This past Monday night on Raw, Chad Gable was granted the WWE Intercontinental Championship match against Gunther that he earned two weeks prior. The Olympian laid it all on the line against the leader of Imperium, dropping his usual technical style in favor of pure barbarism on the outside to gain an advantage. In the waning moments of the bout, Gable pushed Gunther into the ring post on the outside twice before dropping him with a German suplex over the barricade. With the big man discombobulated, Gable dashed into the ring, beating the three count and handing Gunther his first loss as a member of WWE’s main roster.
Wrestlenomics reports that the much-anticipated match between the two men delivered in viewership, as the bout drew an average of 1,805,000 viewers, the largest audience for any quarter-hour. In the P18 – 49 category most coveted by advertisers, it delivered an average of 727,000 viewers, which was also the show’s high. By comparison, on average, the show was watched by 1,591,000 viewers, with about 604,000 of those in the P18-49 category.
Despite the strong interest in Gable versus Gunther, the show was unable to maintain similar heights throughout. Monday night’s episode of Raw was the lowest overall viewership since January 16 this year and the lowest P18 – 49 viewership since July 3. It was down 9% in overall viewership from last week’s episode and 8% in P18 – 49 viewership. At this time, no ranking for the show has been released.
WWE presents Payback on September 2 from the PPG Paint Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. It is not expected that Roman Reigns will defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship as part of the card or that Jimmy and his brother Jey Uso will settle their differences, but it is possible that Gunther and Gable have one more match for the IC title.