WWE News: SmackDown LIVE viewership rises for the final episode before WrestleMania 33
What’s the story?
This week's WWE SmackDown LIVE attained impeccable ratings as it saw an overall increase in its viewership, registering a staggering 2.698 million viewers as compared to previous week’s viewership of 2.647 million.
This was the final SmackDown episode before Sunday's WrestleMania 33 pay-per-view. On the other hand, Monday Night RAW also witnessed a rise in their viewership from last week's 3.048 million to 3.292 million viewers.
In case you didn’t know...
The 28th March 2017 episode of SmackDown which took place at Richmond Coliseum in Virginia featured Bray Wyatt taking on his former protege Luke Harper in the main event.
Also read: 5 things SmackDown LIVE does better than Raw
Shane McMahon and AJ Styles’ were also seen in a contract signing segment followed by a hilarious conclusion to Miz and Maryse’s ‘Total Bellas’ parody. Another highlight of the show was the return of the former SmackDown LIVE Women’s Champion Naomi, who declared herself fit to contest for the title at WrestleMania 33.
The heart of the matter
SmackDown was ranked at #5 in terms of total viewership on cable for the night, behind Fixer Upper, Rachel Maddow, Tucker Carlson and The O'Reilly Factor. However, SmackDown stood at #1 in the 18-49 demographic.
Below is the episode-wise ratings of SmackDown in 2017 according to the SmackDown Viewership Tracker:
- January 3rd Episode: 2.596 million viewers
- January 10th Episode: 2.533 million viewers
- January 17th Episode: 2.652 million viewers
- January 24th Episode: 2.556 million viewers
- January 31st Episode: 2.817 million viewers
- February 7th Episode: 2.627 million viewers
- February 14th Episode: 2.626 million viewers
- February 21st Episode: 2.792 million viewers
- February 28th Episode: 2.566 million viewers
- March 7th Episode: 2.738 million viewers
- March 14th Episode: 2.628 million viewers
- March 21st Episode: 2.647 million viewers
- March 28th Episode: 2.698 million viewers
What’s next?
Several SmackDown matches will be taking place on April 2nd at WrestleMania 33. The spotlight will primarily be on the WWE World Championship match between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt, however, the John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse match has also gained significant traction in the past few weeks.
Elsewhere, AJ Styles will be taking on Shane McMahon, which is also a match that the fans are looking forward to.
Author’s take
The latest SmackDown LIVE episode was a lot more promo heavy than usual and it resulted in a bit of a mixed bag. While some fans were satisfied seeing the storylines take shape heading into WrestleMania 33, others weren’t really optimistic about certain segments.
Regardless of how the fans felt, SmackDown’s side of the Road to WrestleMania has had a brilliant run.
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