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BY THE NUMBERS: TAKING A LOOK BACK AT THE WEEK IN WRESTLING FROM WWE, TNA, AND ROH (PLUS A LOOK BACK AT JULY'S TOTALS)

The first week with a ‘real’ three hour episode of Raw without the bells and whistles of the 1000th episode and we had one of the best weeks of wrestling since I started this column. With ten hours of wrestling available, we had three hours of wrestling on the six shows.

Last week I had the averages for the prior three hour episodes and this week’s show did slightly better than the norm with forty-four minutes of wrestling. It is no surprise that Raw won the week because with the extra hour of wrestling and as long as they get close to their average, they should have a long streak. Impact finished in second place, four minutes ahead of Smackdown. Each show had more than thirty minutes of wrestling. The one hour shows all had more than twenty minutes of wrestling, led by NXT.

The 180 minute total matched the highest total for any week, a record that stood alone for eighty-two weeks. In a bit of what could only be considered a coincidence, Raw had forty-four minutes of wrestling that week as well. The twenty-two minutes for Ring of Honor was the highest last place total in ten weeks when we did not have Ring of Honor and Smackdown and Raw finished in last lace with twenty-four minutes of wrestling.

In addition to tying the total for the most wrestling in a week, the nine matches of ten minutes or more broke the record of eight match that was most recently tied in week 92. Every show this week had a ten minute match with Raw having three and Impact having two.

In the past, I have lamented the number of short matches on some shows and how they affect the per match average. In the previous ten weeks, there were fifty-six shows that had matches that qualified for this column and ten had an average match length under four minutes with three shows under three minutes per match. This week, the lowest total was five minutes per match. The last time every show was at or above five minutes per match, was week 92.

Another milestone was passed with the ten minute matches. The Sheamus versus Tensai match on Smackdown was the four hundredth ten minute match. On the other side of the ledger, Smackdown moves even closer to joining Raw with one hundred one minute matches. The next match will put them in that category. With five consecutive weeks with a one minute match, it is likely that Smackdown will hit that mark next week.

Raw passed thirty-three hundred minutes this week. Next week should see NXT pass nineteen hundred minutes, Superstars pass twenty-six hundred minutes, and Impact pass thirty-three hundred minutes.

We moved into August during this week, so it is time to take a brief look back at July. I have the detailed totals for the month at the bottom of the column, but I wanted to put the month’s totals into perspective for the year.

For the year, we are only seventeen minutes shy of four thousand minutes on television. Impact continues to lead the pack with 814 minutes with Smackdown holding down the silver at 766 minutes and Raw taking the bronze for the year with 729 minutes. Of the one hour shows, Superstars leads with 622 minutes followed by NXT with 572 minutes and Ring of Honor bringing up the rear with 480 minutes. The Ring of Honor totals are lower than the rest despite having the highest per hour average because they have had seven weeks without matches that qualified for the column.

Raw had their best month with 131 minutes of wrestling, but also had the most wrestling of any month with twelve hours. Raw beat its June totals by 6 minutes. Even with the most wrestling of any show, they did not have their worst per hour average. The 131 minutes matches Impact’s March total for the most wrestling on a show in a single month.

NXT saw a one minute increase from June clocking in at 91 minutes for the four shows. This was their second best month of the year, behind May, which had an extra show.

Superstars dropped three months from its June totals and fell in the middle of the pack for the year with the fourth best month with 89 minutes.

Impact had their fourth best month of the year but were up eleven minutes from July with 120 minutes of wrestling. Two of the months that saw better totals than July were months with five Thursdays, giving viewers an extra episode of Impact.

Smackdown had their fourth best month of the year with 115 minutes and fell twenty minutes from their high in June. They were also one month below their total for May.

Ring of Honor had their lowest total for the year, but with only two shows to have matches that qualified for the column, with 36 minutes of wrestling, they were five minutes below their total for April when there were also two episodes that qualified.

The overall totals for the month saw 582 minutes of wrestling on 38 possible hours of wrestling. The total amount of hours was the fourth highest total for a single month. The amount of wrestling was also the fourth highest total but 51 minutes lower than June and 64 minutes lower than the high mark for the year in May.

There were 115 wrestling matches on television in July, the fourth highest total for the year, falling eight behind June, two behind May, and one behind March. Raw’s 31 matches were the second highest total for a single show in a month, two matches behind Smackdown’s June total.

On pay per view, we had 198 minutes of wrestling in 16 matches. The amount of wrestling was the second highest total for a single month but the highest for a month with only two pay per views. July’s totals only failed to eclipse May’s 308 minutes when there were three pay per views. The match totals were fourth highest for a month this year.

Overall, we have had 5,307 minutes of wrestling on television and pay per view with 1,324 on pay per view and 3,983 on television. At this point in 2011, we had 4,940 minutes of wrestling with 1,345 on pay per view and 3,595 on television. The television totals were down due to Ring of Honor leaving the air at the start of April and not returning until September.

The wrestling times below cover the wrestling that takes place during the show so commercials are not included. All times are rounded to the closest minute (examples: a 4:23 match will be listed as 4 minutes while a 4:32 match will be listed as 5 minutes and anything under a minute is rounded up to a minute).

Breakdown of the matches on each show:

WWE Raw
Santino Marella versus Alberto Del Rio: 4 Minutes
Daniel Bryan versus Sheamus: 11 Minutes
Titus O’Neil versus Kofi Kingston: 3 Minutes
Randy Orton versus Heath Slater: 1 Minute
Christian and Chris Jericho versus Dolph Ziggler and Miz: 10 Minutes
Tyson Kidd versus Tensai: 2 Minutes
John Cena versus Big Show: 13 Minutes

WWE NXT
Richie Steamboat versus Leo Kruger: 8 Minutes
Big E. Langston versus Adam Mercer: 2 Minutes
Raquel Diaz versus Audrey Marie: 2 Minutes
Hunico and Camacho versus Jason Jordan and Mike Dalton: 4 Minutes
Seth Rollins versus Drew McIntyre: 10 Minutes

WWE Superstars
Tyson Kidd versus Heath Slater: 8 Minutes
Layla El versus Natalya: 5 Minutes
Cody Rhodes versus Justin Gabriel: 11 Minutes

TNA Impact
Austin Aries and Kenny King versus Zema Ion and Bobby Roode: 11 Minutes
Bully Ray versus Robbie E: 1 Minute
Gail Kim versus Madison Rayne versus Mickie James versus Tara: 7 Minutes
Kid Kash versus Chavo Guerrero Junior: 5 Minutes
James Storm versus Kurt Angle: 10 Minutes

WWE Smackdown
Sheamus versus Tensai: 10 Minutes
Antonio Cesaro versus Santino Marella: 3 Minutes
Chris Jericho, Kane, and Christian versus Miz, Daniel Bryan, and Dolph Ziggler: 8 Minutes
Ryback versus Jinder Mahal: 1 Minute
Darren Young versus R Truth: 2 Minutes
Alberto Del Rio versus Randy Orton: 6 Minutes

Ring of Honor
The Briscoes versus the Guardians of Truth: 7 Minutes
Lance Storm versus Mike Bennett: 15 Minutes

This Week’s Totals

Total Amount of Wrestling on Shows:

WWE Raw: 44 Minutes in 7 Matches (last week: 22 Minutes)
TNA Impact: 34 Minutes in 5 Matches (last week: 31 Minutes)
WWE Smackdown: 30 Minutes in 6 Matches (last week 37 Minutes)
WWE NXT: 26 Minutes in 5 Matches (last week: 19 Minutes)
WWE Superstars: 24 Minutes in 3 Matches (last week 18 Minutes)
Ring of Honor: 22 Minutes in 2 Matches (last week: 16 Minutes)

Total Wrestling for the Week: 180 Minutes in 28 Matches (Last Week: 143 Minutes in 27 Matches)

Hourly Averages
WWE NXT: 26 Minutes (up from 19 Minutes)
WWE Superstars: 24 Minutes (up from 18 Minutes)
Ring of Honor: 22 Minutes (up from 16 Minutes)
TNA Impact: 17 Minutes (up from 15.5 Minutes)
WWE Smackdown: 15 Minutes (down from 18.5 Minutes)
WWE Raw: 14.67 Minutes (up from 7.33 Minutes)

Per Match Averages (this week):
Ring of Honor: 11 Minutes (up from 5.33 Minutes)
WWE Superstars: 8 Minutes (up from 6 Minutes)
TNA Impact: 6.8 Minutes (up from 6.2 Minutes)
WWE Raw: 6.29 Minutes (up from 4.4 Minutes)
WWE NXT: 5.2 Minutes (up from 3.8 Minutes)
WWE Smackdown: 5 Minutes (down from 6.17 Minutes)

Longest Matches
Lance Storm versus Mike Bennett: 15 Minutes (Ring of Honor August 4)
John Cena versus Big Show: 13 Minutes (WWE Raw July 30)
Daniel Bryan versus Sheamus: 11 Minutes (WWE Raw July 30)
Cody Rhodes versus Justin Gabriel: 11 Minutes (WWE Superstars August 2)
Austin Aries and Kenny King versus Zema Ion and Bobby Roode: 11 Minutes (TNA Impact August 2)

Shortest Matches
Ryback versus Jinder Mahal: 1 Minute (WWE Smackdown August 3)
Bully Ray versus Robbie E: 1 Minute (TNA Impact August 2)
Randy Orton versus Heath Slater: 1 Minute (WWE Raw July 30)

Overall Totals

Total Wrestling Time by Show
WWE Smackdown: 3,543 Minutes
WWE Raw: 3.322 Minutes
TNA Impact: 3,280 Minutes
WWE Superstars: 2,586 Minutes
[On WGN: 1,153 Minutes]
[On WWE.com: 1,433 Minutes]
Ring of Honor: 2,126 Minutes
[On HDNet: 1,350 Minutes]
[On Sinclair: 776 Minutes]
WWE NXT: 1,898 Minutes
[Season 6: 154 Minutes]
[Season 5: 1,164 Minutes]
[Season 4: 161 Minutes]
[Season 3: 90 Minutes]
[Season 2: 158 Minutes]
[Season 1: 171 Minutes]

Overall Wrestling Time: 16,755 Minutes

Total Number of Matches by Show
WWE Raw: 744 Matches
WWE Smackdown: 721 Matches
TNA Impact: 663 Matches
WWE Superstars: 426 Matches
[On WGN: 194 Matches]
[On WWE.com: 232 Matches]
WWE NXT: 355 Matches
[Season 6: 34 Matches]
[Season 5: 197 Matches]
[Season 4: 29 Matches]
[Season 3: 24 Matches]
[Season 2: 31 Matches]
[Season 1: 40 Matches]
Ring of Honor: 270 Matches
[On HDNet: 174 Matches]
[On Sinclair: 96 Matches]

Total Number of Matches: 3,179

Hourly Averages
Ring of Honor: 23.89 Minutes (down from 23.91 Minutes)
[On HDNet: 25.96 Minutes]
[On Sinclair: 20.97 Minutes (up from 20.94 Minutes)]
WWE Superstars: 20.36 Minutes (up from 20.33 Minutes)
[On WWE.com: 21.07 Minutes (up from 21.03 Minutes)]
[On WGN: 19.54 Minutes]
Overall Average: 14.93 Minutes (up from 14.906 Minutes)
WWE NXT: 14.94 Minutes (up from 14.86 Minutes)
[Season 6: 22 Minutes (up from 21.33 Minutes)]
[Season 5: 17.64 Minutes]
[Season 4: 12.38 Minutes]
[Season 3: 6.92 Minutes]
[Season 2: 12.15 Minutes]
[Season 1: 11.4 Minutes]
WWE Smackdown: 13.84 Minutes (up from 13.83 Minutes)
TNA Impact: 12.91 Minutes (up from 12.88 Minutes)
WWE Raw: 12.35 Minutes (up from 12.32 Minutes)

Per Match Averages
Ring of Honor: 7.87 Minutes (up from 7.85 Minutes)
[On Sinclair: 8.08 Minutes (down from 8.02 Minutes)]
[On HDNet: 7.76 Minutes]
WWE Superstars: 6.07 Minutes (up from 6.056 Minutes)
[On WWE.com: 6.18 Minutes (up from 6.153 Minutes)]
[On WGN: 5.94 Minutes]
WWE NXT: 5.346 Minutes (down from 5.348 Minutes)
[Season 6: 4.53 Minutes (up from 4.41 Minutes)]
[Season 5: 5.91 Minutes]
[Season 4: 5.55 Minutes]
[Season 3: 3.75 Minutes]
[Season 2: 5.1 Minutes]
[Season 1: 4.28 Minutes]
Overall Average: Minutes (up from 5.26 Minutes)
TNA Impact: 4.95 Minutes (up from 4.93 Minutes)
WWE Smackdown: 4.914 Minutes (up from 4.913 Minutes)
WWE Raw: 4.47 Minutes (up from 4.447 Minutes)

Longest Matches
Tyler Black versus Davey Richards: 27 Minutes (Ring of Honor October 18, 2010)
Davey Richards and The Briscoes versus Roderick Strong and the Kings of Wrestling: 26 Minutes (Ring of Honor April 4, 2011)
John Cena, CM Punk, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne, and Mason Ryan versus Alberto Del Rio, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and David Otunga: 21 Minutes (WWE Raw October 3, 2011)

Shortest Matches
288 Total Matches at 1 Minute

The Last Ten Matches that Qualified:
Ryback versus Jinder Mahal: 1 Minute (WWE Smackdown August 3)
Bully Ray versus Robbie E: 1 Minute (TNA Impact August 2)
Randy Orton versus Heath Slater: 1 Minute (WWE Raw July 30)
Rhino versus Rocco Abruzzi: 1 Minute (Ring of Honor July 28)
Damien Sandow versus Yoshi Tatsu: 1 Minute (WWE Smackdown July 27)
Brodus Clay versus Jack Swagger: 1 Minute (WWE Raw July 23)
Damien Sandow versus Zack Ryder: 1 Minute (WWE Smackdown July 20)
Heath Slater versus Road Warrior Animal: 1 Minute (WWE Smackdown July 20)
Rikishi versus Heath Slater: 1 Minute (WWE Raw July 16)
Damien Sandow versus Justin Gabriel: 1 Minute (WWE Smackdown July 13)

With July in the books, here is a look at the totals for the month on television and pay per view:

Overall Totals

Television

Pay Per View

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