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PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.
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Tuesday’s episode of WWE Smackdown Live drew a 1.53 rating among live and same-night-DVR viewers, tying the lowest rating of the year (May 16 also drew a 1.53). Smackdown went up against a highly rated game six of the Major League Baseball World Series and up against Halloween Trick or Treating.
The rolling ten week average headed into this week was 1.77, just above the 2017 overall average of 1.75. Last week’s rating, the day after the Under Siege angle, drew an above-average 1.87 rating. This week’s rating was a rare instance of Smackdown drawing a rating lower than the same week one year earlier (1.58).
Keller’s Analysis: This isn’t worth panicking over, as it’s obviously a hit they took due to the holiday and sports competition. It’s just an outlier and should be interpreted that way. Smackdown was solid this week, but not huge in terms of plot developments or major angles, so it’s not a big loss that so many fewer people saw it in that they’ll tune in next week feeling lost. WWE can catch people up on the happenings pretty quickly in a recap video next week.