Kurt Angle reacts to staggering increase in ratings due to his SmackDown appearance

Kurt Angle headlined SmackDown this week in what was his birthday celebration. It was a wholesome-yet-hilarious segment that resulted in him bringing back the iconic milk truck. Angle reacted to the staggering ratings increase that his appearance led to.

The previous episode of SmackDown on December 2nd, 2022 saw disappointing ratings. The show, headlined by a brilliant match between Ricochet & Santos Escobar, was put on FS1 and resulted in a low viewership of just 902,000 – 1.3 million less than the previous week.

However, there was a big bounce back in the ratings this past week for December 9th, and Kurt Angle reacted to his headlining segment resulting in 2.3 million viewers for SmackDown.

This is certainly a huge deal as it was also bigger than the week before the SmackDown World Cup final. It perhaps shows the drawing power that WWE legends still have over younger superstars.

Kurt Angle may have given Gable Steveson a start to his main roster run

What was interesting about Kurt Angle's appearance on SmackDown was the fact that he was alongside fellow Olympic Gold Medalist Gable Steveson, who has yet to get his full start in WWE.

While Steveson had a one-off appearance at WrestleMania 38 this year, not many know whether his recent SmackDown appearance was his formal debut. He was drafted to RAW in 2021 but never made his official debut, with some rumors of his progress being relatively slow.

Either way, time will tell whether this was his formal introduction to the WWE main roster to start a run. One thing is clear: WWE has been patient with Steveson, and there are high hopes for him, especially given how quickly Angle adapted to the professional wrestling business.

Would you like to see Gable Steveson have his debut match soon? Voice your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!