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What's the story?
There has always been a debate with regard to whether or not Roman Reigns is a draw when it comes to actual television viewership. I think that the debate may have been settled at long last.
RAW experienced a 3% loss in viewership as compared to last week's show without Roman Reigns around. This is especially alarming as this week's show was the go-home episode for Crown Jewel.
In case you didn't know...
Roman Reigns announced to the world last week that he was taking a break from the ring to combat leukemia. The same night saw Dean Ambrose's shocking heel turn.
This week's episode dealt with the fallout from Evolution. Even though we assumed that we would get answers from Dean Ambrose on this show, Ambrose would not respond to Seth Rollins at all. Brock Lesnar was also present at the show and he had quite the fight with Braun Strowman, to kick off this week's episode.
The heart of the matter
At the outset, I would like to thank Wrestling Inc. for the following figures. While last week's episode saw 2.548 million viewers tune in ahead of Evolution, this week saw a drop with only 2.472 million viewers watching.
The third hour is especially alarming because only 2.237 million viewers watching at the time. It is to be noted that RAW is facing heavy competition from Monday Night Football at the time. Numbers have not been the strongest ever since football season commenced and they are expected to pick up only after it is over.
What's next?
Next week's episode show see an increase in viewership because we'll see a new Universal Champion crowned. Catch our coverage of Crown Jewel to find out exactly who the man really is. As for Reigns, let's wish him all the best in his fight against leukemia.
Do you guys think Roman Reigns is a draw? Let us know in the comments below.
