WWE SmackDown Ratings Up with No. 1 Contender Gauntlet Match, Tag Title Change

Friday night's episode of WWE SmackDown on Fox, which featured a gauntlet match to determine the No. 1 contender for the Universal Championship, saw its ratings improve compared to last week.

According to Showbuzz Daily, Friday's SmackDown averaged 2.003 million viewers in the overnight ratings. That is up from the 1.915 million viewers last week's show averaged in the overnight ratings. SmackDown also scored a 0.5 rating in the 18-49-year-old demographic, which was third for the night.

SmackDown was headlined by a six-man gauntlet match to determine universal champion Roman Reigns' opponent at the Royal Rumble.

The match was originally supposed to feature only Daniel Bryan, Shinsuke Nakamura, Rey Mysterio, Sami Zayn and King Corbin, but Reigns insisted that WWE official Adam Pearce be added in the match.

Reigns ran down Pearce on the mic to open the show and blamed him for putting Kevin Owens in a position to get beaten down and injured by himself and Jey Uso the previous week. As a result, Reigns had Paul Heyman pressure Pearce into entering the gauntlet.

The gauntlet match was essentially a showcase for Nakamura, who eliminated Mysterio, Corbin and Bryan. After pinning Bryan, Nakamura shook hands with him, which could be a sign that The King of Strong Style is turning babyface.

With only Pearce left to enter the match, Reigns and Uso showed up at ringside and attacked Nakamura and then Pearce before placing him on top of Nakamura for the three count.

While Reigns vs. Pearce at the Rumble is possible since Pearce was a wrestler for many years, Friday's angle may have been a way to set the stage for Reigns vs. Nakamura instead.

Also on SmackDown, The Street Profits' lengthy reign as tag champs came to an end, as Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode beat them to become the new SmackDown tag team champions.

SmackDown featured an Intercontinental Championship match as well, with Big E beating Apollo Crews to retain after they initially fought to a draw with both of their shoulders getting pinned to the mat.

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