WWE News: Monday Night Raw Viewership Hits 2-Year Low

Heading into Monday Night Raw this week, it looked as though we'd have quite an event on our hands.

Two big returns were planned in the shapes of Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar. Lana had very briefly hinted at the possible revival of the European Championship while there were also a multitude of questions to be answered in the aftermath of TLC.

What kind of shape would Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper be in after their hard-hitting Ladder match? Will Roman Reigns have a target on his back after his involvement in John Cena and Seth Rollins' Tables match? And how would Dean Ambrose react to being robbed of victory by a short-circuiting television?

All things considered, it looked like Raw would be well worth the watch.

Except someone forgot to tells the viewers that.

Dave Scherer of PWInsider.com reports on a heavy drop in viewership for the post-TLC showing of Raw:

"

The 12/15 post TLC edition of Raw did 3,522,000 viewers, down almost 200,000 from last week's Slammys edition, which did 3,701,000 viewers. The show started strongly, with 3,703,000 viewers, but slipped in the next two hours, drawing less than 3.4M for the announced John Cena-Seth Rollins steel cage match.

"

Obviously, any drop in viewership is a bad thing, but it's not until we look at the wider picture that we see just how low these figures are.

This week marks the third successive week-on-week decline. Not since the post-WrestleMania slump have we seen a worse run of form than that. And to find the last time Raw drew such a small audience, you have to go all the way back to the Christmas Eve episode of 2012.

That's 103 weeks.

So why did so few people tune into this week's show?

Sure, Raw was up against the NFL—the Saints vs. the Bears—but that's been the case for the past few months now, so it's hard to pin the drop on that.

Photo courtesy of WWE.com

Others may argue that this is a sign of the dwindling drawing power of part-time stars. But in fairness, Lesnar's return was hardly very well-hyped. Internet dirt sheets were reporting that he'd show up, but such messages only reach a portion of the overall audience.

Perhaps WWE would have been better off promoting Lesnar's return much more heavily rather than opting for the "surprise" angle.

And then there's the NXT theory.

With the company's developmental territory performing so well as of late, are fans growing tired of Raw and its overbooked nature and tuning out as a result?

It's possible though not particularly probable.

Nonetheless, for me, this brings about the issue of Raw's relevance—or lack thereof—in the modern pro wrestling era.

Fans are starting to wise up. Many are aware of what is or isn't scripted, and when you watch shows like NXT, it's painfully obvious that these guys are given much more free reign to perform to the best of their abilities.

Thus when we see talented guys on the main roster shackled by writers who are somewhat alien to the business, it's both disappointing and incredibly frustrating.

With a growing catalog of alternatives now available—TNA, Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Lucha Underground and, to some extent, NXT—perhaps some fans have simply grown tired of the production of Raw.

Scripted lines, three-hour shows and a noticeable lack of actual wrestling may no longer be what's best for business.

In my eyes, Raw needs to evolve—regardless of whether or not this latest viewership dip is a direct result of disgruntled fans. It's just rather ironic that the inspiration for this evolution is lying right under the company's nose. Or in Full Sail University, to be exact.

Please feel free to comment below with your own thoughts on this topic, and let me know any opinions you may have on the matters discussed or the article itself.