November Ratings Review

Before I look at the numbers for WWE and TNA in the major ratings for the last month, let me just touch on one subject of minor interest. Maxine has been getting used pretty well on NXT recently. Of course, that would be the same as getting used well on WWE's ECW. I'm starting to like Maxine a bit. I can say that I am looking forward to her getting called up, but there are two things to keep in mind. First, she has technically been called up. This is not really her season of NXT. The all-woman rookie edition was last year. Other rookies from that season are already scattered around, including some involved on Smackdown matters. Maxine only came in for her current role on NXT after Maryse stepped out. She has taken the place of a diva who can be considered a veteran compared to her. And yet, it is still only NXT. That is the second thing. What will happen when she goes to Raw or joins the other former rookies on Smackdown? I can see her get lost in the shuffle easily. Keeping her on NXT has one major flaw. Who really cares about NXT? She will not get very over with the general audience from there. I'm not saying she should debut in a title hunt or even enter one anytime soon, but I wouldn't mind seeing her do the same kind of thing she is doing on NXT now on one of the major shows in the near future. Isn't it a shame that something from NXT might seem more interesting than much of what is going on with Raw and Smackdown? I like it better than the angle being held down between AJ and Daniel Bryan.

0.99. That was Impact's rating on Thanksgiving. Just under the 1.0. Oh well, it still has done pretty well for the rest of the year. It bounced back up for the last show of November, which is not surprising. TNA is still on track to have the best yearly average rating in its history. With so few weeks left, I do not think they will fail. Smackdown has not had too horrible a rating in months. If you compare where it is at right now to the same point last year, nice improvement. Once again, this is all with Randy Orton not in the major spotlight regularly. Hopefully, the WWE learns from that. Pass the ball around more. Compliment it with good booking and interesting storylines and feud development. Not only did they hand the title to a guy that never held the World's Heavyweight Championship before, Mark Henry, but they build up great hype around him and pushed him well. Over on Raw, they handed a title to a guy who had never held one before in the WWE, Alberto Del Rio, but they smashed his character. Pushing John Cena too much at times, even when not in the title hunt, was also not necessary. Of course, the big problem on Mondays is the NFL. Raw has had a string of 3.2 ratings in the last few weeks of November. Overall, a 3.12 for the month for the WWE's top show. That is only slightly below the average for November 2010. Nevertheless, it all comes down to a 3.23 yearly average for Raw so far. I am willing to bet everything I have that they will not be able to save themselves from having the worst yearly average in a long time. Let's see how they react to the ratings. Changes for the better? Or more Cena?