The WWE had a very good week in the television viewership department.
Following Monday’s unique episode of Raw that featured a Gauntlet match that took up the majority of the first two-hours that averaged 3,200,000 viewers, SmackDown Live followed with their second-highest number of 2018.
Tuesday night’s episode on the USA Network averaged 2,613,000 viewers and was their highest number since January 2nd. The number is a relief for the show as it ended a five-week streak of declines.
Last week’s television ratings proved that the WWE was largely unaffected by the competition of the Winter Olympics. This week, showed not only that the WWE wasn’t being hurt by the Olympics but instead saw a rise in their viewership against the Olympics.
Monday night’s Olympic coverage averaged 16,357,000 viewers on NBC and Tuesday night’s coverage averaged 17,516,000 viewers.
Why? What a terrible show? I guess most shows will be getting a bump for Wrestlemania hype from now on? Or did people think something experimental would happen on SD this weeek? Boring show though.
Or maybe with people liking Raw they figured they’d see the same creativity with Smackdown.
I personally wasn’t really wow’d by Raw this week, it was OK but still didn’t finish it. Smackdown I finished because I wanted to see the Owens match and the Styles match even though I really have no love for either of their opponents.
Smackdown baffles me, I think it was mentioned on the Rewind-a-Smackdown this week but the talent is so good and the writing and booking is so bad, it is a shame.
I mean the Royal Rumble winner hasn’t been in a match since the rumble but Corbin has been heavily featured for some reason.
Rusev one of the most over mid-card guys is nowhere to be found for weeks. We are left with Roode who as a heel is terrific but as a face is boring and one dimensional. Orton who feels meh to me, and Jinder who as bad as it is to say is the most interesting in that feud.
May as well put the title on Shane, he gets more time and is portrayed stronger than Styles. Styles has to sit there and take it on the chin week after week with no real input as to the feud between Shane and Bryan.
I still don’t even know why Shane has such hard nipples for the fact that Bryan has some allegiance to Owens and Zayn, why? Because they were indies together? Same could be said for a lot of wrestlers on the roster in 2018.
Smackdown…land of opportunity…if you’re a GM/Commissioner and any opportunities it for Graves and Saxton to ruin any match by bickering back and forth.
Has he even been on the show at all since winning the Rumble? I don’t have a problem with utilising his talents wisely, but entirely ignoring his existence is a tad baffling.