This past Monday was Christmas Day. A day in which many families and friends get together to exchange gifts, drink egg nog, and sing songs. For WWE’s part, they gave their talent the day off to do the same instead of having to come to work to present WWE Raw that night. In place of a traditional live episode, Jackie Redmond and Peter Rosenberg hosted a festive “Best Of 2023” edition of the show that looked back at highlights from the year. There were also pre-taped appearances from various stars.
Wrestlenomics reports that the “Best Of 2023” installment of WWE Raw drew an average overall audience of 698,000 viewers, with a .18 rating in the P18 – 49 demo. It is the lowest overall and P18 – 49 viewership in the history of WWE Raw. Last year’s “Best Of 2022” edition of WWE Raw drew an average overall audience of 1,047,000 viewers, with a .27 rating in the P18 – 49 demo. At the time, it was the lowest viewership ever for WWE Raw, but it aired the day after Christmas instead of Christmas Day itself.
The first quarter-hour of the show saw the highest average overall and P18 – 49 viewership, with roughly 948,000 viewers and about 318,000 of those in the P18 – 49 demo. The only quarter hours to see bumps were the fifth quarter-hour and the final half-hour of the show. The fifth quarter featured the conclusion of Bad Bunny and Damian Priest’s San Juan Street Fight from WWE Backlash. The last half hour saw a replay of the men’s WWE WarGames match and the subsequent return of CM Punk.
WWE Raw returns to its regularly scheduled programming this Monday night with its Day 1-themed episode. It will feature Seth “Freaking” Rollins defending his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Drew McIntyre and Rhea Ripley putting her WWE Women’s World Championship on the line against Ivy Nile. Both champions are currently favored to retain based on betting odds released earlier today.