The Royal Rumble sparked historic backlash that the WWE hasn’t seen in maybe ever. Cancellations were through the roof, apparently. Hashtags were running amok. And the next night’s RAW was essentially canceled due to a snowstorm. And the RAW ratings were the highest they’ve been since July. Take it away, Zone of Wrestles:
The “Winter Storm Juno” edition of Monday Night Raw on January 26th turned out to be the most viewed episode since July. The show, which was filled with interviews and replays from this weekend’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, averaged 4,420,000 viewers, which is up 7.8% from last week.
So WWE Network subscriptions went up yesterday and RAW ratings were also high despite there not actually being a show. So, the lesson of the day here is simple: it doesn’t matter what the hardcore fans want. This will only further fortify Vince McMahon’s belief that he did the right thing and I wouldn’t be surprised if he sees pissing off hardcore fans as a way to do business going forward. I personally was asked about wrestling yesterday by a lot of people who don’t give a damn about the product, and the uproar hit outlets like Time and CNN, so the hashtag got the attention of the mainstream. That’s all the McMahons want anyway.
At this point, I’m imagining Daniel Bryan losing to Torito in 42 seconds on WrestleMania just so we can get another hashtag going that hits mainstream America.
So, angry wrestling fans, what’s the next move?
