WWE SmackDown on Fox Ratings Drop Despite The Fiend, Daniel Bryan Advertised

WWE Friday Night SmackDown on Fox experienced a drop in viewership this week, averaging 2.35 million viewers over the course of its two-hour show, according to Showbuzz Daily.

Last week's SmackDown, which aired on tape delay from Manchester, England, finished with 2.617 million viewers, which was an increase from the 2.520 million it averaged the previous week.

Of the six episodes of SmackDown that have aired on Fox, Friday's had the lowest viewership. The only show that performed worse during the SmackDown on Fox era was the Oct. 25 episode, which aired on FS1 and garnered only 888,000 viewers.

Friday's episode was headlined by a Miz TV segment that featured the first interaction between Universal champion "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan since Wyatt attacked Bryan last week.

The build toward next weekend's Survivor Series pay-per-view also continued on SmackDown with Ali and Shorty G beating Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode to retain their spots on Team SmackDown for the men's five-on-five-on-five elimination match.

SmackDown featured another NXT invasion as well, with Rhea Ripley, Tegan Nox, Mia Yim and Dakota Kai crashing a match between SmackDown Women's champion Bayley and Nikki Cross. That led to an eight-woman tag team match with Sasha Banks, Cross, Carmella and Dana Brooke beating Ripley, Nox, Yim and Kai.

A SmackDown Tag Team Championship rematch between New Day and The Revival was interrupted by Undisputed Era, who laid out both teams. As a result, New Day will remain in the Triple Threat tag team match against Viking Raiders and Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish of Undisputed Era at Survivor Series.

Next week's SmackDown will be the go-home episode prior to Survivor Series, which could help aid in a ratings rebound.

Among the storylines that may play out next week are the finalization of the men's and women's Survivor Series teams, as well as the continuation of the budding rivalry between Wyatt and Bryan.

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