What’s the story?
The viewership for the Money In The Bank fallout episode of SmackDown Live (June 20th) reportedly saw a considerable increase, at 2,597,000
This week’s episode of SmackDown Live featured the return of the blue brand’s General Manager Daniel Bryan, and garnered 2,597,000 viewers that is a significant spike from the 2,072,000 garnered by last week’s episode.
In case you didn’t know...
The viewership for SmackDown Live hit a record low last week, as the June 13th episode saw the numbers drop to 2,072,000 – the lowest ratings garnered by the blue brand for the 2017 calendar year.
Nevertheless, the WWE had advertised the return of Daniel Bryan, who is widely regarded as one of the most popular personalities in the company, for this week’s episode (i.e. June 20th episode) of SD Live.
The heart of the matter
The show ended with Jinder Mahal scoring the win over Luke Harper, in what was the headlining match of the night. The main event also saw an appearance by Mr. Money In The Bank Baron Corbin, who teased a potential cash-in.
Besides, Mahal’s win over Harper was followed by Randy Orton coming down to the ring and doling out RKOs to the Singh Brothers, with the Maharajah making an exit through the fans.
Below are the SmackDown viewership numbers for this year-
1/3/17: 2,596,000
1/10/17: 2,533,000
1/17/17: 2,652,000
1/24/17: 2,556,000
1/31/17: 2,817,000
2/7/17: 2,627,000
2/14/17: 2,626,000
2/21/17: 2,792,000
2/28/17: 2,566,000
3/7/17: 2,738,000
3/14/17: 2,628,000
3/21/17: 2,647,000
3/28/17: 2,698,000
4/4/17: 2,885,000
4/11/17: 3,105,000
4/18/17: 2,544,000
4/25/17: 2,493,000
5/2/17: 2,300,000
5/9/17: 2,348,000
5/16/17: 2,175,000
5/23/17: 2,328,000
5/30/17: 2,350,000
6/6/17: 2,349,000
6/13/17: 2,072,000 (Last week)
6/20/17: 2,597,000 (This week)
What’s next?
The next episode of SmackDown Live will air from the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California on June 27th.
The episode will see a rehash of Sunday’s Women’s Money In The Bank ladder match, besides also featuring SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi, who’ll defend her title once again opposite Lana.
Author’s take
The spike in the blue brand’s ratings can be partially attributed to Daniel Bryan’s return after a lengthy hiatus.
Nevertheless, the fans in attendance seemed to give this week’s episode a great feel, not to mention all the controversy created by the Women’s ladder match fallout. Here’s hoping we get an even better episode next week!
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