The first Raw of the year got a 2.49. The second got a 2.36. Then a 2.45. And the Raw after the Royal Rumble got a 2.93, averaging over four million viewers for the first time since June of last year. The average for January 2016 is 2.56.
To put things in context a little, the annual ratings average for 2015 was 2.64. This year is already starting off lower than that. And that is a terrible indicator. What can the WWE realistically do to turn things around during Wrestlemania season? They do not have a consistent draw. Every Raw will not feature the fallout from the Royal Rumble and an appearance from The Rock. After Wrestlemania, the WWE will have to deal with NBA playoffs. A few months after that, another NFL season starts. Unless the WWE can come up with something big, this year will be worse than last year.
There might be some years where the WWE still manages to put up solid numbers against NFL action. They may not beat them in the ratings, but they do okay. In those situations, it is no disaster if there is no ratings boost when football ends. That is not the case here. Raw did poorly at the end of last year, dropping below three million viewers once. The ratings average for December 2015 was 2.4. If it wasn't for the boost that came after the Royal Rumble, the average for this month would have dropped from a 2.56 to a 2.43. In other words, Raw was doing just as mediocre in the weeks before the Royal Rumble as they were during what is usually one of their worst months of the year.
Impact has been doing okay for TNA. That is to say, it is at least heading in the right direction. They debuted on their new network with 255,000 viewers. That went up to a 288,000, then 321,000, and 339,000 for the last episode of January. They aren't going to keep increasing until they overcome Raw, but it is good to see them go in the right direction to start the year. While the WWE starts the year poorly in terms of Raw's ratings, TNA has a little something to be proud of.
Let me do an aside based on this Twitter exchange. A fan was upset about Naomi not getting an actual storyline. Road Dogg informed him that she was injured, as well as taking a little jab at the fan for not knowing the facts. It doesn't seem like a real serious injury issue, so that is not what I want to talk about.
First, even if the injury excuse was the reason Naomi is not getting pushed, has she been injured her entire career? She has been on the main roster for years. Aside from never winning the Diva's Championship, she has never gotten a big periphery push. Dancing alongside Brodus Clay may have been a fun use to get her over with some fans, but it was not a big push. And I sincerely doubt Naomi only needs to get healthy for the WWE to want to push her at the level many of her fans want to see.
Second, if you actually look at the tweet the fan made, he's not asking to see Naomi wrestle. He's asking for her to get a storyline. If she's healthy enough to travel, she very well could be used better for a storyline. There are examples all over the place of people that get injured and still get utilized. Look at Rusev last year. He suffered a real injury while he was involved in a storyline. He couldn't wrestle for a few weeks. He was still showing up, in crutches, to do what he could. That storyline also involving Lana, Summer Rae, and Dolph Ziggler ended up being voted the worst angle of 2015 in many circles, but you have to give Rusev credit for showing up injured and trying to keep the story going. Naomi does not sound like she is that crippled. If the WWE really wanted to feature her better, her recent health issues would not be an excuse.
Third, I really hate when certain wrestlers take on a certain snarky or condescending tone. Yes, they are in a position to know certain things others would not know. But fans are not dumb. They are not geniuses just because they read dirtsheets, but they are not dumb. Anyone can see that Naomi has never gotten a big push or storyline for herself. An injury excuse isn't going to cut it. People can also see the WWE has issues when it comes to giving all their workers fair opportunities. Is it because all those men and women are injured?
If one of the wrestlers or anyone else in the business wants to make this kind of response to a fan, they better pay attention to what the fan is saying and better be sure their response is on target. It's one thing to take a shot at someone for being completely wrong or annoying. It's another thing to fail to pay attention to what they are saying and respond with something that does not actually refute what they are saying. Road Dogg didn't give any proper excuse for how Naomi has been underutilized throughout her career. And when one of these wrestlers does talk like that, making a fan feel like he doesn't know what he's talking about, when in reality it is the wrestler that isn't saying anything that changes what the fan said, I think the fan might have every right at times to shove that wrestler's words back down his throat. Figuratively speaking, of course. Stand up for yourself. When you know something wrong is going on, don't accept stupid explanations why and let it continue to happen.
Last thing I want to say, I like that the fan didn't just ask why Naomi isn't wrestling more. He asked why she's not getting a storyline. When #GiveDivasAChance started last year, it seemed like all anyone was asking for was more match time and giving these women a chance to wrestle. All they cared about was match quality. I did not feel they were asking for enough. How about asking for these women to get fair opportunities? How about asking for these women to get the chance to earn better careers for themselves? That never seemed to be the issue. Because no one went to the heart of the issue, I feel that is one of the reasons things have failed to improve. More fans need to demand better for these women beyond just match time. Demand that they get real opportunities. Demand that the best get the type of careers that they earn. Fans did it for Zack Ryder and Daniel Bryan. Do they think this is not an issue for the divas?
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