F4WOnline.com reports that WWE officials are considering taking the WWE Championship off CM Punk due to ‘terrible ratings patterns’ for his weekly segments on Raw.
The matter was broached prior to Sunday’s WWE TLC pay-per-view event, which saw Punk ultimately retain the strap in a Triple Threat Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match against Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. The trend of lackluster ratings for his segments continued the following night on Raw as the program’s overrun, which saw the Straight Edge Superstar, Daniel Bryan and Zack Ryder overcame The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler, only gain 59,000 viewers.
Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer analyzes: “That’s almost impossible given people tune in to see the following show, which basically meant wrestling fans must have been tuning out in droves (they were during the first half of the match but then started gaining at 11 p.m., but hardly gained anything).”
The main event garnered a 2.67 cable rating (2.55 for the first half of the bout), which Meltzer says is by far, the lowest-rated main event on Raw in 2011 and possibly the lowest since 1997 for a non-holiday show in its regular time slot.
sources: F4WOnline.com
