A Halloween Nightmare for WWE SmackDown: Viewership Plummets!
The latest episode of WWE SmackDown on the USA Network faced a spooky challenge last Friday, and the ratings took a chilling turn. With Halloween festivities and the thrilling Major League Baseball World Series game 6 between the Dodgers and Blue Jays, SmackDown's audience took a hit.
The Numbers Don't Lie: According to Programming Insider, SmackDown's viewership dipped below the crucial WWE threshold of one million viewers. The show averaged 933,000 viewers, a significant decline from the previous week's 1.1 million. Despite topping the cable rankings, the World Series game stole the spotlight, attracting a massive 17.4 million viewers and a whopping 3.52 rating among adults 18-49.
But here's where it gets controversial... SmackDown's viewership stumble continued into Saturday Night's Main Event, which aired on Peacock against game 7 of the World Series. The lead segment featured a heated contract signing showdown between Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes, building up to their Undisputed WWE Championship match. McIntyre delivered a powerful Claymore to Rhodes and sent him crashing through the contract table, leaving fans on the edge of their seats.
In other matches, Ilja Dragunov retained his WWE United States Championship against Nathan Frazer, Carmelo Hayes defeated Kit Wilson, Alexa Bliss, a WWE Women's World Tag Team Champion, beat Nia Jax, and Tama Tonga and JC Mateo emerged victorious in the main event against The Motor City Machine Guns.
And this is the part most people miss... The methods for measuring SmackDown's viewership and other TV programs have evolved in recent months, impacting not just SmackDown but also NXT, AEW Dynamite, and AEW Collision. These changes make it challenging to compare current numbers with past performances.
Next Week on SmackDown: Chelsea Green will challenge Guilia for the WWE Women's United States Championship, and Rey Fenix vs. Tala Tonga is also on the card after Fenix demanded the match following a backstage encounter.
Stay tuned for more updates on WWE, AEW, and the world of professional wrestling! Don't forget to share your thoughts and predictions in the comments. Are these viewership drops a cause for concern, or just a blip on the radar? Let's discuss!
