After a tumultuous and engrossing TLC: Tables, Ladders, & Chairs, where AJ Styles defended his WWE World Championship, SmackDown Live actually recorded a drop in viewership according to WrestlingInc.com. The report stated that the Blue brand brought home 2.479 million viewers, but that was 1% down from previous week’s numbers.
A total of 2.505 million viewers had watched the SmackDown Live show from last week. This week’s numbers pushed the show to #8 in terms of viewership on cable, but SDLive was behind a number of shows, such as Curse of Oak Island and the O’Reilly factor.
The Blue brand was also below RAW’s viewership which peaked at 2.976 million, but that number too was lower than last week’s viewership of 3.110 million. There was some good news for SmackDown Live, though, as it was ranked the #2 show for viewers in the demographic group of 18-49.
It certainly was interesting to note that the ratings for SmackDown Live took a dive, after the go-home show to TLC: Tables, Ladders, & Chairs had actually seen a rise in viewers. Even more surprising was the fact that the blow over from the shocking victory for AJ Styles over Dean Ambrose at the pay per view could not give the Blue brand a much-needed rise in ratings.
The main event of last night’s SmackDown Live saw Ambrose battle the Miz for the Intercontinental Title. It seemed to be going all hunky dory for the former WWE World Champion, but it was James Ellsworth once again who cost the Lunatic Fringe the title.
Ellsworth had pushed Ambrose’s ladder when the latter was all set to win the title at TLC. Styles took advantage of the push as he kept his title, while Ambrose crashed through a pile of tables. Ellsworth claimed that he would be challenging Styles for the World Championship but couldn’t face the champion due to an injury Styles picked up at TLC.
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