What's the story?
Ever since SmackDown beat Raw in viewership two weeks ago, the ratings of both WWE brands are under scrutiny by the WWE Universe. With both brands trying to dish out the best programming a fan could hope to watch, the competition has become quite severe of late.
But unfortunately for SmackDown, things have not been going their way after the aforementioned victory. For the second week in a row, SmackDown has yet again lost to Raw in viewership. And the most worrying part is that the SmackDown viewership has declined from last week’s show.
In case you didn’t know...
Two weeks ago, SmackDown overcame Raw in viewership and posted their first victory over the flagship show after the WWE Draft. An irate Stephanie McMahon took it upon herself to declare a rating war with the blue brand next week on Raw.
Both shows have been doling out interesting stuff for the past two weeks to stay afloat against the competition. Last week, Raw decisively beat the blue brand with the aid of Goldberg’s return.
The heart of the matter
This week was not an exception to the trend either. Raw got a general boost in their ratings with both HBL and The Undertaker returning to the show. They posted an average rating of 2,907 million viewers. SmackDown was not quite gifted as Raw when it comes to doling out legends. The show was headlined by Baron Corbin vs John Cena and it turned out an average rating of 2,533 million viewers.
Nut the most worrying part for both shows is the decline in their ratings of past week. Even the appearances of legends like Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker was not enough for the flagship show to even maintain their 3,000 rating mark. As for SmackDown, they are better off comparatively to Raw. SmackDown’s past week average rating was 2,596 million viewers. It looks like SmackDown is maintaining their 2,500 mark quite effortlessly.
What next?
Nest week’s Raw is advertised with the return of the Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar after his humiliating loss against Goldberg at Survivor Series. Brock’s star power will be a big boost to Raw’s ratings if WWE plays its cards right. Moreover, with both The Undertaker and Goldberg in the Royal Rumble match, it would be interesting to see how Brock Lesnar responds to it.
On the other hand, the blue brand will be featuring the first ever women’s steel cage match on the brand after the draft. Becky Lynch will face Alexa Bliss for the SmackDown Women’s Championship in a steel cage match. It will be a great opportunity for both these women's to capture the hearts of many WWE fans.
Sportskeeda’s Take
These trend in ratings indicate that while SmackDown might not have the star power Raw possess they are giving the flagship show a run for their money. If SmackDown were to get more star power (which the brand has been lacking for quite some time now), we can expect the superior storytelling of SmackDown to beat Raw continuously without any effort
These trend in ratings indicate that while SmackDown might not have the star power Raw possess they are giving the flagship show a run for their money. If SmackDown were to get more star power (which the brand has been lacking for quite some time now), we can expect the superior storytelling of SmackDown to beat Raw continuously without any effort.
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