Roman Reigns' return doesn't help WWE SmackDown as viewership declines

Roman Reigns made his return to SmackDown after over five months just two days before Payback 2020, but it wasn't enough for the ratings as SmackDown had an average of 2.144 million viewers, down from last week's 2.198 million number, according to Showbuzz Daily.

While the week before was the go-home show before SummerSlam, the overall show didn't have too much buzz around it. On the other hand, Roman Reigns' return should ideally have led to a boost in the ratings for SmackDown - but that wasn't the case.

"And that's not just a prediction that's a Spoiler " @WWERomanReigns says as we end Smackdown with Roman and Paul Heyman sitting together #RomanReigns #TheBigDog #Smackdown pic.twitter.com/3BV8vkfBpd

— RomanReigns.Net | Fansite for Roman Reigns (@RomanReignsNet) August 29, 2020

It must be noted that Roman Reigns' appearance on the go-home episode of SmackDown before Payback 2020 was limited, with his only segments involving Adam Pearce trying to get him to sign the contract.

The final moment of SmackDown was when it was revealed that Paul Heyman was the advocate of Roman Reigns - seemingly completing his heel turn.

Will Roman Reigns lead to a ratings spike on SmackDown?

Now that Roman Reigns is the Universal Champion again, he's the top guy on Friday Night SmackDown. While Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt are top stars, there's no denying that Roman Reigns is a popular name in the casual WWE fanbase.

Back where it belongs. #AndNew #WWEPayback pic.twitter.com/bKy6v1pvwE

— Roman Reigns (@WWERomanReigns) August 31, 2020

However, one can only imagine how his heel turn could possibly have affected the perception of him from the casual fanbase standpoint. There's no doubt that the ratings dip has to do with the lack of audience, but WWE has been taking some interesting steps on RAW and SmackDown, which has led to some exciting changes.

The next few months will likely continue to feature exciting, fresh, storylines, and hopefully, it will reflect well on the SmackDown ratings. Interestingly enough, despite the dip, SmackDown still ranked first on network TV in the 18-49 demographic.

As for when crowds will return, we can't be sure. There were rumors that WWE was targeting November to gradually bring crowds back, but that looks unlikely. Until then, WWE will have to utilize a ThunderDome-like setup in the Amway Center. WWE rented the Amway Center for RAW, SmackDown, and PPVs for two months.