5 reasons why Kofi Kingston defended his WWE Championship on both Raw and SmackDown

#3 To potentially increase SmackDown's viewership

Despite being distracted from Owens and battling a tough triple-threat, Kofi remained champion

Despite a distraction from @FightOwensFight...Despite facing off against two tough opponents in @SamiZayn & @AJStylesOrg..@TrueKofi is STILL your #WWEChampion! #SDLive #AndStill #WWEChampionship pic.twitter.com/gI2ejRV8UP

— WWE (@WWE) May 8, 2019

For a long time now, WWE's ratings continue to decrease - whether that be on Raw or SmackDown. As per new reports, the blue brand drew the lowest viewership last week, with the closing segments featuring Kingston and Owens accompanied by a match between Randy Orton, Mustafi Ali and Finn Balor.

Despite some great action, they only drew a viewership of 1.833 million viewers, which is the lowest in the show's history. This week, when Kofi defeated Bryan for the WWE Championship on Raw, Monday's show saw an increase in viewership.

It could also be a reason why WWE decided to put him in a match on SmackDown too. This way, not only would their ratings also increase, but his fighting champion image would be strengthened too. Saying that though, we will have to wait for some time before their viewership figures are released.