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What’s the story?
The post-SummerSlam episode of SmackDown Live saw a rise in viewership. The show drew around 2.685 million viewers and was ranked first in the 18-19 demographic on cable this week.
In case you didn't know…
This week’s SmackDown Live episode featured the fallout of SummerSlam. The show saw the main roster debut of Bobby Roode and the return of former Intercontinental champion Shelton Benjamin. Roode picked up a win on his debut while Benjamin was paired up with Chad Gable.
Meanwhile, Shinsuke Nakamura’s match with the Singh Brothers was also a highlight. The episode was headlined by AJ Styles and Kevin Owens with Baron Corbin as the special guest referee.
The heart of the matter
The 2.685 million viewers that SmackDown Live drew is a 6 percent increase from last week’s 2.530 million. This week, the blue brand was sixth in the total viewership behind shows such as Hannity, Rachel Maddow, Special Report, the Five and Tucker Carlson.
This week’s viewership is the best since the April 11 episode of the show. SmackDown had passed the three million viewers mark for the April 11 episode which drew 3.105 viewers.
Monday Night Raw had also shown a 27 percent rise in viewership this past week.
What’s next?
The return of Shelton Benjamin and the debut of Bobby Roode have managed to capture the attention of fans. The future of these two performers along with other main storylines will drive the immediate future of the blue brand. Benjamin is expected to make his in-ring return next week on SmackDown and this might have a slight impact on the ratings as well.
Author’s take
The shows after major pay-per-views naturally draw big. WWE made good use of this fact to introduce Roode and Benjamin. While the rise in ratings is a good thing, the loss of John Cena should not be overlooked. SmackDown managed to draw such numbers even without having Cena on the show, which is impressive.
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