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Traina Thoughts: Ronda Rousey Hasn't Helped The WWE Ratings At All
1. The WWE's Rowdy Ronda Rousey experiment has been pretty damn lousy—at least when it comes to TV ratings.
After making her debut at the Royal Rumble on Jan. 29, Rousey did not appear on Monday Night Raw until Feb. 26. She appeared in the third hour of the show to establish her feud with Stephanie McMahon and HHH, which set up a tag team match at WrestleMania with Kurt Angle as Rousey's partner. The hourly ratings for that edition of were:
8 pm: 3.407 million viewers
9 pm: 3.249
10 pm: 2.884
As you can see, people did not switch over to Raw to see her close out the show. This past week, the WWE kicked off Raw with the Rousey/McMahon/HHH/Angle angle. The hourly ratings were as follows:
8 pm: 3.30
9 pm: 3.27
10 pm: 2.73
As you can see, more people watched the first hour of Raw that did not include Rousey in those two weeks.
It might not have helped that Rousey was widely mocked for her acting and mic skills during her segment the week before. I think the bigger issue is that she lost her last two UFC fights and that killed any and all buzz she once had and the general interest in her just isn't there.
Nobody seems to know what the WWE is paying Rousey and it's still a little early to call her WWE a run a complete bust, but clearly the WWE had bigger expectations in terms of ratings and buzz for the former UFC fighter. If I was the WWE, I'd quickly change course on the Rousey/Stephanie/HHH/Angle storyline, take the focus off Rousey and make it about Stephanie and Angle once having a romantic connection—an angle that was once a big hit with loyal WWE fans and was then quickly dropped with with no conclusion for no apparent reason.
What's it like to be Ronda Rousey? Watch our SI Films original on SI TV, on Amazon Channels.
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8. RANDOM WRESTLING VIDEO OF THE DAY: Since I mentioned the old Kurt Angle/Stephanie McMahon/HHH love triangle in the lead item, let's reminisce.
The best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina. Get the link to a new Traina's Thoughts each day by following on Twitter and liking on Facebook. Catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts. And check Jimmy Traina's weekly podcast, "Off The Board," on iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher.
IN CLOSING: Ed Hochuli's retirement got all the attention yesterday—and rightfully so. But Jeff Tripplette hanging it up it just as important because he was an absolutely brutal ref.
