CoxThinks Friday FreeThinks News Report: 12.14.07

Raw’s 15th Scores Big Rating
3 hour special hits a 4.1

This week’s three hour edition of Monday Night Raw scored a big 4.1 rating. The show was Raw 15th anniversary show and featured a who’s who of Raw characters from the past and was heavily advertised. The usual two-hour timeslot scored an average of 4.4 off hours of 4.3 and 4.5. The third hour that preceded those two did 3.4. It’s not unusual for a 3-hour edition of Raw to have a poor first hour, as is evident by past shows such as the Raw Homecoming, Family Reunion and Vince McMahon Appreciation night.

Vince and co. can be very pleased with this rating. Raw’s been doing 3.5 for a while now and with the likes of Jericho, Triple H and Shawn Michaels returning in recent months has had little to no impact on those ratings. However this should hardly come as a surprise as both Stone Cold Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan were advertised for the show and both men are proven draws even now that both are retired. There was also a degree of advertisement for The Rock and Bret Hart, neither of which showed up on the night. The Rock was featured on several banners that were appearing all over the internet, though at no point did WWE ever announce that he would appear either on TV or through wwe.com. Bret Hart was advertised through local TV listings, though the same applies to Hart as does The Rock.

I think it’s a shame that the reappearance of Hogan and Austin (to do the same thing they do every time they show up) can pop a rating by that much, nearly by a whole 1.0 if you don’t include the first hour. There was a time when 4.1 would be a disappointing rating for Raw and I’m not even talking about when wrestling was at its peak during the Monday Night Wars. As recently as 2006 and early 2007, Raw was hitting 4.3s on a regular basis. A few months ago Raw got what was ultimately determined to be a miscalculated 2.5 rating, but that only turned out to be a 3.1.

Luckily for WWE and Raw, we are fast approaching the Road to WrestleMania and the Royal Rumble, a time that usually draws exceptionally well. This probably has something to do with the fact that performers and creative alike really step their game up at this time of the year. Then again, I would argue that Raw has been consistently good since John Cena went down. That’s not a knock on Cena, but a lot of things changed around this time as Orton became champion, Michaels returned and Triple H remained in a mid-card feud despite his recent return. In short, things got a lot fresher. Perhaps the consistently low ratings are due to what many people describe as a “weak” champion in Randy Orton. You might think this would be an incentive to switch the title to Chris Jericho at Armageddon this Sunday, but he didn’t do anything for ratings either, despite his return being leaked to anyone with a pair of brain cells to rub together.

What I hope doesn’t result of this rating, is the thought that bringer back guys like Hogan and Austin and Foley more often is a good idea to increase ratings. Those guys might get you the odd 0.2 if you trot them out every couple of months, but focusing on the current product and improving it will get you higher ratings on a more consistent basis as the aforementioned Road To WrestleMania proves.

Former WWE Star in possible return
WWE wants Rob Van Dam, RVD is happy where he’s at

Rob Van Dam made a surprise appearance on Raw’s 15th Anniversary show and since then, WWE have been trying to persuade Van Dam to make a return. Van Dam left the company in June of this year, seeking time away from professional wrestling. Apparently, Van Dam is content right now and was not looking for a new deal when he agreed to work Monday’s show. However, WWE are working hard to resign him based on the pop he received when he appeared to do battle with Santino Marella.

It was great seeing Van Dam back on WWE TV this week. It was one of the few moments I didn’t see coming and I really marked out for. By all accounts, Van Dam has been sensible enough with the money he has earned that he does not need to returned to the squared (or hexagonal) circle any time soon. But, the fact that Van Dam was willing to put in an appearance (albeit a brief one) shows that he is still on good terms with the company and still has a passion for the business.

In an interview exclusive to wwe.com, Van Dam said hearing the response of the crowd on Monday made him realise how much people missed him, and probably how much he missed them. The situation reminds me of Jericho in that neither said they would never return and both indicated at times that they still enjoyed the business. For those reasons, I think it is more a matter of when than if Rob Van Dam returns to wrestling. When that does happen, it would seem as if the Whole Fucking Show would opt to come back to World Wrestling Entertainment.

However, that “when” could still be a long time. If we go back to the Chris Jericho comparison, Y2J stayed away from wrestling for over two years without making a single appearance on WWE television. So, Van Dam may sign a new deal next week, or he may sign a new deal in 24 months time. Hopefully, he’ll be back sooner rather than later because there are many people I would love to see him square off against and he could be a very good hand on any of WWE’s brands.

In Other News This Week…

TNA Knockout Suffers Broken Ankle: TNA’s Mobile service reports that Karen Angle broke her foot at the Impact taping last night. She broke her foot when she landed awkwardly on it as she exited TNA’s ring. Kurt Angle had to carry her backstage after the segment. She did not come out later during the taping for Angle’s match.

Ric Flair’s Son Picked Up by WWE: WWE signed Ric Flair’s son, Reid Flair, to a developmental deal last week. He will report to Florida Championship Wrestling after the holidays. Reid had a brief role in WCW where he had his head shaved by Vince Russo.

Former WWE Employee Takes Company Up on Rehab Offer: Jake Roberts has entered a nice week rehab program after accepting WWE’s offer to assist former performers with substance problems.

SmackDown and ECW Brands To Tour Latin America: WWE has announced that Smackdown/ECW will tour Latin America in February with the following dates.

* 2/09/08 – Guatemala City, Guatemala
* 2/10/08 – Guadalajara, Mexico
* 212/08 – Quito, Ecuador
* 2/14/08 – Santiago, Chile

ECW Airing Rescheduled to Original Date: Sci-Fi has announced that ECW will air in its normal timeslot on December 25th at 10PM ET. The show was set to air on Thursday December 27th at 10PM ET that week, head-to-head with TNA Impact. It is not known why Sci-Fi made this change, but it should be noted that ECW did not do well against Impact in the ratings last week when they went head-to-head.

Who the hell is going to watch ECW on Christmas Day?

I’m grateful that this was a short news week, because it meant less work for me, but on the other hand it would have been a nice change to something other than “Thoughts From…” or a Heat Report.