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 (1:30 PM EST, 10/24/18):

1. Superstars show support to Roman Reigns after his announcement – 7.8 million views
2. Roman Reigns relinquishes the Universal Title to battle leukemia – 7.5 million views
3. Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins win the RAW Tag Titles – 3.1 million views
4. Dean Ambrose shockingly attacks Seth Rollins – 2.4 million views
5. A stunned Seth Rollins exits the arena – 2.3 million views
6. Ronda Rousey & Nikki Bella sign their Evolution contract – 1.9 million views
7. Braun Strowman interrupts Paul Heyman – 1.6 million views

It’s been a pretty weekly routine for The Shield to dominate our weekly YouTube reports and this week is no different, however it’s a whole different ballgame. To no surprise, Roman Reigns’ surprising announcement of his leukemia diagnosis was a dagger to the entire WWE Universe as fiction stopped and real life hit hard. I find it difficult to talk about the drawing power of something that is all too real like this. All I can really say is that I hope the best for him. Also, if you’re one of those people who have been tweeting well wishes and prefacing it with “I don’t like him, but”, that makes you a utensil used to clean a private female part.

Now that Roman is off indefinitely, it will open a spot in our weekly reports as ‘The Big Dog’ has been a big time player regularly. Coming in this week at 3, 4, and 5 are what I feel is the top contender to challenge Ronda Rousey every week, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. A lot of fans felt that having Ambrose turn on Rollins after the two shared such a real, emotional moment with Reigns earlier in the night was distasteful. Personally, I’m on the other side of the coin and feel as if it was the perfect time to do it. What better way to quell people possibly wanting to go against the angle and cheer Ambrose than to have him stab Rollins in the back in that manner? I loved it, everyone’s talking and it moves those two on without the cloud of Reigns’ health hanging over them. If they use that as part of the storyline, that’s when it starts to cross the line.

Sliding down to sixth this week is Ronda Rousey, getting bumped from two consecutive weeks at number one. It’s not 3 million views, but 1.9 million is nothing to scoff at whatsoever. I’m sorry to say it to those against her match against Nikki possibly being the main event of Evolution, but it should be. The last few weeks of RAW YouTube Reports are evidence as to why and while I believe Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair will be the match of the night, they don’t have the mainstream appeal of Ronda and Nikki. That matters if Evolution is going to become a yearly event.

Lastly, the freshly turned Braun Strowman rounds out our top seven with his proclamation to Paul Heyman that Brock Lesnar will be getting those hands at Crown Jewel. I think this is our next Universal Champion and it’s overdue, possibly even too late. Braun was red hot when WWE turned him heel and I don’t think the people ever wanted to boo him. Can he get all of his previous momentum back? That remains to be seen, but if 1.6 million views is any indication, some of which can be attributed to Heyman, he’s got a chance at getting right back on that track.

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