WWE Raw Ratings (three year look) with graphs by wrestler

I wrote a new piece at WhatCulture looking at the top Raw Viewership movers over a three-year period.  I refreshed all of my data and included some rating change calculations (as opposed to just viewership #s) so I would have a deeper dataset that covered more weeks.  Then I made an Excel macro that looked at the trending data (red dots) vs individual observations (blue dots) for the top 90 appearing wrestlers which you can see by clicking on individual's names.  (Full piece up at https://sites.google.com/site/chrisharrington/mookieghana-prowrestlingstatistics/wwe_raw_ratings_2011_2013 )

Wrestler	Count	Average
AJ	48	3,354
Aksana	9	(293,667)
Alberto Del Rio	119	25,218
Alex Riley	37	161,911
Alicia Fox	29	(188,556)
Antonio Cesaro	44	(139,364)
Battle Royal	18	78,166
Beth Phoenix	20	(125,200)
Big E Langston	15	(95,267)
Big Show	74	158,822
Brad Maddox	16	178,813
Bray Wyatt	10	(178,600)
Brie Bella	39	(252,796)
Brock Lesnar	23	450,435
Brodus Clay	48	(75,083)
Chris Jericho	58	78,840
Christian	34	(36,176)
CM Punk	158	272,788
Cody Rhodes	71	(104,573)
Curtis Axel	14	222,786
Damien Sandow	47	(164,000)
Daniel Bryan	142	47,800
Darren Young	28	(129,571)
David Otunga	51	(46,911)
Dean Ambrose	50	154,048
Dolph Ziggler	140	(25,618)
Drew McIntyre	27	(167,082)
Edge	14	122,484
Epico	22	(208,955)
Evan Bourne	26	(233,437)
Eve Torres	61	(82,497)
Ezekiel Jackson	10	62,095
Fandango	26	(204,308)
Great Khali	31	(107,965)
Heath Slater	53	(62,335)
HHH	58	349,119
Jack Swagger	89	(120,165)
Jerry Lawler	29	158,108
Jim Ross	9	417,657
Jinder Mahal	29	(156,138)
John Cena	201	389,007
John Laurinaitis	37	219,892
John Morrison	45	(86,383)
Justin Gabriel	23	13,998
Kaitlyn	26	(77,846)
Kane	93	50,746
Kelly Kelly	29	(191,425)
Kofi Kingston	90	(188,258)
Layla	26	(231,994)
Mark Henry	68	48,779
Maryse	13	(148,950)
Mason Ryan	9	(226,111)
Melina	12	(105,809)
Michael Cole	27	84,462
Michael McGillicutty	18	(293,749)
Mick Foley	9	543,000
Miz	151	125,606
Naomi	11	(364,364)
Natalya	34	(203,896)
Nexus	9	149,892
Nikki Bella	31	(265,131)
Paul Heyman	50	319,540
Primo	24	(192,125)
Randy Orton	112	102,425
Rey Mysterio	39	8,340
Ricardo Rodriguez	13	(29,462)
Rock	35	431,514
Roman Reigns	50	170,528
R-Truth	94	12,302
RVD	9	(52,000)
Ryback	64	104,469
Santino Marella	74	(208,406)
Seth Rollins	51	160,753
Shawn Michaels	16	267,188
Sheamus	125	11,769
Sin Cara	37	(65,865)
Stephanie McMahon	15	167,667
Tamina	12	(88,984)
Ted DiBiase	18	(95,475)
Tensai	38	(48,421)
Titus O'Neil	28	(138,500)
Tyson Kidd	20	(103,444)
Undertaker	15	474,933
Usos	22	(194,307)
Vickie Guerrero	52	89,955
Vince McMahon	25	334,790
Vladimir Kozlov	12	(11,460)
Wade Barrett	65	66,828
Zack Ryder	66	(170,888)
Zeb Colter	9	(87,556)

Please note that these numbers are over three years, include overrun, are evenly weighted and include some noise (such as video packages).  I've said it before and I'll say it again: It's an imperfect science.  But there's some interesting things to be see, particularly in the 3-month trend lines.

For instance, look at R-Truth:

You can see how when he started working against Cena & the Rock, his numbers were huge.  Then they returned to normal, which is no real impact.  This says a lot that if WWE puts you in the spotlight, especially in the overrun segment, you're going to seem like a star.  The question is just can you make a difference over the long run, especially when you're not in just in the top slot?

Another interesting test case is Mark Henry.  .  

When he's treated like a main eventer, there's flashes of being a big deal, but other times, he's just another guy

It's easy to contrast that with John Cena who is always large and in charge.  

This is a three-month trending line (with a minimum of four appearance to earn a red dot) so you'll see a complete line even though Cena has been out periodically for his injuries.

And if we're going to talk about top guys, behold Randall Orton:

At live events he certainly gets loud reactions, but he hasn't been someone who meant a lot over the long haul, at least not since 2012.  You do see the swell towards the end of the dataset (which went through 10/7/13) where he was increasingly returning the top of the card to feud with (who else) John Cena and Big Show.

Speaking of Paul Wight:

Big Show actually made my top 16 positive rating movers list.

That's unlike some of the newer faces - Dolph Ziggler, Big E Langston, Cesaro, Fandango, Sandow:

Then you have the divas, which are often put in the death spot.  And it shows.

Next to Cena, CM Punk was probably the next regular performer with a strong track record:

The other proven group was The Shield (i'll show three, but it's all really the same story):

Lastly, there's Mr. Beardhat. (Seriously, what the hell?!)

Daniel Bryan's numbers aren't stunning.  Again, it's going to be function of when you're pushed and when you're in the overrun segments, but until the last quarter, he was below average.  However, the wild swings suggest there might be some momentum and future for him as a top level guy; we'll just have to see how it plays out!

Certainly, some food for thought.