Legend gives possible explanation for WWE's ratings dip since WrestleMania XL (Exclusive)

WWE's RAW and SmackDown television ratings have lacked consistency in recent weeks. According to legendary wrestling reporter Bill Apter, the timing of the ratings dip is likely down to WrestleMania XL.

On April 22, RAW drew 1.610 million viewers on the USA Network. This number is significantly lower than the 2.860 million that watched the fallout from WrestleMania XL on April 8. SmackDown's numbers on FOX have also decreased, dropping from 2.603 million viewers on April 5 to 2.143 million on April 26.

Apter spoke to host Mac Davis and WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long on the latest episode of Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine. Discussing the ratings news, he speculated that some fans might have tuned out simply because WrestleMania season is over:

"There are some people, no matter what you're watching, unless it's like a weekly serial type of show, that after the whole build-up to WrestleMania, might have just been [thinking], 'That's enough already, just for another week or two, and then we'll go back to watching it.' Could have been oversaturation with everything that was going on," Apter said. [11:03 – 11:26]

In the video above, Hall of Famer Teddy Long shed light on the backstage atmosphere at the 2024 WWE Draft.

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Bill Apter questions the finish of a recent WWE RAW match

On May 4, Damian Priest defeated Jey Uso at Backlash France to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Five days earlier, Uso teamed up with Andrade and Ricochet to defeat Priest, Finn Balor, and JD McDonagh on RAW.

Bill Apter believes the build to the title match would have been more exciting if Uso pinned Priest ahead of Backlash France. However, Balor took the pinfall loss after a top-rope splash from Uso instead.

"I noticed a few things that were kind of a little off, mainly the finish of the main event," Apter continued. "In that six-man tag, I think to pump up for Backlash that, depending upon when you're watching this, is that Jey Uso should have pinned Damian Priest in that six-man tag team match. I think that's where they should have gone with that, but they didn't. That was my opinion. I think that surprised a lot of people on that particular show." [12:08 – 12:49]

Apter also compared a new main roster superstar to WWE legends Bill Goldberg and Brock Lesnar.

How do you think WWE's ratings can improve? Hit the discuss button and let us know.

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Please credit Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.

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