First, you have to talk about ratings. Right now, the WWE is running a long streak of Raw ratings being under a 3.0. Everyone is blaming it particularly on the third hour, which has almost always seen a drop of viewers since Raw added the extra hour. Thing is, this is not the first time in recent years that Raw has had a streak of weekly ratings under a 3.0. December 2011 never saw a 3.0 or better. It was the first full month of CM Punk's now yearlong title reign. The month did not feature John Cena too prominently in the main spotlight. Could those things have factored in? After that month, things got back slightly on track and Raw went back above a 3.0. What can you expect this time? Considering the current streak and how stale the product is becoming, there will be no relief in December for Raw's ratings problem. Raw wasn't even 3 hours every week back last year. To make matters worse, you have Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve falling on Mondays this year. The average annual rating for 2012 so far is a 3.05. Depending on how terrible the numbers are this month, there is a possibility that it could drop below a 3.0. The perfect holiday gift for the WWE?
Now for the superstitious stuff. December has not been good when it comes to injuries. A few wrestlers got injured last December, including Alberto Del Rio. In 2010, John Cena suffered a minor injury that still had an impact on the Nexus storyline. Melina got injured while holding the Diva's Championship in 2009. The year before that, Maryse got injured shortly after winning her first title. Will anyone get injured this month this year? Cody Rhodes suffered an injury a few weeks ago. We will see if anyone else suffers an injury. Not a thing you like to watch out for, but still something to wonder about.
Just like last December, it looks like the major focus on Raw will be CM Punk and his title feud. He should be in the main event at TLC. Another title shot for Ryback. As I said when I was talking about Survivor Series, Hell in a Cell would have been the time to put the title on Ryback. They didn't do it at either of the previous two PPVs, and having him win it now and face The Rock is not likely. CM Punk is a better choice to face The Rock than Ryback. The WWE could very well have Ryback win the title at TLC and drop it back to Punk the next night, but that would be stupid. It would only serve to break Punk's long run with the title. If they were going to do that, it would have been better to do it at Survivor Series, before it could last a full year. Nevertheless, still good treatment for Ryback. Have to wonder what they would have been doing around now if Cena never got that injury that brought Ryback in.
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