WWE SmackDown Ratings Down Slightly Despite Styles vs. Riddle IC Title Match

The go-home edition of WWE SmackDown on Fox prior to Sunday's Extreme Rules pay-per-view saw its viewership drop slightly compared to last week.

According to Showbuzz Daily, Friday's episode of SmackDown averaged 1.893 million viewers over the course of two hours compared to last week's 1.900 million. SmackDown did post a 0.5 rating in the 18-49-year-old demographic, however, which was No. 1 for the night.

The main event of Friday's show was an Intercontinental Championship match pitting champion AJ Styles against challenger Matt Riddle. While Riddle pushed Styles to the limit, The Phenomenal One caught him with a tricky pinning combination to score the pinfall victory and retain the title.

Styles shook Riddle's hand after the match, but the feel-good moment was interrupted by King Corbin, who attacked Riddle and laid him out with End of Days to further the feud that has been building between them in recent weeks.

The opening match of the night was a bout between Cesaro and Big E with the winner earning the right to choose the stipulation for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match at Extreme Rules.

Cesaro pinned Big E, which led to he and Shinsuke Nakamura choosing to face New Day in a tables match at the pay-per-view. Since Cesaro and Nakamura managed to put Big E and Kofi Kingston through a table last week on SmackDown, New Day's title reign could be in jeopardy.

Also, WWE Women's Tag Team champions Bayley and Sasha Banks continued to roll, as they beat Nikki Cross and Raw Women's champion Asuka in an impromptu tag team match ahead of Extreme Rules, which will see Banks challenge Asuka for the Raw Women's title and Bayley defend the SmackDown Women's title against Cross.

Bayley picked up the win for her team by using the ropes for leverage while pinning Cross.

SmackDown featured the final build for the Wyatt Swamp Fight between Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman as well. Wyatt hyped the match in an edition of the Firefly Funhouse, while Strowman beat John Morrison in a squash match and vowed to overcome his fears by vanquishing Wyatt.

Next week's SmackDown should be a newsworthy one, as it will feature the fallout from Extreme Rules and begin the build toward SummerSlam.   

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