Raw does best numbers since week after WrestleMania

The hot Raw show and the match to determine the top contender in the third hour proved that if the show is good and has a strong main event, the audience will largely stick with it.

Raw did its best numbers since April 11, eight days after WrestleMania, doing 3.47 million viewers, up from the seasonal lowest mark since 1997 of 2.96 million the week before, a 17 percent increase over the week.

Among the reasons for the increase was lack of television competition, with no major sports and nothing on network TV that did more than 7.1 million viewers.  Raw had been hurt in recent weeks particularly by the NBA playoffs and to a lesser extent the NHL playoffs, and Dancing With the Stars.  Raw ended up third for the night on cable behind Rizzoli & Isles and Major Crimes on TNT and second in the 18-49 demo behind Love & Hip Hop Atlanta.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.42 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.56 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.42 million viewer