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WWE SmackDown Ratings Plummet with Move to FS1; Lower Than AEW Dynamite
October 28, 2019
With Friday's episode of WWE SmackDown airing on FS1 because of Game 3 of the World Series airing on Fox, the viewership dipped again as expected.
Friday's show garnered 888,000 viewers, which was down from the previous week's average of 2.4 million viewers over the course of two hours. The debut episode of SmackDown on Fox did 3.9 million viewers, but the viewership has dropped for three consecutive weeks since then.
The show even fell below AEW Dynamite, which averaged 963,000 viewers last week.
The most recent edition of SmackDown was highlighted by an appearance from former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez ahead of his WWE Championship match against Brock Lesnar at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia next week.
What was advertised as a face-to-face confrontation between Lesnar and Velasquez wound up being a decimation, as The Beast once again destroyed Rey Mysterio's son, Dominick, before taking out Mysterio and Velasquez as well.
The show also featured a main event pitting Roman Reigns, Shorty G and Ali against King Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro with Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair in their respective corners.
The match was a partial preview of Team Hogan vs. Team Flair at Crown Jewel, which will see Reigns, Shorty G, Ali, Rusev and Ricochet face Corbin, Nakamura, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton.
Other key segments on SmackDown included the return of the Firefly Funhouse with Bray Wyatt and a promo segment in which Sami Zayn attempted to get Daniel Bryan to join forces with him and Nakamura.
Much of the show was dedicated to setting the stage for Crown Jewel, but the focus will likely shift toward Survivor Series when Crown Jewel is over.
The next episode of SmackDown in Buffalo, New York, seemingly has a good chance to rebound since it is a post-pay-per-view show that will return to Fox after one week on FS1.
It is difficult to predict who will be on the show, though, as much of the crew will be in Saudi Arabia just one day earlier for Crown Jewel.
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