EA’s Weekly RAW YouTube Report (7/16/18)

As we all know, social media and other outlets have become a huge means of drawing in interaction and viewers for WWE. Most people will point to television ratings like they did during the Monday Night Wars in the late 1990’s, however that can be skewed with so many various means of watching today that do not include cable television.

As you’ve become accustomed to, here is this week’s RAW YouTube Report (2:30 PM EST, 7/18/18):

1. Ronda Rousey brutalizes Alexa Bliss & Mickie James – 3.3 million views
2. Paul Heyman answers Kurt Angle’s ultimatum – 1.3 million views
3. Bobby Lashley vs. Seth Rollins vs. Elias – 1 million views
4. Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Finn Balor – 995k views
5. Sasha Banks is finally honest with Bayley – 345k views
6. Dolph Ziggler vs. Bobby Roode – 275k views
7. Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Dana Brooke & Alicia Fox – 272k views

Move over, Roman. Ronda Rousey returned to RAW this past Monday (although her suspension was still in effect) and was able to get her hands on Alexa Bliss again, plus the top spot in our YouTube Report once again. Reigns was the top dog (no pun intended) for the red brand in Rousey’s absence, but seemingly all she has to do is show up to smash the competition. In her last three YouTube segments on RAW dating back to June 11th, Ronda has surpassed 3 million each time (one of which was over 6 million). I implore those against her to continue trying to argue against her drawing power or say she “doesn’t deserve” her spot in the title picture.

The next three spots in the top seven are all reserved for the Universal Championship situation after General Manager Kurt Angle gave an ultimatum to Brock Lesnar the night before at Extreme Rules. At number two, Brock’s advocate, Paul Heyman, returns to begrudgingly accept Angle’s terms, but also featured Roman Reigns and a cast of others stating their claim for the title. Numbers three and four give us the fallout of that opening segment, with Angle making two Triple Threat matches where the winners advance to a singles match next week to see who faces Lesnar at SummerSlam. With so many parties involved in these segments, it’s tough to pin the credit on any one man. I can say this though, we’ve seen everything Roman does fall in the 900k-1 million range while everyone else (Lashley, Elias, Balor, McIntyre and even Rollins) have all struggled or seen dips in views recently. I think the interest in seeing who will challenge Brock next is also another clear explanation.

Numbers five and seven are reserved for the ongoing drama between Sasha Banks and Bayley, but quite frankly, outside of the top four, no other segment on RAW pulled good numbers. Again, this is merely a case of the “best of the worst”. Before I get misinterpreted, I’m not saying the segments were bad, just the amount of views. RAW’s primary focus surrounded the Universal Title situation and there was no other storyline advancement outside of what was going on with Sasha and Bayley, so it makes sense that it would make the cut, even when pulling lower than their average.

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