WWE News: Live Smackdown Draws Lowest Rating in Nearly 6 Months

Well, the numbers are in for for Super Smackdown Tuesday night, and they are not very good. In what has to be considered a huge disappointment, the show drew a 1.7 rating with 2,326,000 million viewers.

That is the lowest Smackdown rating since September, which drew a 1.8 final number. Tuesday or Friday. Live or taped!

For those wondering, last week's taped Friday show drew a 2.0 with just under three million viewers.

My Thoughts on This News

I am mildly surprised at the number. However, anybody really shocked by this hasn't been paying attention to my articles the past few months.

The theories thrown around concerning Smackdown are always interesting. The problem is none of them are supported by facts, which is what I do.

The popular wish for the Blue Brand to go live is always brought up. Once again, that would be great! The issue is nothing shows higher numbers for a live show than a taped version of Smackdown.

Add in extra costs (for a live show) and you have no reason to make the switch. It just doesn't make sense in any way.

Another wish is for the show to move nights. Surely, that means higher ratings and more attention to Smackdown, right? Right?

Once again, it is wrong.

As I covered here, there is not much difference in live Smackdown shows on Tuesday nights compared to taped shows airing on a Friday night. In fact, most drew lower than the Friday night editions.

Finally, the theory that "great wrestling" will drew fans in has been crushed here (again). Excellent promo segments will always out-draw a nice match. Always has. Always will.

CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan may have been a wonderful match, but that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Both are great in the ring, but numbers don't lie.

I could go on and on, but I've touched on this topic many times in the past. This latest rating is just yet another reminder to the WWE Universe that still wants a live Smackdown show with big matches on Tuesday night every week.

Just no reason for it.

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