I watched the Steelers-Broncos game, instead. There is so much on Raw which I don't want to see: DX, Big Show, Hornswoggle, Mark Henry, John Cena's promos, half of the divas, and the more-miss-than-hit guest hosts. There are also men on Raw whose work I enjoy: Jack Swagger, Evan Bourne, and Kofi Kingston, but I have reached the point where I no longer want to suffer through the "money players" and "entertainment" just to watch them.

If the only way for WWE creative to get the message from fans that at last half of their product is absolute garbage is for the ratings to slide, buy rates to drop and McMahon to lose some money, well, goodness, I might just be ok with that.

Maybe they should have gotten the Beckhams to host? They are more well-known than Hatton.

Either way, Smackdown is the best show on tv today.

I had it on in the background but when it is in Europe when you know it is taped then RAW is something that I don't really get into. Even though it is scripted the live RAWs have at least a little bit of uncertainty about them. RAW should just stay stateside for the benefit of everyone.

The thing about Raw is this: I can AFFORD to miss it!

Raw is not for me anymore. Smackdown is more for me...but harder to watch (Friday nights are not "man friendly")

ECW is another show that's at a horrible time slot. I can remember a show at 7pm on tuesdays...but 9pm CT??? I'm just not thinking about anything TV related at 9pm!

Basically, WWE has a problem, because fans like me aren't really watching their programming anymore. When I did tune in I saw DX vs Jerishow and it was just...boring. And I don't know who's in the triple threat match honestly. Yep....

I wonder if the fact that it was filmed at 2:30PM EST had much to do with it. If you are a fan on the east coast, you can read the spoilers and then choose not to watch since you knew what you were "missing."

West coast viewers have that option virtually every week, but I wonder if that would generate a .4 drop in the rating. Probably not, but maybe it accounts for .1 or .2 of it.

Hi Kev,

I have only watched the opening segments of RAW the last couple weeks and ended up watching other TV shows instead. I think the guest hosts are not very entertaining and the matches they put together are nothing special. I didn't think Ozzy and Sharon were that great and Ricky Hatton wasn't anything special either. I don't know if it is WWE e not giving the hosts enough creative freedom or maybe the hosts are just not as comfortable in their role as a WWE host? RAW's matches and story lines with the recent hosts are just too predictable and not creative enough for me!

Also, one thing about RAW I would like to change is the womens division. Why doesn't WWE creative try to promote a women's tag team belt/division. I know some say belts don't mean as much in the business anymore but I think having some of the divas compete for different title belts besides the women's championship all the time would make things more interesting to the fans.

Over here in the UK i was excited to see Ricky Hatton as the guest host especially being from manchester, so i think Raw will of done good numbers in the uk and may of garnered some more interest for the ppv buys over here but that doesn't take away from the very low rating over in the states.

I think the quality of the show has taken a huge hit since the double double E started using guest hosts. I'm really surprised that the ratings haven't tanked lower

I think RVD hit it on the head when he was talking about the WWE booking style being so predictable in an interview last week.

"It's so routine and mundane. Every match from the beginning to the end, have to be 'superstar vs. superstar.' They have to be treated like main events, they all have to go six or seven minutes, they have to back and forth all the time, and someone catches a fall. What happened to the jobber matches? Big John Studd would have a squash match with two or three guys, and then when he faced like Hulk Hogan, it meant something. But now every match, we have to see the babyface cry and sell, and the heel do his stuff, and the babyface make his big comeback. Every match? I don't enjoy that."

He basically just described Raw. Not that I want to see squash matches nonstop, but there's just about no mystery half the time.

Anyway, I think the ratings are reflecting that they're not just lacking stars, they're lacking any sense of a compelling story. Say you missed the last month of Raw and someone caught you up on it...would you be all that surprised by anything? Kofi stepping up is starting to be interesting, but it was back to textbook already this week.

Oh well. They're getting better with showcasing new guys, but it definitely gets boring more than it used to.

Kev,

Who's hosting Raw Next Week?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Roddy Piper. Not sure about Baltimroe on the 30th, but I read somewhere that it could be Verne Troyer (MiniMe). Hopefully that's just a rumor.

Alright Kev, i have to ask, what do you think about the guest host format? Should they continue along with it or is this ratings drop a sign of things to come?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Two bad weeks (Sharpton and Hatton) is no reason to panic. I like the format, although obviously some weeks are better than others.