TV Ratings for latest RAW episode revealed; did Shane McMahon's concept help?  

The latest episode of Monday Night RAW witnessed an increase in the total viewership figures. The show averaged 1.714 million viewers, which is up from last week's number of 1.620 million.

Given below is the hourly breakdown of the ratings:

• 1st hour - 1.710 million
• 2nd hour - 1.824 million
• 3rd hour - 1.610 million

When it comes to the vital 18-49 demographic, RAW had a rating of 0.48 in the first hour. The second hour saw a spike in the key demo with a figure of 0.55, which dropped to 0.51 in the third hour.

This week's episode of RAW had a lot of hype heading into it as WWE announced the return of Shane McMahon.

Based on the rumors circulating hours before the show, Shane-O-Mac was set to introduce a fresh concept on WWE TV. The idea ended up being RAW Underground, a shoot-style wrestling contest that would happen during the third hour of RAW.

It's interesting to note that the overall figure dipped in the final hour of the show and the WWE officials would be carefully watching the viewership trends in the weeks to follow.

WWE's efforts to increase the total viewership figures of RAW

RAW opened with a United States title match between the returning Apollo Crews and MVP. The show featured a battle of promos between SummerSlam opponents, Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre.

WWE also announced the arrival of a new faction on TV and the anticipation might have also helped in the ratings boost this week.

Various other storylines progressed on the show, including the storyline between Asuka and Bayley & Sasha Banks. Dominik Mysterio challenged Seth Rollins to a singles match at SummerSlam. A US title rematch between Crews and MVP was also confirmed for the biggest PPV of the Summer.

As we had reported earlier, WWE is desperate to increase its ratings, and that was one of the prime reasons behind the introduction of RAW Underground.

The focus is to freshen up the product and build new Superstars, which should ideally have a positive long-term impact on the total viewership figures of Monday Night RAW.