Good news, bad news for WWE
The good news is that WWE gained unprecedented credibility and a ton of national media coverage for having the three presidential candidates appear on Raw Monday night.
The bad news is that the candidates’ appearance meant nothing for ratings. The three-hour edition of Raw did a 3.0 rating, down from last week’s 3.2. It is especially disappointing because WWE also presented a King of the Ring tournament and had a star-studded main event.
Raw did a 2.4 rating for the first hour, 3.3 for the second and 3.4 for the third. With a three-hour special, it is expected that the first hour won’t do as well because viewers aren’t used to tuning in at that time. If you throw out the first hour, the rating would be 3.3, which still is a disappointing number considering the hype surrounding the show.
I’m not sure what to make of the recent ratings dip. I think Raw is good most weeks, but I’m a diehard fan. A portion of the casual fans seem to have lost interest. Perhaps it’s time for WWE to come up with a shocking plot twist that will create a buzz, such as turning John Cena heel, which I suggested a few weeks ago.
If the ratings continue to slip, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Vince McMahon back on television sooner than later.
***
It was another bad night for Mike Adamle on ECW. He didn’t have much to say – Tazz basically was doing color commentary and play-by-play – and what he did say didn’t add anything to the broadcast. I have never been a fan of The Miz, but I had to laugh when he kept pointing out Adamle’s mistakes while sitting at the announce table for the Jimmy Wang Yang-John Morrison match.
In Adamle’s defense, doing play-by-play is a lot harder than it looks. It’s hard even if you’re familiar with the product, and Adamle clearly is learning on the job about the subject matter. I don’t fault him as much as I fault the people who put him in that position.
Overall, the current crop of wrestling announcers is pretty underwhelming. In addition to Adamle, Jonathan Coachman is struggling on Smackdown and Don West has me reaching for the mute button on a weekly basis while watching Impact.
Tazz, Michael Cole and Mike Tenay all deserve raises for having to carry their respective broadcasts.
Comments
I have heard Adamle in action only once thus far, but I'll say this for him: he doesn't seem bored with the action (see Coachman), nor does his enthusiasm sound forced and unreal (see West). I think that he can be better at announcing wrestling than Dennis Miller was at announcing football. Needless to say, he first has some studying to do.
Posted by: Christopher | April 23, 2008 2:01 AM
Tenay's pretty awful too. Whenever you scream and go crazy for everything, then nothing has any more meaning. It becomes all the same. JR is still the gold standard for wrestling announcers. Oh, and Frank Trigg did a better job than Don West.
Posted by: Chris | April 23, 2008 2:02 AM
Yes please, Mr McMahon back on WWE TV.
I like RAW, and I watched a whole episode of Smackdown last week for the 1st time in years. I don't see much of a problem with the WWE right now but obviously others do.
I don't see much of a problem, it can only make thiongs better as a 3.0 rating tells Vince that "things arent right" and then they'll forced to try new things..
Posted by: MMMBop | April 23, 2008 4:54 AM
Kevin , you said it " I'm a diehard fan " . Your WWE bias has raised it's head again . WWE has a bad showing and there is always a thought out reason as to why ( cupcake ) . TNA has a bad show and it is unwatchable garbage . A TNA fan doesn't want to watch a WWE clone , thats the whole point .
I know its all under the heading of wrestling but I don't want to see two "like" products .
Posted by: jack in hebron | April 23, 2008 5:50 AM
If you noticed the Cutting Edge with Kane took up 1/4 of the show so we didn't have to listen to Mike Adamle. I never thought of him much when he did American Gladiators years ago. I like Coach better as a play by play guy than a color commentator or even as the fall guy some prank the wrestlers play on him like the Rock used to do. As far as Don West goes he stinks enough said about that. West looks like he belongs out on a date with Rosie O'Donnell. I thought Raw and ECW was awful this week and hope that Smackdown and Impact will be a lot better to make this weeks shows a little more worth watching other wise this is going to feel like a long week.
Posted by: Dave | April 23, 2008 8:54 AM
Your right about the casual fans. They are the reason wrestling is cyclical in natural. A hot concept or two and you're drawing the big late-90s money. Was watching a montage of WWE's Attitude era, amazing what that time was like.
Posted by: GMan | April 23, 2008 9:32 AM
I like it when ratings go down, because that pushes WWE to have better and more extreme programming.
Posted by: John | April 23, 2008 10:23 AM
Why WWE made the decision to move Mike Adamle to play by play, I really can't figure out. He was pretty flat doing the little sideline stuff when he started -- it always looked like he was reading badly from cue cards. I realize that play by play is hard normally, but the individual should have some working knowledge of what they are talking about.
I don't think I have ever heard Tazz talk as much as he did in this last segment -- but thankfully so.
Posted by: JLJ | April 23, 2008 11:53 AM
When was the last time there was a WWE Championship match on Raw? Ever since they got rid of single-branded PPV's, I can't recall seeing a WWE Championship match on Raw. They should start doing that more often to increase ratings.
Posted by: Nathan | April 23, 2008 1:12 PM
I've recently been watching some Raws from the late 90's, and I'm amazed at just how awful Jerry Lawler was. Shows that anybody can improve given time.
Posted by: James | April 23, 2008 3:46 PM
Would WWE consider bringing in Tony Schivone? I think he's an Atlanta Braves announcer, or something along those lines. he wasn't bad, and for a while was the "voice" of wrestling for me...
Posted by: CJ | April 23, 2008 8:32 PM
Do you think there is any correlation to the slip in RAW ratings and Jeff Hardy's suspension? It looks like they would like him back as soon as he's available.
Posted by: Nick | April 23, 2008 10:45 PM
I've been finding WWE stale and formulaic lately and not enjoying it. I tried watching and getting into TNA, but honestly, the only upside that group has for me is its womens division. The rest of it is either too confusing, or too inanely goofy for me to get in to.
I've yet to watch a single episode past the first of the wwecw. Its not even coming close to hitting the target, much less the mark that "extreme" should hit so I cant comment on the announcers.
Posted by: David | April 23, 2008 10:52 PM
Hey Kevin did you hear about the suspension of Michael Hayes for some kind of racial slur? Do you know Hayes and if so, any thoughts on this?
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I don't know Hayes personally and all I know about the situation is what I have read on the wrestling sites.
Posted by: Wade | April 23, 2008 10:52 PM
Todd Grisham is a less annoying version of Todd Pettingill, but Mike Adamle is turning out to be a poor man's Sean Mooney.
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I was thinking of Adamle as more of a poor man's Craig DeGeorge.
Posted by: Hank | April 24, 2008 1:41 AM
In my opinion, the casual fans have probably lost interest, like you said, but not only for WWE. Check out last weeks rating for all four shows:
RAW-3.2 (low)
SD!-2.5 (low)
TNA-1.0 (low)
ECW-1.3 (regular, but i doubt if ecw even has any casual fans)
your thoughts?
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I have a feeling the ECW and TNA showa are what they are. They both have loyal but small fan bases. Raw and Smackdown are definitely slumping right now, but I think the numbers could go back up with the righ story lines.
Posted by: Lateddie | April 25, 2008 6:47 AM
If anything, put Mike Adamle on non-live events like Smackdown where they can do voice overs.
I like to see Shane O'Mac back on Raw a lot more.....I don't expect him to do 50 foot leaps from the rafters anymore but he really works a crowd well.
Posted by: Shawn Patrick | April 26, 2008 12:00 AM