4/23 RAW Breakdown: Punk's Field Sobriety Test, Cena-Lesnar Contract Signing And More

- As noted before, the three-hour WWE RAW Supershow on April 23rd scored a 3.06 cable rating with 4.42 million viewers. In the normal two hours, RAW did a 3.33 rating with 4.76 million viewers. The normal RAW hours would have done a 3.22 and 3.41 – so the trend of hour two losing viewers has changed as of late.

In the segment breakdown, the opener with John Cena, Edge and the contract signing that never happened started the show with a low 2.50 quarter-rating. Chris Jericho vs. Kofi Kingston lost 73,000 viewers from the opener while Jericho's promo, Brock Lesnar & CM Punk videos plus the segment with Eve Torres and John Laurinaitis gained 52,000 viewers. Lord Tensai vs. R-Truth lost 3,000 viewers. Kane's segment and Randy Orton putting Paul Bearer into the freezer gained 865,000 viewers – which were the WWE fans tuning into RAW at the normal time of 9pm EST.

Alberto Del Rio and Cody Rhodes vs. The Great Khali and Big Show gained 195,000 viewers while the backstage segment with Jericho, Laurinaitis, Eve and Teddy Long talking about CM Punk being drunk lost 112,000 viewers. Nikki Bella winning the Divas Title from Beth Phoenix gained 437,000 viewers, which can be seen as a big surprise. The field sobriety test in the ring with CM Punk gained 270,000 viewers to a 3.63 quarter-rating, which is one of the best quarters in a while.

Sheamus vs. Mark Henry with Daniel Bryan as referee and the tag match with Zack Ryder & Santino Marella vs. Primo & Epico lost 439,000 viewers. Kane putting Bearer back in the freezer and Abraham Washington recruiting the Tag Team Champions lost 370,000 more viewers. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger vs. Hornswoggle & Brodus Clay gained 225,000 viewers.

The final segment with Brock Lesnar and John Cena's contract signing gained 873,000 viewers for a 3.83 quarter rating. The number was built up because they went 15 minutes past the time and fans didn't tune out as they sometimes do for long overruns.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

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