Ratings was a big topic during yesterday’s conference call with investors following the publication of the Q2 2020 financial results. Several conference call participants quizzed the WWE leadership on why the ratings have gone down big time during the pandemic.

Raw and Smackdown ratings have dipped 19% and 15% respectively since March 13 and while that is a lot, Raw has remained the highest rated program on USA Network while NXT ranked the third highest.

Vince McMahon attributed part of the decline to having no audience, calling fans an integral part to their success. But he also admitted that a big part is their fault. “I think that we can have more compelling characters, better storylines, new characters coming in to where we are right now and more of content that’s not necessarily in the ring, but yet one that focuses on their personalities and their story outside of the ring,” McMahon said.

Asked why AEW and NXT bounced back better during the pandemic, McMahon said that he thinks the success is because they are new and the challenge they have is to make Raw and Smackdown “more youthful” and that’s where they plan to go.

The Chairman and CEO said that Paul “Triple H” Levesque helps out for both Raw and Smackdown and it’s all hands on deck for every television show. Vince also credited Paul Heyman for doing a “very, very good job in terms of creative.”