Legends Night proved to be an effective promotion by WWE with RAW topping two million viewers and posting its best number since March.
With the show promoted around the appearance of numerous legends including Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, along with a WWE Championship match, the show averaged 2,128,000 viewers and topped the cable charts with a 0.68 in the 18-49 demographic.
RAW benefited without football competition and easily outperformed its cable adversaries on Monday with Bravo’s Below Deck finishing second with a 0.53.
The first hour averaged 2.197 million viewers and a 0.70 in the 18-49 demo, hour two did 2.150 million and a 0.66, and the final hour averaged 2.036 million and a 0.68. From the first to the third hour, viewership dropped 7.3 percent and key demo only dropped by 3 percent.
It was RAW’s highest viewership average since the March 16, 2020 episode featuring Steve Austin during its first week inside the empty WWE Performance Center after the shutdown. This week’s figures topped other notable shows including the night after WrestleMania, the first show at the ThunderDome in August, and the WWE Draft. In the key demo, it was RAW’s best figure since the night after WrestleMania 36 in April.
The last RAW Reunion show took place in July 2019 and that show averaged 3,093,000 viewers and a 1.14 in the 18-49 demographic. So, while this week’s figure is strong by recent comparison, the gimmick of bringing the legends back for one night continues to show diminishing returns with each successive try. It’s a fairly accurate comparison given neither show had sports competition, although this week there would be more original programming on network television.
The 2019 show did have the larger marquee names with Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, John Cena, The Kliq, and Mick Foley among them.
This week’s demos saw big increases led by women 12-34 up by 47 percent, women 18-49 up 40 percent, men 12-34 improved 37 percent, and the 18-49 jumped by 31 percent.
When looking at the trends throughout the show, there were interesting patterns. Something in the third hour clicked for men as they stayed steady among 18-49s and 12-34s in the first two hours and then, experienced increases in hour three.
However, among women 18-49 and 12-34, they started high, and then had declines in hour two. Women 18-49 had a small drop from hour two to three while women 12-34 stayed consistent in the final two hours of the show.
Adults over 50 were the opposite with no change over the first two hours before a 9.5 percent decline in the third hour. It’s hard to say what would have been a turnoff in the third hour given the WWE Championship match being advertised all week.
RAW will likely take a big hit next week given the high mark of this week’s show coupled with the College Football National Championship game between Ohio State and Alabama, which will be huge.
Here is a breakdown of the demo and performance throughout the show, as well as the figures from the RAW Reunion in July 2019:
Source: Showbuzz Daily
ADULTS 18-49
This week: 0.68 (+31 percent)
Hour 1-3: -3 percent
RAW Reunion July 2019: 1.14
FEMALES 18-49
This week: 0.49 (+40 percent)
Hour 1-3: -20 percent
RAW Reunion 2019: 0.80
MALES 18-49
This week: 0.88 (+29 percent)
Hour 1-3: +8.2 percent
RAW Reunion 2019: 1.48
ADULTS 18-34
This week: 0.41 (+28 percent)
Hour 1-3: +7.3 percent
RAW Reunion 2019: 0.83
FEMALES 12-34
This week: 0.28 (+47 percent)
Hour 1-3: -19 percent
RAW Reunion 2019: 0.57
MALES 12-34
This week: 0.52 (+37 percent)
Hour 1-3: +14 percent
RAW Reunion 2019: 0.94
ADULTS 25-54
This week: 0.79 (+23 percent)
Hour 1-3: -9.5 percent
RAW Reunion 2019: 1.27
ADULTS 50+
This week: 0.92 (+6 percent)
Hour 1-3: -9.5 percent
RAW Reunion 2019: 1.13
