The television ratings for both TNA Impact and WWE RAW from January 4 are in. And while TNA can certainly claim a victory on their part, it was more of the same for World Wrestling Entertainment.
WWE Raw scored a 3.6 Nielson rating, the same rating as they had last week. The show had hourly ratings of 3.51 and 3.73, with hour one doing 5,441,000 viewers and hour two drawing 5,773,000 viewers.
Meanwhile TNA Impact scored an 1.5 rating, averaged out over the course of the three hours. The first hour did a 1.69 and 2,536,000 million viewers. The second and third hour had a 1.33 average and 2,034,00 viewers. The five-minute overrun scored a 1.26 rating, with 2.2 million viewers. TNA’s drew hourly ratings of 1.7, 1.4 and 1.2.
Not surprisingly TNA’s highest rated quarter hour segment was the start of the second hour, which featured the arrival of Hulk Hogan and his confrontation with former new World order members Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Kevin Nash and Eric Bischoff. The segment drew a 1.88 rating. The lowest rated part of the show was also in hour 2, which featured the Desmond Wolfe-D’Angelo Dinero match and an interview with TNA World Champion AJ Styles.
Meanwhile WWE peaked with a 4.1 quarter hour rating for DeGeneration X-Chris Jericho and Big Show tag team match at the top or RAW’s second hour. The overrun featuring Bret Hart-Vince McMahon verbal confrontation did a big 4.4 rating, the company’s highest television rating in a long time. Hart’s first appearance at the start of RAW, which went against Hogan’s first appearance on RAW, received a 3.7 rating. The show drew RAW’s highest ratings since the August 24 show, which was the night after SummerSlam.
The combined Monday night wrestling audience was around 7.8 million viewers, which is obviously the highest it has been in a very long time.
TNA pulled out every trick they had in order to emphasis the live aspect of their show and the special vibe of the night. In addition to the debuts of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff many other unexpected stars showed up as well. Scott Hall and Sean Waltman both made their returns to the company and immediately reunited with their old new World order buddies. Jeff Hardy made a surprise return to the company, completely overshadowing the return of his running buddy Shannon Moore. Ric Flair, while rumored to be a part of the show since it was announced, surprised many as well with his brief appearances. In addition Sean Morley, Orlando Jordan and The Nasty Boys all made appearances and look to be in TNA, at least for the short-term.
With that much new talent something will have to give in regards to the old roster. From the looks of the special and the television tapings that followed the next night, it seems as if this “old guard” will dominate much of the scene in addition to a few handpicked TNA faithful that the new regime seems to be high on.
As for WWE, the show felt much like a regular RAW episode only with the improbable appearance of Bret Hart. However the company traditionally picks up the pace at the beginning of each year, as the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania always brings out the best in the entire company. Hart is scheduled to be with WWE through WrestleMania, which will make this “WrestleMania season” especially memorable.
Not surprisingly internally WWE were not real pleased with their ratings, as they felt that with Hart's appearance and the added excitement surrounding the evening that the show would easily break a 4.0 rating.
Naturally TNA and Spike TV seem incredibly pleased with their live show, the ratings and mainstream coverage it brought to the company as a whole. It seems like a lock that TNA will air again on Monday nights in the near future.
It could be good business for entire wrestling industry if TNA does begin running regularly on Monday nights. Competition brings the best out of Vince McMahon and WWE. Plus it brings more exposure and availability for the wrestling talent themselves. While both shows used stars of yesteryear to anchor their Monday night platform it was a ploy on both sides to attract old viewers and casual viewers of days gone by and then hook them in with today’s stars and presentation.
While Monday night was a fun trip for wrestling fans, the true test for both companies now begins. This new year could be an exciting time for TNA, WWE and wrestling in general.
More on WWE-TNA head-to-head battle
- Hulk Hogan signs with TNA Wrestling
- Eric Bischoff partners with TNA Wrestling
- TNA announces head-to-head battle with WWE on January 4
- Bret Hart to return to WWE
- Bret Hart to guest host WWE RAW
- Predictions for TNA Impact
- Predictions for WWE RAW
- Commentary on TNA-WWE battle, part 1
- Commentary on TNA-WWE battle, part 2
- Jeff Hardy joins TNA
- TNA Impact results for 1.4.10
- WWE RAW results for 1.4.10
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