WWE SmackDown ratings see major decline following Survivor Series WarGames

This past Friday's edition of WWE SmackDown took a massive hit in the ratings after the show aired on FS1 instead of FOX.

The latest episode of WWE SmackDown was the fallout show after Survivor Series WarGames. The Bloodline won the Men's WarGames match at the Premium Live Event, and Jey Uso and Sami Zayn shared a hug after the match. The moment was one that many fans have been waiting for, but it apparently didn't inspire enough of the WWE Universe to tune in.

According to Brandon Thurston of WrestleNomics, WWE SmackDown garnered just 902,000 viewers and ranked #5 on the night. The blue brand brought in just a 0.25 rating in the key 18-49 year old demographic.

Friday's show was preempted by college football on the FOX Network. For comparison, the November 25 episode of SmackDown brought in 2.232 million viewers with a 0.54 key demo rating on FOX.

AEW Rampage had a rough night as well and recorded their lowest demo rating in their normal time slot in show history.

Former WWE official complains about the finals of the SmackDown World Cup airing on FS1

As shown above, the switch from FOX to FS1 had a drastic impact on the show's ratings last week.

Former WWE official Jimmy Korderas believes that the finals of the SmackDown World Cup between Ricochet and Santos Escobar should have aired on the FOX Network. Legada Del Fantasma was ringside for the match but was quickly kicked out after they attempted to interfere.

Santos and Ricochet put on a fantastic main event in the SmackDown World Cup Finals last week. The One and Only picked up the victory and earned another shot at GUNTHER's Intercontinental Championship. The Austrian star captured the title from the high flyer on the June 10 edition of the blue brand.

Korderas took to Twitter for a "Reffin Rant" and complained about the match not being featured on the main network.

"That should have been a main event match when SmackDown aired on Fox Network," he said. "It would have had a bigger audience and maybe some more people would have gravitated towards these two young stars. That's the idea of elevating two new stars, so in front of a bigger audience I think that match would have been better, instead of on FS1." [H/T WrestlingInc]

The only reason Ricochet made it to the finals of the SmackDown World Cup was that GUNTHER interfered in his semifinal match against Braun Strowman. It will be interesting to see if The Ring General and The Monster of All Monsters meet in the ring sometime down the line.

Would you like to see GUNTHER defend the IC Title against Braun Strowman? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.