WWE Raw continued the trend of professional wrestling shows being hurt by the NBA playoffs, although was still the fourth-most watched program on cable Monday.
The May 2nd edition of the show from Greensboro averaged 1,582,000 viewers and approximately 491,000 (0.38) in the 18-49 demographic, per Showbuzz Daily and Brandon Thurston from Wrestlenomics.
WWE Raw last night on USA Network:
1,581,000 viewers
P18-49: 0.38 (491,000)Correcting my previous (deleted tweet) which had the incorrect total viewership. This is the lowest since December (not July).
📊 More demos & analysis: https://t.co/1SscdBCpr8 pic.twitter.com/h1i6oAVbbg
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) May 3, 2022
Overall viewership only fell two percent while the 18-49 audience dropped by 14 percent and would register near the lowest of the available data in Raw’s history.
The lowest 18-49 audience on record came on December 6, 2021, with 462,000 (0.35), and this week’s demo audience would be the second-lowest on record of the data we have.
Raw fell 16.5 percent in the 18-34 demo and dropped by 13 percent in 35-49. The one demo that displayed growth was among 50+, which increased by six percent this week.
WWE Raw finished fourth among cable originals behind the NBA playoffs, which was topped by the Dallas vs. Phoenix game on TNT that averaged 3,937,000 and 1.38 in 18-49 followed by Philadelphia vs. Miami with 3,822,000 and 1.28 respectively.
Raw finished ahead of the NHL playoff game between Boston and Carolina on ESPN that aired at 7 p.m. ET with 857,000 viewers and 0.29 in 18-49 and the game that followed between St. Louis and Minnesota with 626,000 viewers and 0.22 in the key demo.
Raw began with 1,624,000 viewers and 0.39 in the 18-49 demographic with The Bloodline opening the show and confronted by RK-Bro and Drew McIntyre. It grew a small amount to 1,648,000 and 0.39 in the second hour before the third-hour drop to 1,472,000 and 0.35 in the demo.
From hour one to hour three, the audience fell by nine percent while the 18-49 demo dropped by ten percent. The biggest loss throughout the show was among females 18-49 which decreased by 13 percent, yet the strongest demo was females 12-34 which grew 10.5 percent throughout the three hours.
Throughout the weekend and into Monday afternoon, the only thing advertised for the show was an appearance by The Bloodline. The show was headlined by a six-woman tag, which was established during the first hour of the show and featured Asuka’s first match since last summer and Becky Lynch’s first match since losing the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania last month.
In Canada, the show was hurt by running on OLN again and had the unenviable task of airing against Game 1 of the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Tampa Bay Lightning series leading to Raw averaging 55,000 viewers and finishing outside the top ten sports programs for the night. Raw will air on OLN again next week and will have intense competition from the NBA, NHL, and Toronto Blue Jays.
