WWE SmackDown on Fox Ratings Increase with Roman Reigns, Tyson Fury Advertised

Although it didn't air live, Friday's episode of WWE SmackDown on Fox experienced a bump in the ratings for the third consecutive week.

According to ShowBuzz Daily, SmackDown averaged 2.617 million viewers during its two-hour show Friday, which was up from 2.52 million last week. It was also up from the 2.418 million viewers SmackDown drew on Oct. 18. SmackDown only did 888,000 viewers on Oct. 25, but that episode aired on FS1 while the World Series aired on Fox.

Friday's episode of SmackDown was also tops in the important 18-49 demographic with an average rating of 0.85.

Both Roman Reigns and Tyson Fury appeared on the show, which was taped ahead of time in Manchester, England, and aired on delay.

Last week's episode of SmackDown was thrown for a loop when most of the roster was unable to make it to Buffalo, New York, for the show after airplane mechanical issues delayed their departure from Saudi Arabia after Crown Jewel.

That forced WWE to run an NXT invasion angle, and previously advertised matches such as Reigns vs. Baron Corbin and The Revival vs. New Day for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships didn't take place.

On Friday's episode, Reigns vs. Corbin was the main event, and it was won by Corbin after interference from Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. Also, Kofi Kingston and Big E beat The Revival for the tag titles, meaning they will be part of a Triple Threat match at Survivor Series against NXT tag team champions Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish, and Raw tag team champions The Viking Raiders.

Also, Fury appeared after beating Braun Strowman by count-out at Crown Jewel. The undefeated lineal heavyweight boxing champion and The Monster Among Men made up and teased forming a tag team before beating up The B-Team.

In addition to potentially drawing a crossover audience with boxing fans wanting to catch another glimpse of Fury on SmackDown, Fury is a Manchester native, so SmackDown was a homecoming for him.

Other major SmackDown happenings included Sasha Banks' first match in a month, in which she defeated Nikki Cross. Also, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt attacked Daniel Bryan, which suggests they may soon enter into a feud over the Universal Championship.

Next week's SmackDown will go back to being a live show and will emanate from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

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