Top 25 Report: Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (August 2 to 8, 2015) Information
← Last week's report – Next week's report →
See the main page history for full editor credit.
Fighting From Top to Bottom: The charts are led this week by UFC women's champion Ronda Rousey, who won her last match at UFC 190 (#9) in 34 seconds. And at the bottom of the top 10 is Donald Trump, the highly improbable leading candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2016 Presidential elections. Of course, the election is 15 months away, which is light years in politics. The Top 10 also saw two high-profile deaths in British singer Cilla Black (#3), and American wrestler Roddy Piper (#8). Aside from American films, and another strong showing from Indian cinema, a few more American debate related topics appear further down the Top 25. (A bonus chart of the candidates ranked by views follows below.)
As prepared by Milowent, for the week of August 2 to 8, 2015, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages, were:
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes 1 Ronda Rousey 
2,049,053 
UFC 190 fell on August 1, which was the day before last week's report was published, so the reaction to that match, during which the undefeated UFC women's bantamweight champion beat Bethe Correia in 34 seconds in Correia's home town of Rio de Janeiro, really only came through this week. Still, she managed to get on the list last week too. Apparently Correia had been trash talking Rousey prior to the fight, which strikes me as a rather odd thing to do to someone who a) has never lost a fight and b) won her last fight in 14 seconds, except as a ploy to get better ratings. 2 A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 
933,223 
The sustained surge of views this former scientist and reluctant politician received upon his death last week at the age of 83 is merely a reflection of the regard in which he was held by his fellow Indians. A Muslim in a predominantly Hindu country, he rose to the very top of the political ladder, first as a developer of India's missile and nuclear programs, and then as President. Despite adhering to Islam, he considered himself an Indian and drew much inspiration from his country's Hindu heritage. As a result, his one term as President was one of the most popular in his country's history. A lifelong advocate of technology, he believed that India could become a developed country through embracing and expanding its knowledge base. 3 Cilla Black 
796,775 
Topics of purely British interest almost never make the top 25 (Britain's population can't compete with America or India, even if you factor in countries that share its pop culture, like Australia) and when they do they rarely reach this high. So that should tell any non-Brits reading this just how popular Cilla Black, who died this week, was in her home country. A native of Liverpool, she began her career as a singer in the innocent days of early 60s pop and achieved great success thanks to promotion by her fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles. She then became a fixture in British households for almost four decades, hosting a series of variety shows, game shows and hidden camera shows, eventually becoming the highest paid female performer in British television. Part of her appeal was that, unlike many in her position, she never abandoned her Liverpool roots, retaining her accent and mannerisms throughout her career. (This entry summary helpfully provided by Serendipodous, as my vague non-British knowledge of Ms. Black is limited to recalling some Smiths connection or homage to her in the past.) 4 Deadpool
793,190 
The article on this fictional Marvel Comics antihero surged in popularity on August 5 with the debut of a trailer for upcoming film of the same name starring Ryan Reynolds, which will be released on February 12, 2016, in North America. 5 Fantastic Four (2015 film) 
788,731 
Another Marvel Comics movie, including Miles Teller (pictured at left) among the top-billed cast, the film premiered in New York on August 4 and was released in theaters on August 7. The film was panned by critics and audiences alike and underperformed at the box office, earning only $25.7 million in North America during its opening weekend. However, a sequel is already scheduled to be released on June 9, 2017. 6 Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
719,059 
Up from #19 and 340,226 views last week. The box office draw of Tom Cruise (pictured) may have flagged of late, but he can always return to his signature franchise, which has yet to let him down. The fifth installment in the Mission: Impossible series was released on July 31 and had a hefty $56 million opening weekend, all but ensuring a part 6. 7 Bajrangi Bhaijaan
686,399 
Down from #4 and 948,650 views last week. Bollywood's Muslim-targeted counterprogramming to the raging box office tsunami of Baahubali: The Beginning, starring Hindu/Muslim superstar Salman Khan (pictured) and opening on Eid weekend, made Rs 2 billion ($31.2 million) in its first nine days, and earned support from legends like Shekhar Kapur. But Khan's tweets in apparent support of Yakub Memon have led to posters for the film being defaced in some areas. 8 Roddy Piper
646,146 
Down from #3 and 1,086,945 views last week. Wikipedia viewers love their wrestlers, and so the death of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, world-renowned WWF and WCW heel, at the relatively young age of 61, was bound to stir emotions. In the ring, "Hot Rod" played up his Scottish roots, affecting the rage of a Glaswegian football hooligan and entering to the sound of bagpipes, for which he was named (his real last name, incidentally, was Toombs, which you would think would be a perfectly acceptable wrestling name). 9 UFC 190 
638,825 
See #1. Performing better than UFC 189, which had 557K views when it appeared on the Top 25 a few weeks ago. And for whatever reason UFC 188 didn't make the list at all in June, but UFC 187 did in May. 10 Donald Trump
614,810 
The larger-than-life real estate developer and media personality nicknamed "The Donald" continues to flummox the American media, as Trump stood center stage in the first major Republican candidates debate on August 6, and is the candidate currently ranked highest in the polls. Many thought the questions he received from the Fox News anchors including Megyn Kelly (#15) were aimed at ending his reign, but subsequent polls suggest his lead is increasing. How do you explain this craziness? Well, first of all, it is almost 15 months until the U.S. presidential election. Outside the focused political media and hard core Republicans, no one cares yet! He won't be the nominee. As seen above, wrestling and UFC is more popular at this point, taking 3 of the top 10 spots. Second, a large core of Republicans fear illegal immigration, because they've been taught to fear it in order to draw votes away from Democratic candidates. Trump's frank talk on this issue (despite veering into likely racism) appeals to that base. Many Americans are simply watching Trump "for the lulz". 11 Baahubali: The Beginning (film)
585,767 
At $41 million, this sprawling, two-part historical epic is the most expensive film in Indian history (no, it isn't actually Bollywood, since it was made in South India, much to Bollywood's chagrin). Starring the Telugu actor Prabhas (pictured), the first part, subtitled "The Beginning", broke box office records upon its release on July 10, earning Rs 2.15 billion ($34 million) worldwide in just 5 days. 12 Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
584,389 
The 70th anniversary of the first atomic bombs, which brought an end to World War II, was noted last week. 13 Deaths in 2015 
543,758 
The viewing figures for this article have been remarkably constant; fluctuating week to week between 450 and 550 thousand, apparently heedless of who actually died. 14 Drishyam (2015 film)
465,313 
This Hindi film is the latest of several remakes of 2013's Malayalam language Drishyam, and was released on July 31. This version features Ajay Devgan (pictured). 15 Megyn Kelly
460,369 
See #10. The most sordid story to come out of Kelly's tough questions at the debate was Trump's later comment on CNN that she had "blood coming out of her eyes... blood coming out of her wherever." The word "wherever" was claimed by many to be a reference to menstruation, though that is far from clear from the audio of the comment, and Trump denied it. But that is where American politics are at the moment, arguing about whether the top polling opposition party candidate was making a crude period joke about a debate moderator. 16 Tillingdale
457,310 
Reddit learned that "millionaire Michael O'Leary, CEO of airline Ryanair, has his own taxicab company with just one cab so he can legally use the bus lanes and avoid traffic jams." 16 N.W.A
444,223 Straight Outta Compton, a film about the legendary hip-hop group, will be released on August 14. 17 Jon Stewart
440,621 
The American comic and host of the The Daily Show wrapped up the show last week after 15 years. 18 Dr. Dre
436,452 
One of the former and best known members of #16. 19 Réunion
412,855 
On the list for the second straight week. This tiny tropical paradise off the coast of Madagascar became the subject of intense interest after wreckage found on its shores was tentatively confirmed as belonging to the downed Malaysia Airlines flight 370. 20 Ben Carson
403,620 
Carson is another Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidential nomination, and like Trump one who has never served in an elected office. Though also a huge long-shot, his soft-spoken demeanor starkly contrasts with Trump, so it is interesting that he placed second to Trump among the debate candidates on this report. 21 Wet Hot American Summer
401,751 
Wet Hot American Summer is a 2001 American comedy film that was a commercial failure, but which apparently developed a cult-following. Netflix released an eight-episode prequel series on July 31. 22 Carly Fiorina
393,404 
Do non-Americans really want to hear anything more about the Republican candidates debate? (See #10, #14, #20.) Do Americans? Probably not. But for those wondering, Fiorina is the third candidate to appear on this report. Fiorina was not actually in the primetime debate, which featured 10 candidates, but was relegated to a second-tier debate of 7 other candidates. But she was widely seen at the winner of the junior debate, and now may find her herself promoted into the "Premier League" for the next debate in September. 23 Cecil (lion)
384,916 
News that a wayward American hunter had killed a resident lion at Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe has caused much controversy, though the event was little noticed inside the country. 24 Cristiane Justino
366,379 
Justino is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and current Invicta FC World Featherweight Champion. She is also the next likely opponent of Ronda Rousey (#1). 25 The Gift (2015 film)
364,835 
This American psychological thriller film was released on August 7 to favorable reviews.
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US Republican Presidential candidates
Rank Candidate Views 1 Donald Trump 614,810 2 Ben Carson 403,620 3 Carly Fiorina 393,404 4 John Kasich 214,815 5 Jeb Bush 204,989 6 Ted Cruz 184,220 7 Marco Rubio 173,578 8 Rand Paul 131,158 9 Chris Christie 86,011 10 Bobby Jindal 66,431 11 Scott Walker 65,585 12 Lindsay Graham 58,671 13 Mike Huckabee 55,729 14 Rick Perry 37,395 15 Rick Santorum 33,657 16 Jim Gilmore 30,236 17 George Pataki 27,769
- This list excludes the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we also exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (~2% or less) or almost all mobile views (~95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish.
- Note: If you came here from the Signpost article, please take any discussion of exclusions to this article's talk page.
Top 25 Report: Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (August 2 to 8, 2015) Information
← Last week's report – Next week's report →
See the main page history for full editor credit.
Fighting From Top to Bottom: The charts are led this week by UFC women's champion Ronda Rousey, who won her last match at UFC 190 (#9) in 34 seconds. And at the bottom of the top 10 is Donald Trump, the highly improbable leading candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2016 Presidential elections. Of course, the election is 15 months away, which is light years in politics. The Top 10 also saw two high-profile deaths in British singer Cilla Black (#3), and American wrestler Roddy Piper (#8). Aside from American films, and another strong showing from Indian cinema, a few more American debate related topics appear further down the Top 25. (A bonus chart of the candidates ranked by views follows below.)
As prepared by Milowent, for the week of August 2 to 8, 2015, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages, were:
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes 1 Ronda Rousey
2,049,053 UFC 190 fell on August 1, which was the day before last week's report was published, so the reaction to that match, during which the undefeated UFC women's bantamweight champion beat Bethe Correia in 34 seconds in Correia's home town of Rio de Janeiro, really only came through this week. Still, she managed to get on the list last week too. Apparently Correia had been trash talking Rousey prior to the fight, which strikes me as a rather odd thing to do to someone who a) has never lost a fight and b) won her last fight in 14 seconds, except as a ploy to get better ratings. 2 A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
933,223 The sustained surge of views this former scientist and reluctant politician received upon his death last week at the age of 83 is merely a reflection of the regard in which he was held by his fellow Indians. A Muslim in a predominantly Hindu country, he rose to the very top of the political ladder, first as a developer of India's missile and nuclear programs, and then as President. Despite adhering to Islam, he considered himself an Indian and drew much inspiration from his country's Hindu heritage. As a result, his one term as President was one of the most popular in his country's history. A lifelong advocate of technology, he believed that India could become a developed country through embracing and expanding its knowledge base. 3 Cilla Black
796,775 Topics of purely British interest almost never make the top 25 (Britain's population can't compete with America or India, even if you factor in countries that share its pop culture, like Australia) and when they do they rarely reach this high. So that should tell any non-Brits reading this just how popular Cilla Black, who died this week, was in her home country. A native of Liverpool, she began her career as a singer in the innocent days of early 60s pop and achieved great success thanks to promotion by her fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles. She then became a fixture in British households for almost four decades, hosting a series of variety shows, game shows and hidden camera shows, eventually becoming the highest paid female performer in British television. Part of her appeal was that, unlike many in her position, she never abandoned her Liverpool roots, retaining her accent and mannerisms throughout her career. (This entry summary helpfully provided by Serendipodous, as my vague non-British knowledge of Ms. Black is limited to recalling some Smiths connection or homage to her in the past.) 4 Deadpool
793,190 The article on this fictional Marvel Comics antihero surged in popularity on August 5 with the debut of a trailer for upcoming film of the same name starring Ryan Reynolds, which will be released on February 12, 2016, in North America. 5 Fantastic Four (2015 film)
788,731 Another Marvel Comics movie, including Miles Teller (pictured at left) among the top-billed cast, the film premiered in New York on August 4 and was released in theaters on August 7. The film was panned by critics and audiences alike and underperformed at the box office, earning only $25.7 million in North America during its opening weekend. However, a sequel is already scheduled to be released on June 9, 2017. 6 Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
719,059 Up from #19 and 340,226 views last week. The box office draw of Tom Cruise (pictured) may have flagged of late, but he can always return to his signature franchise, which has yet to let him down. The fifth installment in the Mission: Impossible series was released on July 31 and had a hefty $56 million opening weekend, all but ensuring a part 6. 7 Bajrangi Bhaijaan
686,399 Down from #4 and 948,650 views last week. Bollywood's Muslim-targeted counterprogramming to the raging box office tsunami of Baahubali: The Beginning, starring Hindu/Muslim superstar Salman Khan (pictured) and opening on Eid weekend, made Rs 2 billion ($31.2 million) in its first nine days, and earned support from legends like Shekhar Kapur. But Khan's tweets in apparent support of Yakub Memon have led to posters for the film being defaced in some areas. 8 Roddy Piper
646,146 Down from #3 and 1,086,945 views last week. Wikipedia viewers love their wrestlers, and so the death of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, world-renowned WWF and WCW heel, at the relatively young age of 61, was bound to stir emotions. In the ring, "Hot Rod" played up his Scottish roots, affecting the rage of a Glaswegian football hooligan and entering to the sound of bagpipes, for which he was named (his real last name, incidentally, was Toombs, which you would think would be a perfectly acceptable wrestling name). 9 UFC 190
638,825 See #1. Performing better than UFC 189, which had 557K views when it appeared on the Top 25 a few weeks ago. And for whatever reason UFC 188 didn't make the list at all in June, but UFC 187 did in May. 10 Donald Trump
614,810 The larger-than-life real estate developer and media personality nicknamed "The Donald" continues to flummox the American media, as Trump stood center stage in the first major Republican candidates debate on August 6, and is the candidate currently ranked highest in the polls. Many thought the questions he received from the Fox News anchors including Megyn Kelly (#15) were aimed at ending his reign, but subsequent polls suggest his lead is increasing. How do you explain this craziness? Well, first of all, it is almost 15 months until the U.S. presidential election. Outside the focused political media and hard core Republicans, no one cares yet! He won't be the nominee. As seen above, wrestling and UFC is more popular at this point, taking 3 of the top 10 spots. Second, a large core of Republicans fear illegal immigration, because they've been taught to fear it in order to draw votes away from Democratic candidates. Trump's frank talk on this issue (despite veering into likely racism) appeals to that base. Many Americans are simply watching Trump "for the lulz". 11 Baahubali: The Beginning (film)
585,767 At $41 million, this sprawling, two-part historical epic is the most expensive film in Indian history (no, it isn't actually Bollywood, since it was made in South India, much to Bollywood's chagrin). Starring the Telugu actor Prabhas (pictured), the first part, subtitled "The Beginning", broke box office records upon its release on July 10, earning Rs 2.15 billion ($34 million) worldwide in just 5 days. 12 Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
584,389 The 70th anniversary of the first atomic bombs, which brought an end to World War II, was noted last week. 13 Deaths in 2015
543,758 The viewing figures for this article have been remarkably constant; fluctuating week to week between 450 and 550 thousand, apparently heedless of who actually died. 14 Drishyam (2015 film)
465,313 This Hindi film is the latest of several remakes of 2013's Malayalam language Drishyam, and was released on July 31. This version features Ajay Devgan (pictured). 15 Megyn Kelly
460,369 See #10. The most sordid story to come out of Kelly's tough questions at the debate was Trump's later comment on CNN that she had "blood coming out of her eyes... blood coming out of her wherever." The word "wherever" was claimed by many to be a reference to menstruation, though that is far from clear from the audio of the comment, and Trump denied it. But that is where American politics are at the moment, arguing about whether the top polling opposition party candidate was making a crude period joke about a debate moderator. 16 Tillingdale
457,310 Reddit learned that "millionaire Michael O'Leary, CEO of airline Ryanair, has his own taxicab company with just one cab so he can legally use the bus lanes and avoid traffic jams." 16 N.W.A
444,223 Straight Outta Compton, a film about the legendary hip-hop group, will be released on August 14. 17 Jon Stewart
440,621 The American comic and host of the The Daily Show wrapped up the show last week after 15 years. 18 Dr. Dre
436,452 One of the former and best known members of #16. 19 Réunion
412,855 On the list for the second straight week. This tiny tropical paradise off the coast of Madagascar became the subject of intense interest after wreckage found on its shores was tentatively confirmed as belonging to the downed Malaysia Airlines flight 370. 20 Ben Carson
403,620 Carson is another Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidential nomination, and like Trump one who has never served in an elected office. Though also a huge long-shot, his soft-spoken demeanor starkly contrasts with Trump, so it is interesting that he placed second to Trump among the debate candidates on this report. 21 Wet Hot American Summer
401,751 Wet Hot American Summer is a 2001 American comedy film that was a commercial failure, but which apparently developed a cult-following. Netflix released an eight-episode prequel series on July 31. 22 Carly Fiorina
393,404 Do non-Americans really want to hear anything more about the Republican candidates debate? (See #10, #14, #20.) Do Americans? Probably not. But for those wondering, Fiorina is the third candidate to appear on this report. Fiorina was not actually in the primetime debate, which featured 10 candidates, but was relegated to a second-tier debate of 7 other candidates. But she was widely seen at the winner of the junior debate, and now may find her herself promoted into the "Premier League" for the next debate in September. 23 Cecil (lion)
384,916 News that a wayward American hunter had killed a resident lion at Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe has caused much controversy, though the event was little noticed inside the country. 24 Cristiane Justino
366,379 Justino is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and current Invicta FC World Featherweight Champion. She is also the next likely opponent of Ronda Rousey (#1). 25 The Gift (2015 film)
364,835 This American psychological thriller film was released on August 7 to favorable reviews.
US Republican Presidential candidates
Rank Candidate Views 1 Donald Trump 614,810 2 Ben Carson 403,620 3 Carly Fiorina 393,404 4 John Kasich 214,815 5 Jeb Bush 204,989 6 Ted Cruz 184,220 7 Marco Rubio 173,578 8 Rand Paul 131,158 9 Chris Christie 86,011 10 Bobby Jindal 66,431 11 Scott Walker 65,585 12 Lindsay Graham 58,671 13 Mike Huckabee 55,729 14 Rick Perry 37,395 15 Rick Santorum 33,657 16 Jim Gilmore 30,236 17 George Pataki 27,769
- This list excludes the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we also exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (~2% or less) or almost all mobile views (~95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish.
- Note: If you came here from the Signpost article, please take any discussion of exclusions to this article's talk page.