Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Due to the MLK holiday, we’re just now getting the numbers for the January 16th WWE RAW Supershow. That show did a 3.02 cable rating with 4.29 million viewers.
Here’s the segment by segment breakdown:
The opener with the return of Mick Foley with Dolph Ziggler and CM Punk did a 3.23 quarter rating. Primo and Epico vs. Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne lost 522,000 viewers. Jack Swagger winning the United States Title from Zack Ryder gained 207,000 viewers. The Bella Twins vs. Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox with Perez Hilton as announcer lost 169,000 viewers and the Over The Top Challenge with Sheamus, Wade Barrett, The Miz and R-Truth gained 526,000 viewers in the 10pm timeslot – a good number for that time.
The angle with John Cena and Jack Swagger plus Brodus Clay dancing and wrestling JTG lost 365,000 viewers. The angle with Daniel Bryan and Big Show lost 372,000 more viewers. The main event with Punk, Bryan and Chris Jericho vs. Mark Henry, David Otunga and Ziggler plus the segment with Punk, Foley and John Laurinaitis gained 817,000 viewers – a strong growth and the high point for the show with a 3.32 overrun.
Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
As noted before, the January 23rd WWE RAW Supershow did a 3.17 cable rating with 4.61 million viewers. This was the first RAW in a while with no nationally televised sports and the Male skew showed it at 68.1%. Ratings with Male Teens, Males 18-49 and Female Teens were also up.
The opening angle with John Cena, CM Punk and John Laurinaitis did a strong 3.49 quarter rating but Punk and Cena vs. Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler lost 528,000 viewers – a bad loss for a segment with top stars like Cena and Punk. The Chris Jericho Highlight Reel segment also lost viewers – 287,000.
Kane vs. Zack Ryder in the Falls Count Anywhere Match gained 601,000 viewers. Jinder Mahal vs. Sheamus lost 490,000 viewers while Heath Slater vs. Brodus Clay gained 35,000 viewers and The Miz vs. R-Truth lost 19,000 viewers. The ending segment with John Laurinaitis and CM Punk gained 761,000 viewers for a 3.54 overrun rating. This is normal growth for the overrun but better than usual for a segment with CM Punk.
With the overrun, Male Teens went from a 2.7 to a 3.0 rating, Males 18-49 went from a 2.8 to 3.4, Female Teens went from a 1.1 to 1.2 and Women 18-49 stayed at a 1.2.
A story at RadarOnline interviewing Tommy Dreamer reports that Dreamer saved Punk's job twice. Dreamer notes in the interview that when he worked in the WWE Talent Relations department he had to fight for Punk's job on two separate occasions and noted,
"He had little-to-no chance of ever making it in the WWE -- he wasn't their type of guy." Dreamer said. “I saved his job two times when he was about to be let go — I was saying, ‘Ya gotta keep this kid, ya gotta keep this kid."
The article also noted that he strangest thing he was ever asked to autograph was a baby, which he refused to do.
Last night, World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan took to Twitter in character and slammed his mentor William Regal for dancing last week on SmackDown. Bryan tweeted: “I was appalled by @RealKingRegal dancing last week. My mentor and one of the most ruthless men I’ve ever met is nothing but a sad punchline.”
Interestingly, this past weekend Regal tweeted about wanting a World Heavyweight Championship match against the man he trained.
Regal tweeted on Sunday: “I’ve never asked @WWEDanielBryan for anything for my help and guidance over the years.So now perhaps it’s time… I still want to be the first English World Champion.I would like @WWEDanielBryan to grant me a title shot.@WWE pay attention.”
TNA continues their European tour today at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, England. While no matches are announced for the show, advertised are Sting, Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, Robert Roode, James Storm, A.J. Styles, Bully Ray, home country representative Doug Williams, TNA tag champion Crimson, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Alex Shelley, Gunner, Gail Kim, Madison Rayne, Mickie James, and Tara. The remaining tour dates are below…
* Thursday, Jan. 26: Nottingham, England at Capital FM Arena
* Friday, Jan. 27: Manchester, England at MEN Arena
* Saturday, Jan. 28: Impact TV tapings in London at Wembley Arena
The November Survivor Series pay-per-view will now take place in Phoenix, Arizona while December's Bragging Rights pay-per-view is scheduled for Memphis, Tennessee.
Based on recent changes, here's the updated WWE pay-per-view line-up for this year:
* Royal Rumble - January 29th - St. Louis
* Elimination Chamber - February 19th - Milwaukee
* WrestleMania 28 - April 1st - Miami
* Extreme Rules - April 29th - Chicago
* Over The Limit - May 20th - Raleigh
* Fatal 4 Way - June 17th - Toronto
* TLC - July 15th - Las Vegas
* SummerSlam - August 19th - Los Angeles
* Night of Champions - September 23rd - Dallas
* Hell in a Cell - October 28th - Philadelphia
* Survivor Series - November 18th - Phoenix
* Bragging Rights - December 16th - Memphis
Based on early talk, here's what looks to be the tentative card for WrestleMania 28 so far:
The Rock vs. John Cena
WWE Title Match
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho
Triple H vs. The Undertaker
Big Show vs. Shaquille O'Neal
World Heavyweight Title Match
Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Divas Match
The current WWE audience by age looks like this – 22% is between the ages of 2-17, 23% is between the ages of 18-34, 26% is between the ages of 35-49 and 30% is age 50 or older.
Hulk Hogan was on TalkSport Radio in the U.K., promoting TNA's tour. While on the show, he discussed his status in wrestling, noting the following… "I'm not actively on the roster as far as jumping in the ring every night. But, I just love the business and I just want to be around and be part of it." He also noted that "Macho Man" Randy Savage was the top wrestler missing from WWE's Hall of Fame. From there he said that Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles were the future stars of the TNA roster. Finally, when discussing the Rock having a full time acting career, Hogan said, "I opened the door and he power-talked through it."
Hulk Hogan also visited The Sun. Check out a video below: