Posted in: Mr. Tito
MR. TITO STRIKES BACK - WWE and The Walking Dead Viewership Trend Comparison & RAW/Smackdown Thoughts
By Mr. Tito
Dec 7, 2016 - 5:38:04 PM

Follow Mr. Tito on Twitter.com: @titowrestling

Welcome back to the one and only Mr. Tito STRIKES BACK exclusively here at LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com. I hope that everyone is having a good Holiday Season and continues to do so through the end of the month. Remember what I said last year around this same time... Not everyone has family or friends as support... This time of year can be depressing and lonely for some. If you see someone who may be in the dumps this year, acknowledge their existence. Embrace them. Show them you care... Just by simply acknowledging someone's existence, it lightens up their mood just a bit to keep them from doing drastic.

Some additional advice from Old Man Tito this time of year... For the Friends & Family that you have, enjoy them while they are here. To quote the band Cinderella, you "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)"... Particularly the closest members of your family, your bloodline... Grandparents, Parents, Brothers & Sisters... I know first hand this year how painful it is to lose one of them and I struggle to get over it daily. Spend as much time as you can with your closest loved ones because you never know... One day, they are here and the next, they're gone forever. Appreciate where you've come from and spread the love when you can.

Onto some wrestling talk...

Well, not really. Everybody seems to be down on AMC's The Walking Dead and its reduced viewership through its 7th episode of the 7th season. The season opener broke records with 17 million viewers but the 7th episode did about 10.5 million viewers. Everybody is questioning "why, why, why?!?". Many excuses given, similar to what we hear about Monday Night RAW. More people are using DVR, want to watch on Netflix, or a dislike of Human on Human Violence. Even if you want to use the argument about cord-cutting, 95 Million households have access to AMC via Cable/Satellite. That's higher than when the Walking Dead first started... The cord-cutting is just an excuse because like AMC, USA Networks has a large amount of households at 95.5 million.

The answer is soooooo simple about The Walking Dead and Monday Night RAW. It's right in front of you...

I actually read The Walking Dead graphic novels. Loved the show when it first started so I borrowed several graphic novels to read the comics. Wow was I floored, especially the Governor stuff compared to what you see on television. Governor, for example, chops off Rick's hand when he first sees him (Rick does his best Def Leppard imitation for the rest of the comic!) and then the Governor "tortures" Michonne. The television show's version of the Governor was much tamer... But then fast forward to issue #100. A new heavy named Negan appeared and to the shock of many, he bashed in longtime favorite Glenn's head. It was a momeht so shocking that it did disturb many fans of the comic because they loved that character, his relationship with Maggie, and how he was one of the biggest characters in the series.

Fast foward to AMC's version of The Walking Dead. Actor Steven Yeun completely nails the role of Glenn from episode #1 when he helps Rick escape a herd of walkers in the city of Atlanta. It clicked... Not only did he look exactly like the comic book character, he had the charm, wit, and the guts to make the character come to life on television. Then, the show perfectly cast Maggie with Lauren Cohan. The pair displayed the on-screen chemistry that was every bit as good, if not better, than the comic book counterpart. Given how the television show, in my opinion, had a better dad figure with Herschel than the comics, the relationship was built stronger with the dad's approval and then dealing with the pain of losing Herschel and the television-only sister named Beth.

The season opener of The Walking Dead tried to fool us by not killing Glenn immediately... Phew! I thought, as I was hoping the television show didn't make the same mistake as the comic. However, as the show ran on, Glenn was also killed and had his left eye bulge out just like it did in the comics. It was heart breaking. The AMC show killed off one of its top stars who has been with the show since day 1.

That's why AMC is losing viewers... They made the creative decision to kill off one of its top stars. There are only a few from the original cast who are still alive... Rick, Carl, Darryl... Along the way, they have added a few decent stars to the group such as Michonne (perfectly cast, in my opinion)... But also along the way, The Walking Dead has tried to introduce many other characters who haven't stuck. Sound familiar?

WWE is in the same exact boat as The Walking Dead... WWE has lost many stars throughout the years and had struggled to replace those top draws. Why else would the WWE be so reliant on the stars of the past? Why else would Survivor Series 2016 be headlined by Brock Lesnar vs. Bill Goldberg? WWE needs STAR POWER badly right now... They've gone from 4+ million viewers through early 2015 to struggling to be near 3 million through the end of 2016. NOT GOOD... Trying to push new stars like Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns has not helped, as I statistically proved how detrimental both were to ratings as WWE Champions. They just aren't valid replacements for John Cena even if WWE Creative tries their best by overpushing Roman Reigns.

But consider this with John Cena and his 15 World Title reigns... First and foremost, the LAST time he was World Champion in the WWE was August 17th, 2014 when Brock Lesnar squashed him at SummerSlam 2014. He has NOT been champion ever since and since late 2015, he's been doing more non-wrestling stuff. Surprise surprise, RAW was once at 4 million viewers and now struggles to hold at 3 million ever since. This Lesnar squashing has proven to be idiotic over time.

However, let's look at each of the 15 Title reigns... Here, let me post them for you... See the trend?

4/3/2005 to 1/8/2006 - 280 days
1/29/2006 to 6/11/2006 - 133 days
9/17/2006 to 10/2/2007 - 380 days

11/23/2008 to 2/15/2009 - 84 days
4/5/2009 to 4/26/2009 - 21 days
9/13/2009 to 10/4/2009 - 21 days
10/25/2009 to 12/13/2009 - 49 days
2/21/2010 to 2/21/2010 - 1 day
3/28/2010 to 6/20/2010 - 84 days
5/1/2011 to 7/17/2011 - 77 days
7/25/2011 to 8/14/2011 - 20 days
9/18/2011 to 10/2/2011 - 14 days
4/7/2013 to 8/18/2013 - 133 days
10/27/2013 to 12/15/2013 - 49 days
6/29/2014 to 8/17/2014 - 49 days

So what do you see? Do you see the pattern?

Actually, let me make it easier for you... I'll split the 10 years as WWE Champion into half and give you average reigns in terms of days:

2005 - 2009: 138 days on average
2010 - 2014: 53 days on average

Need I say more? And his lengthy reigns during 2005-2006 actually DREW ratings for RAW after 2001-2004 brought in 4 straight years of declines.

How about I prove it further... Look at 2013... Do you notice that outlyer? Cena was WWE Champion for 133 days during 2013? Ratings actually GREW that year 8.1% versus the previous year of 2012. Gee, what a coincidence. And after Cena lost his WWE Title at SummerSlam 2013, the ratings took a huge nosedive at the end of the year when Randy Orton was pushed hard.

Why did Hulk Hogan DRAW? Because during the 1980s and early 1990s, he was the marquee name AND he was consistently World Champion when he was on top. He held the title for 1,474 days between 1984 to 1988 and then 364 days between 1989 and 1990. It wasn't until Hogan left the WWE to do more movies that the WWE begin to decline... Ultimate Warrior just wasn't Hogan as a main eventer and by the time Hogan regained the WWE title during 1991, the audience was already reduced.

After 2007, look at all of those SHORT title reigns for John Cena. For anyone who hates Cena, how can you argue against facts? It's a FACT that RAW's ratings grew during 2005, 2006, and then 2013 when Cena held the WWE Title at least 133 days for each of those years. You cannot deny actual numbers. Cena got hurt during 2007 and then WWE gave World Titles to EVERYONE after that. Ridiculous title inflation, especially with 2 World Titles around.

When you have an established STAR who DRAWS people in, you don't actively try to reduce them or in the case of The Walking Dead, kill them off. Walking Dead actually has a strong female following of all ages... Do you think that they enjoyed seeing Glenn take a baseball head laced with barbed wire across his head? Do you think they enjoyed seeing his eyeball bulge out of his head? I know that my wife used to watch the Walking Dead with me until Herschel was brutally murdered. She hasn't watched since... Killing off a beloved character, no matter what the comics say, hurts these television shows. Glenn was a major part of The Walking Dead's success and AMC took it for granted, much like the WWE since 2014 has taken John Cena for granted. I thought that the Walking Dead's creator would have realized his mistake of killing Glenn in issue #100 and NOT repeat it on television. Walking Dead is actively trying to fill in the gap left by Glenn, but based on the viewership reduction, it's a void that might be difficult to close. WWE keeps trying to push newer stars to fill Cena's void, but it's not working...

Now, John Cena is getting more and more Hollywood offers. We're probably getting closer to seeing the end of Cena in the WWE. He's made his money and now it's time to cash in on his mainstream appeal while he's still reasonably healthy. As the reduced viewership in RAW is proving, the WWE might need John Cena more than John Cena needs the WWE.

Instead of defending the United States Title in the midcard for 2015, we should have been treated to a LONG WWE Title reign by John Cena that took on all comers. Instead, RAW became the Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns show and bye bye 1 million viewers permanently. It's not easy to replace a top drawing star, folks.

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I'm sure many will ask "what about Smackdown Live on Tuesdays?", good question... Wrestling is just not good on Tuesdays. We have 20 years of watching Monday Night RAW on Mondays. To quote the band Chicago, that's a hard habit to break. Plus, I've already correlated lower Smackdown ratings to RAW as both shows seem to move in the same direction each week for the most part. Me and my buddy Virtue have called it "RAW Fatigue", as after enduring 3 hours of RAW on Monday, it's not so easy to convince yourself to watch another 2 hours on Tuesday.

And John Cena was NEVER World Champion on that 2016 brand. There's that.

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Linda McMahon was named "Small Business Administrator" for President-elect Donald Trump's administration. Many are mocking this choice for her obvious relation to the wrestling business... BUT, consider her credentials. President/CEO of the WWE Corporation that saw profits during every year she was in charge. She's also on the Connecticut Board of Education.

But it's not like Trump named her to a key cabinet position like something named "Secretary of". A while back, I actually predicted she could become Trump's Secretary of Education because of her experience in the Connecticut educational system. She could still get that honor... This little spot in the administration could be just keeping Linda on the bench just in case Trump cleans house in the Department of Education after his initial secretary pick. Linda just doesn't have experience in government on the federal level and Donald is just giving her a side task to prepare her when called upon.

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RAW & SMACKDOWN Random Thoughts

And just like that, we're BELOW 3 million average viewers on Monday Night RAW. For all of you who pointed out how Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte "drew" last week, well, you're wrong. With the show ending with the follow-up to that very match, Charlotte addressing her dad Ric Flair for saluting Sasha Banks, it lost 350,000 from the first hour to the last hour. Ouch.

The momentum of Goldberg vs. Lesnar is wearing off...

RAW is just doing nothing for me right now. We have a WWE Universal Champion in Kevin Owens who is treated as second-rate by the WWE Creative Team as Roman Reigns repeatedly owns him in these non-title matches. By the way, could someone show me when Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Steve Austin, Rock, Mick Foley, and Triple H lost non-title matches as WWE Champion and was then forced to have a rematch with them FOR the title? What a joke...

And the funny thing is that WWE Creative Team and Production meetings will say "Kevin Owens is not a draw" despite RAW already being below 3 million viewers when Owens became champion. Complete horsecrap. Owens is not allowed to defeat Reigns and AJ Styles has been made a mockery as WWE Champion thanks to James Ellsworth. Gee, wonder why Owens and Styles aren't drawing as World Champions. Compare that to Roman Reigns who was pushed HARD as contender and champion and the guy lost more ratings than anyone.

Getting back to Charlotte though, she's another darling of the WWE Creative and Production meetings... Very talented performer, I'm NOT denying that. But as a character, she overdoes it. She cuts a decent promo on her dad, Ric Flair, and then SLAPS him... Very shocking... Instead of just standing there and staring at Ric to let the impact of the slap sink in... She mocks him repeatedly by using her hands to imitate crying and she just wouldn't shut up... Then, Sasha Banks runs down and Charlotte beats her down. Which is perfectly fine... But after the beatdown, just more excessive talking, hand gestures, etc... Looks COMPLETELY FAKE. All she had to do is beat down Sasha and force her dad to watch... Let the ACTIONS speak louder than words. "Less is more", Charlotte... Please figure that out.

Pretty sad how Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn has become "just another match" on televised RAW. Maybe it's just me, but Sami Zayn remains in my probable 2016 "Match of the Year" with Shinsuke Nakamura from NXT Takeover Dallas. That's as good as 2016 gets... Zayn has been in many great matches during 2016 including multiple great wars with Owens. Yet, Zayn is just a midcarder now with ZERO reward of hard work. Fine, if he's not working out on RAW, just move him to Smackdown already. With John Cena OUT and Randy Orton joining the Wyatt Family, there's a real lack of babyfaces on Smackdown with main event potential besides Dean Ambrose. If he's just midcard fodder for anyone to beat, move him to the THIN Smackdown roster. After all, wasn't the "brand extension" supposed to create opportunity for held down wrestlers? I don't see much of that happening on RAW at all.

It's pretty evident that Chris Jericho can work with anybody and make anybody look great. Good match with Roman Reigns... I think with the WWE struggling for ratings, maybe give Jericho one last run with a World Title? Win the Royal Rumble and go after Kevin Owens? Why not?

I did like the whole Enzo/Big Cass and Rusev/Lana stuff... Pretty effective storytelling that could make things interesting with Rusev vs. Big Cass. Poor Enzo TOOK A BEATING and we were treated to some Attitude Era like sexuality from Lana. After all, Enzo went to that hotel to lay some pipe... BRUTAL attack delivered by Rusev which puts some early heat onto this feud. But come on... Cameras to catch EVERY moment? Really? In the hotel room? Let's just assume that Enzo is successful at laying pipe with Lana and Rusev is NOT there... What, are the WWE camera men going to film that too? It's one thing if there are cameras in the arena and under some backstage circumstances, but following wrestlers everywhere including a hotel room where actual sex could occur? That's part of the problem from the Russo-Era booking long-term. Just takes away from the "sport" of pro wrestling. No matter what happens in that hotel room, there's still in-ring competition to occur on the shows.

Hidden cameras or not, the Enzo/Cass vs. Rusev/Lana segment stood out from the rest of RAW...

Despite the wealth of talent in the midcard for the Tag Team division on RAW, it's still a hot mess. Just so boring... Can't wait for New Day to beat Demolition's record already.

On Smackdown, I have to hand it to Carmella... Girl is good, folks. That heel turn was the perfect medicine as it boosted her confidence as a character AND as a wrestler. Complete opposite of what Natalya has been for YEARS in the WWE... She's the "veteran" of the division yet nobody cuts a worse promo than Natty and the in-ring stuff, well, it's not blowing the roof off the arenas. I thought she had her best days when pairing up with Beth Phoenix and it just seems that Natalya lost her edge since Beth left.

Here's an idea for Baron Corbin... Ditch the "Lone Wolf" gimmick, for the moment, and pair him up as a thug for AJ Styles. That's right, I'm calling for the old "HBK & Diesel" combination where AJ Styles gets a little help from a bodyguard like wrestler. But the fact is that Corbin could really learn from hanging out with a veteran like Styles. Additionally, Styles and Corbin could wrestle tag matches together and Corbin would get to wrestle anybody who is main eventing with Styles. GREAT exposure. I said it last year... Baron Corbin should have been the muscle for Seth Rollins in the same "HBK & Diesel" kind of combo. Corbin has the size, the look, and the finisher... He's just not getting the heat with this Lone Wolf and pairing him with the "FACE THAT RUNS THE PLACE" or "THE CHAMP THAT RUNS THE CAMP" will greatly help.

No use having 6'8" Baron Corbin struggling to defeat 5'6" Kalisto... As much as we loved Rey Mysterio back in the day, his World Title reigns didn't draw because it's the same premise... Lightweight wrestlers should NOT defeat heavyweights.

Miz and Maryse are working out well... Besides Becky Lynch, nobody has benefited from the brand split more than the Miz. After his "Talking Smack" promo on Daniel Bryan, he finally found his character and then Maryse became a heel manager instead of just a valet. What's great about AJ Styles as a heel champion is that Miz can remain on the midcard as Intercontinental Champion so that he can get stronger and stronger... With time, he could get elevated to the top again... He's almost ready for it again. I love how Miz uses Maryse as a human shield and the PG Era, to Miz's benefit, won't let her get smacked. Miz delivering the first ever "The Miz Participation Award" to Dean Ambrose was just priceless. Of course, Daniel Bryan joins and sets up Miz vs. Dean for the IC Title match to keep that heat going. Man, I HOPE that the WWE does Daniel Bryan vs. Miz at Wrestlemania 33. $$$$$$$$!!

Happy to see Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss's feud continue... Just let them have a REGULAR wrestling match to settle the score, please. Maybe take a page out of the NXT playbook if you HAVE to use a gimmick... 30 Minute Ironman (or Ironwoman) match? Worked well for Sasha Banks vs. Bayley on NXT... Just sayin'...

Yikes, so much for that Rhyno/Heath Slater team... Great story, but they didn't last as a team or champions. I do like Randy Orton with Bray Wyatt. Besides AJ Styles needing a babyface to wrestle, it's something fresh for Randy Orton.

Miz won a decent Main Event with Dean Ambrose, but thanks in part to James Ellsworth causing a distraction. I don't know, man... Maybe Ellsworth's t-shirt is selling well and I'm just an old wrestling fan yelling "GET OFF MY LAWN". Reminds me of when WWE tried to briefly push Barry Horowitz, jobber to the stars, during the mid 1990s. Except ol' Barry wasn't beating the WWE Champion in matches, even if controversial...

SMACKDOWN WINS.

SO JUST CHILL... UNTIL THE NEXT EPISODE!

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