In the latest ratings breakdowns:
The 31st July Raw drew 3.98 off of hours of 3.8 and 4.1 for 5.19 million viewers. Carlito vs. Nitro vs. Benjamin lost 260,000; Orton Knows Best gained 520,000; Trish/Candice vs. Mickie/Victoria stayed constant; the Foley/Flair yelling contest gained 390,000; Cena vs. Striker lost 520,000; McAllister vs. Johnny and the Diva Search gained 130,000; Michaels vs. Umaga gained 1,040,000, peaking at a 4.8 with 6.28 million viewers, the most viewers for a Raw segment in years. However, the majority of the gain came from the overrun, which had the benefit of people tuning in for the next show, “Psych”, advertised to begin at 11pm when in reality the start is nearer to ten past. Still, there’s no denying that it was an impressive number, which will please those backstage that want to continue the DX run and push Umaga against Cena – perhaps even for the title. Similarly, though Cena’s segment made a substantial drop, most of the viewers tuning out did so after his match rather than before or during it, so there are a number of fans that only want to see Cena on Raw.
The 1st August ECW drew a 2.36 rating with 2.67 million viewers, plus a 2.13 in Males 18-35. Punk vs. Credible lost 113,000; Angle vs. Brawler stayed constant; Batista vs. Show gained 225,000, despite the “change the channel” advice from the crowd. It gained another 450,000 for the overrun, though this is mainly attributable to the following show being advertised for an 11pm start.
The 3rd August Impact rebounded from last week’s low rating, drawing a 0.88 and 1 million viewers, with a 0.85 in Males 18-34. They opened at 0.85 for the LAX squash and Styles/Daniels segment; AMW vs. Naturals and the Jarrett/Steiner segment rose to 0.94; the X-Division five-way fell to 0.81; the Cornette/Christian/Steiner segment grew to 0.93.
The 4th August Smackdown drew a 2.13 final rating. Burke vs. White and Ashley vs. Kristal gained 140,000 viewers; Tatanka vs. Grenier stayed constant; Batista vs. Kennedy gained 280,000; Vito vs. Brawler stayed constant; Stevens/James vs. Funaki/Scotty gained 280,000; the Chavo/Mysterio confrontation gained 140,000; while Undertaker/Booker gained 140,000. These are rather low numbers for an Undertaker TV match and a major Mysterio angle, while the tag match was certainly an anomaly.
Credit: Wrestling Observer newsletter (click here for subscription information)
