Gauntlet Match Powers WWE Raw to Strong Viewership Ratings

-- Last night's rare and lengthy Gauntlet match proved to be a major viewership ratings success, being watched by an average of 3.27 million people, a three week high.

-- In a telling sign that the audience was well into the 107-minute Gauntlet match can be deciphered from the hourly figures with barely a drop from hour one to hour two. The third hour took a massive, yet expected, tumble but overall, WWE is likely extremely happy at the number of people who tuned in and stayed for most of the show.

-- The Olympics on NBC was watched by a nightly high 16.36 million viewers, which while extremely high, was down from the prior week's 20.3 million. On the night, Raw was #1 on cable.

-- Hourly numbers were: