WWE SmackDown Ratings Down Despite Triple H 25th Anniversary Celebration

Viewership for WWE SmackDown continued to drop this week, as it reached a new low since moving to Fox in October, provided the overnight numbers hold up.

According to Showbuzz Daily, Friday's episode of SmackDown averaged 2.014 million viewers, which is down 7.9 percent from last week's 2.187 million. SmackDown also finished seventh in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic for the night with a 0.5 rating.

SmackDown was once again held in the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, with no fans in attendance due to the coronavirus pandemic. It also faced some stiff competition on television from Day 2 of the 2020 NFL draft.

The show was headlined by the 25th-anniversary celebration of Triple H's Hall of Fame career. It featured both Triple H and Shawn Michaels cutting a promo in the ring, while Stephanie McMahon and Road Dogg addressed The Game virtually.

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon came out at the end to praise Triple H before jokingly criticizing him and leaving both Triple H and HBK in the middle of the ring with the lights out.

Other key segments on SmackDown included a pair of Money in the Bank qualifying matches. King Corbin beat Drew Gulak to qualify for the men's ladder match, while Lacey Evans defeated Sasha Banks after botched interference from SmackDown Women's champion Bayley.

Also, the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships were on the line, and Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross successfully defended them for the second time since winning them from The Kabuki Warriors at WrestleMania, as they defeated Carmella and Dana Brooke.

The most surprising moment of the night occurred when former SmackDown Tag Team champions The Miz and John Morrison lost the Lucha House Party. The defeat came one week after Miz lost the titles in a Triple Threat match against New Day's Big E and Jey Uso.

With that loss, WWE could be building a storyline resulting in The Miz and Morrison breaking up, as Miz was the one who took the fall again Friday.

Next week's SmackDown will be the second-to-last episode before the Money in the Bank pay-per-view on May 10.

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