WWE News: Smackdown Live viewership up this week

Smackdown Live did better this week

Last night’s episode of Smackdown Live featured a tag team match main event where The Viper Randy Orton & Kane took on The Eater Of Worlds Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper. The show was the fall-out of No Mercy. 

There were 5 matches in total, added to the upset of the world’s most beloved enhancement talent James Ellsworth defeating AJ Styles to earn a WWE World Championship match next week.

The fall-out show seems to have done well, as the ratings this week were up to 2.448 million viewers and 0.79 in the demographic rating, which was up 5.7% and 11% from last week’s 2.316 million viewers and 0.71 demo rating respectively. 

They were the best numbers for Smackdown Live since the August 31st episode spiked to a 0.91 and 2.834 million viewers. 

Smackdown Live ranked #2 for the night among cable originals, bested only by the Cubs vs. Giants playoff game on FOX Sports 1 (1.99 demo rating, 6.368 million viewers) according to Show. However, overall, Smackdown Live was #6 for the night in viewership, behind MLB games, Hannity, The Kelly File and The O'Reilly Factor.

In contrast, Raw did 2.758 million viewers, which was slightly down from the previous week’s 2.79 million viewers. However, next week’s Raw is expected to draw big viewers, as the legendary Goldberg will be returning to Raw for the first time in 12 years at Denver to address Paul Heyman’s challenge to him to face Brock Lesnar.

Meanwhile, on the blue brand, it was rumoured that Dean Ambrose would be taking some time off after No Mercy. However, this is clearly not the case as he is seemingly entering a short-term feud with WWE World Champion AJ Styles, which will likely see The Phenomenal One retain the WWE World Championship once again.

It is known that John Cena will be taking a hiatus for the next couple of months and returning at the end of the year. However, last night, John Cena made an appearance in a dark match Main Event where he teamed up with Nikki Bella and Dolph Ziggler to take on The Miz, Carmella and Baron Corbin.

The babyface team was successful after the three-hit a triple Five-Knuckle Shuffle on the heels followed by their finishers, and Cena pinned Baron Corbin for the win. Cena is still advertised for Survivor Series next month.