WWE SmackDown on Fox Ratings Rise for Empty-Arena Show at Performance Center

Friday's unique episode of SmackDown, which occurred in front of no fans at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, saw its viewership increase compared to last week.

According to Showbuzz Daily, the two-hour broadcast on Fox averaged 2.588 million viewers, which was up from last week's 2.456 million. SmackDown also tied for second on the night among the 18-49-year-old demographic with a 0.7 rating.

While Friday's SmackDown was originally scheduled to take place at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, it was moved to the Performance Center and staged with no fans in attendance because of the coronavirus pandemic.

WWE is one of the few sports-related companies proceeding with live entertainment amid the COVID-19 outbreak, as the NBA, NHL, MLS, NASCAR, PGA Tour, ATP, WTA and NCAA have all suspended their seasons until further notice.

SmackDown was headlined by an appearance from John Cena, who closed the show by cutting a promo on Bray Wyatt. That led to Wyatt showing up to retort, and the show ended with them staring each other down in the ring ahead of their scheduled match at WrestleMania 36.

Also, Jeff Hardy made his return to action after missing 11 months because of a knee injury. Hardy beat King Corbin thanks to a distraction from Elias.

Other key moments included Sasha Banks and Bayley beating Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross after interference from Asuka and Daniel Bryan defeating Cesaro in a singles match. WWE also replayed the SmackDown Tag Team Championships Elimination Chamber match from the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view to fill some time.

Arguably the best part of the show was the involvement of Triple H. The Game played a huge role in the development of the Performance Center as the founder of NXT, so he was front and center for much of the episode.

Triple H was on commentary alongside Michael Cole and did well to keep things light. At one point, The King of Kings even grabbed a camera and started filming Cole.

Given the landscape created by the coronavirus pandemic, WWE may have to continue broadcasting its shows from the Performance Center for the foreseeable future.

It has already been announced that Monday's Raw has been moved from Pittsburgh to the Performance Center, and it stands to reason that next week's editions of NXT and SmackDown will follow the same protocol.

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