WWE SmackDown before Hell in a Cell gained viewership despite Roman Reigns being absent

Ahead of the recently-concluded Hell in a Cell show, WWE SmackDown saw an impressive increase in ratings despite the absence of Roman Reigns.

Prior to Sunday's event, SmackDown featured the return of Madcap Moss along with a six-pack challenge between the women's division for a shot at the title. The main event then saw The Usos defend their titles against the teams of Riddle and Shinsuke Nakamura.

The build-up to the event and the advertised title match seems to be enough to draw back the lost numbers the brand has been experiencing recently.

As reported by Brandon Thurston, it was revealed that last week's episode drew an average of 1.93 million average viewers. The show's key-demo rating also increased to 0.47 (613,000), the highest it has been since April of this year. The previous episode of the show garnered 0.43 in the 18-49 demo.

He also reported that another Friday night show, AEW Rampage, which aired on TNT, garnered 475,000 views with a 0.14 (183,000) key demo.

The June 3rd episode also featured The New Day, Drew McIntyre, The Brawling Brutes, a backstage segment involving Max Dupri, and a match between Jinder Mahal and Humberto.

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WWE SmackDown ranking on television overall

In a follow-up tweet, Brandon Thurston also reported that the blue brand ranked second on television overall on the day in P18-49. Meanwhile, AEW's Rampage ranked 14th in P18-49 among cable originals for the day. And it ranked #27 if it includes broadcast primetime.

Even with the absence of the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion in the line-up, it looks like the episode was still able to get people to tune in. With Money in the Bank looming large, it remains to be seen how things will pan out in the coming weeks.