"WWE Raw Sees Surge in Viewership Following Royal Rumble Fallout and CM Punk's WrestleMania Absence"

WWE Raw's first episode after the Royal Rumble drew its largest audience since last summer, with an average of 1,909,000 viewers per hour and a .61 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The show featured a commercial-free first hour and a highly anticipated CM Punk appearance, amidst headlines about Vince McMahon's sexual misconduct allegations. The episode's performance was not as strong as last year's Rumble fallout show, but it marked the best rating since November's Survivor Series fallout show. The upcoming weeks will reveal if WWE can maintain this audience as it heads towards WrestleMania 40.