viewers is higher than any individual week from the 2013 Road to WrestleMania.

In fact, you’d have to go back to Raw 1000—way back in July of 2012—to find an episode of Monday Night Raw that attracted a greater audience.

And that show boasted plenty more star power than this week’s installment. The April 8 showing of Monday Night Raw was largely dominated by the newer names in the WWE—the Wyatts, the Shield, Cesaro and, of course, the even fresher faces such as Alexander Rusev and the new Divas champion, Paige.

Thus, it’s good that these guys got such great exposure to this sizable audience. The fact that there was no address from The Undertaker, yet fans still went home happy from the show, tells you that these new guys handled themselves particularly well, indeed.

Photo courtesy of WWE.com

Furthermore, it shows that the WrestleMania buzz had made quite the impact—so much so that the WWE has a whole lot of momentum to ride in the coming months. Last year’s post-Mania show saw an increase in viewership but not by anywhere near as much as this year’s edition.

This interest in the product, the promotion of new talent—as well as the ending of the streak—creates the feeling that a new era is dawning. Not even the reality era, as that began a long time ago.

This is a different era. One of greater optimism, greater opportunities and a greater overall product.

Perhaps I’m overreacting here, but it seems an awfully long time since the WWE was as refreshing as it is at this moment in time. And most importantly, it’s yielding good business—as these viewership numbers show.

The fans win, the company wins. Let’s just hope it stays that way.

In the meantime though, please feel free to comment below with your thoughts on this news, the article and any of the points that were previously discussed.