While there's a lot of controversy over WWE choosing to have the Rusev and Lana divorce court storyline close the show on Monday, there's a reason.

The ratings in WWE may be declining and the WWE Universe may be complaining about the Rusev, Lana and Bobby Lashley storyline taking up so much valuable time on tv each week, but there's a reason WWE is going all in on the angle and it got the main event slot on Monday.

YouTube numbers for the segment are through the roof.

While USA Network might not directly see the revenue coming as a result of this Attitude-era-like storyline, the YouTube hits for the segment are skyrocketing and WWE believes that this could translate over to better ratings. It's also clear, WWE is making a ton of money on the YouTube content being so popular.

The video on WWE’s official YouTube account for the segment that aired only a few hours ago is already at close to 3 million views. That equates to some pretty strong revenue when you consider ads, connections to merchandise and other ways WWE profits off having such strong social media statistics.

It's also apparent, WWE believes that strong YouTube numbers may, eventually, equate to viewers tuning into USA to see the entire storyline unfold, not just a portion of it.

The next closest segment to that video on YouTube from Monday's show was Seth using the forklift to pin Rowan.

YouTube Is An Indicator For WWE

You may notice how often a talent like Brock Lesnar gets the Universal Championship or other belts and opportunities despite being so seldom used. That's because, in part, he's among the most viral of WWE's stars when it comes to YouTube hits.

These love triangle segments may get critiqued by fans, but many of those same fans are watching them. Whether they watch them on television or YouTube, until fans don't click on the videos and the numbers aren't high, the storyline will likely continue.

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