WWE SmackDown Ratings Down on NYD Despite Kevin Owens vs. Jey Uso; Roman Reigns

Friday night's New Year's Day edition of WWE SmackDown on Fox saw its ratings decline compared to last week.

According to Showbuzz Daily, SmackDown averaged 1.915 million viewers during its two-hour broadcast, which was down from the 3.303 million it drew the previous week on Christmas Day with NFL football as a lead-in. SmackDown won the night among the networks in the 18-49-year-old demographic, however, with a 0.5 rating.

SmackDown faced some tough competition this week in the form of the College Football Playoff semifinal between Ohio State and Clemson.

The main event of SmackDown was a bout between Kevin Owens and Jey Uso. KO was out for revenge after Uso played a big role in costing him his Universal Championship match against Roman Reigns at the TLC pay-per-view.

Owens defeated Uso with a Stunner but continued to attack him after the match and even handcuffed him to the ropes in an obvious effort to draw Reigns out.

The Tribal Chief finally showed up when he knew he could get the upper hand, and it resulted in both Reigns and Uso brutally beating KO. Reigns and Uso destroyed Owens with steel chairs and ultimately threw him off a platform and through a table.

Another key match on SmackDown was a tag team bout pitting SmackDown women's champion Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair against Carmella and Bayley.

Banks has been red-hot in recent months, but thanks largely to interference from Carmella's sommelier, Reginald, Mella was able to take out The Boss and pin her for the win. Based on that result, Carmella may be in line for another title shot after losing at TLC.

Also on SmackDown, Sonya Deville made her surprise return backstage months after she was defeated in a Loser Leaves WWE match by Mandy Rose. The announce team confirmed that Deville has officially been reinstated to the SmackDown roster.

Additionally, intercontinental champion Big E beat King Corbin by disqualification and then teamed with Apollo Crews to defeat Corbin and Sami Zayn. The Riott Squad also beat Tamina and Natalya, and the team of Daniel Bryan and Otis beat Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro.

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