WWE SmackDown saw an increase in viewership on October 17.
According to Wrestlenomics, SmackDown averaged 1.180 million viewers on Friday. The show drew a 0.28 rating in the 18 to 49 demographic. The viewership is up from last week’s episode, when an average of 1.025 million viewers tuned in. The demo also rose from last week’s show (0.22 rating in the same demographic).
What happened on WWE SmackDown this week?
This week’s show kicked off with a promo from Cody Rhodes, who hyped up the number one contenders’ match later in the evening between Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre. The match would be changed later in the show after Fatu was attacked by someone backstage.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair defeated NXT’s Sol Ruca and Zaria to retain their titles
Elsewhere on the show, a returning Ilja Dragunov answered Sami Zayn’s US Title Open Challenge. This match resulted in a shocking title change when Dragunov defeated Zayn.
In the main event of the evening, Drew McIntyre defeated Cody Rhodes via disqualification when Rhodes hit McIntyre with the WWE Championship.
Here’s an overall review of Friday’s episode of SmackDown courtesy of our live coverage page…
WWE SmackDown Review:
Tonight’s show continued the upward trend in solid outings. Despite the MFTs stepping on the moment, the Dragunov return and title win were the highlight of the night. The rest of the matches were solid and nothing overstayed its welcome, not even the customary overly verbose promo that usually starts this show. Fatu’s injury is a shame, as all signs pointed to him winning this number one contender’s match to give Rhodes a fresh opponent for SNME. Hopefully, Fatu will get well soon. In the meantime, WWE is attempting to pivot slightly to give us a less terrible product. So far, it’s working. What did you think of the show? Let us know in the comments!
Rating: B-
READ MORE: Reason Why Jacob Fatu Was Written Off WWE TV — Report
What did you think of SmackDown this week? What was your favorite match or segment from the show? Let us know your overall thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
