Did Vince McMahon's retirement boost the ratings for WWE SmackDown?
WWE SmackDown saw a big boost in ratings following Vince McMahon's resignation from the promotion.
McMahon retired from the promotion just a few hours before last Friday's edition of SmackDown went on air. Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon were named as the Co-CEOs of the promotion, with Triple H taking over the creative aspects.
According to Brandon Thurston of WrestleNomics, the blue brand saw a massive increase in viewers this week. Friday's episode of SmackDown brought in 2.256 million viewers, up 8.6% from the previous week.
The show also drew a 0.62 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, an astounding 32% increase from last week.
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WWE Smackdown on Fox, Friday 8-10pm:
2,256,000 viewers
P18-49: 0.62
#1 for Friday in P18-49.
AEW Rampage on TNT, 10-11pm:
428,000 viewers
P18-49: 0.17
#6 among cable originals, #20 including broadcast primetime. Highest demo since April.
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What happened on WWE SmackDown last week?
Stephanie McMahon, WWE's new Co-CEO, kicked off the show and led a "thank you Vince!" chant with the fans to honor her father.
In the main event, the Undisputed Tag Team Champions The Usos teamed up with Money in the Bank winner Theory to battle Street Profits and Madcap Moss in a six-man tag team match. The bout ended in disqualification as Theory, and The Usos had a fallout.
Brock Lesnar arrived at the show's conclusion, attacked Theory with the MITB briefcase, and hit him with an F5 for good measure. Lesnar will battle Roman Reigns in a Last Man Standing match at SummerSlam this Saturday.
Liv Morgan and Ronda Rousey had a brief face-to-face backstage to promote their upcoming SmackDown Women's Championship match at WWE SummerSlam.
Happy Corbin attacked Pat McAfee once again, and the two are set to battle at the premium live event on July 30th. Ludwig Kaiser defeated Shinsuke Nakamura after Intercontinental Champion Gunther interfered.
With SummerSlam fast approaching, SmackDown will look to put together another stellar show this week. It remains to be seen whether fans will witness another appearance from Brock Lesnar as we head to the Biggest Party of the Summer.
Do you think Lesnar will attack Reigns ahead of SummerSlam? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.