SmackDown ratings take another dip after Jey Uso becomes Roman Reigns' Universal title challenger

The September 4th episode of SmackDown was one of the rare ones where it was extremely difficult to point out anything that went wrong. When the promos are good, the storylines are fresh, and the direction seems exciting, it's hard to pinpoint things that weren't right with the show, but what caught the most attention was Roman Reigns' new #1 contender Jey Uso.

Either way, it sadly didn't do enough to boost the numbers, as SmackDown had an average viewership of 2.066, down 3.6% from last week's SmackDown average of 2.144 million, according to Showbuzz Daily.. In terms of the 18-49 demographic, SmackDown drew a 0.55 rating - the highest of the night.

Last week's dip in ratings for SmackDown was a bit more surprising since it featured the return of Roman Reigns. However, Roman Reigns' return was only featured at the end.

Will SmackDown's new direction lead to a bump in ratings?

It's going to be interesting to see the directions that WWE takes on SmackDown. Jey Uso being Roman Reigns' first Universal title challenger While WWE could have chosen to go with a more obvious direction, they decided to move forward with something entirely different - adding a new level of interest.

In addition to that, the Intercontinental title feud features three top veterans in Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, and Sami Zayn. Alexa Bliss' potential storyline with Bray Wyatt has been causing a lot of buzz as well.

Ultimately, SmackDown's move to FOX has helped the show's ratings significantly and the blue brand is now doing numbers better and more consistent than RAW. August was a strong month for ratings, with only one episode averaging below the 2 million mark. So far, every month in 2020 has seen WWE manage 2 million or more in ratings, but July was an exceptionally bad month as SmackDown's average fell below the 2 million number throughout the month.

With Roman Reigns as the Universal Champion, it's far likelier for a big ratings boost soon enough. One can't deny the star power that someone like Roman Reigns brings and how he could singlehandedly boost the show for WWE.