As expected, company sources say that WWE management is ecstatic with the 4.5 rating RAW pulled this week. The company is giving credit for the rise in viewer-ship to curiosity over what could happen with Donald Trump taking over the brand in storylines. They feel that the commercial-free aspect had much less to do with the ratings rise than Trump did.

This is leading at least one source to believe they haven’t seen the end of the Trump/McMahon saga, provided that Trump is willing to do more wrestling appearances. Vince and Donald are old friends, and the idea came together after USA asked WWE to do something big for the commercial-free show. WWE doesn’t get paid for commercials, so they didn’t take a loss.

Neither WWE nor USA Network are stressing the fact that John & Kate Plus 8 beat RAW in the ratings since the reality show is getting a ton of mainstream publicity. USA’s main concern is beating TNT, who they are currently in a cable ratings war with.