WWE News: SmackDown viewership rises 

What's the story?

On the back of an episode that saw John Cena take on Shinsuke Nakamura for the first time ever, the blue brand witnessed a 1.3% rise in viewership as compared to last week's episode which garnered 2.535 million viewers.

In case you didn't know...

This episode of SmackDown Live saw several swerves that helped the episode live up to its reputation with a stellar main event to a close a show that saw a fantastic encounter between AJ Styles and Kevin Owens for the United States Championship.

The segments through the show continue to be thoroughly entertaining as well and could serve as justification for the rise.

The heart of the matter

This week, the blue brand drew 2.569 million viewers. This was also the second largest live audience for the show since the Superstar Shakeup in April.

Only Rachael Maddow and Tucker Carlson ousted SmackDown in general viewership this week. The blue brand did, however, reign supreme in the 18-49 demographic.

Monday's RAW garnered 3.163 million viewers, while the episode before that drew 3.067 million viewers.

Here is the SmackDown viewership since John Cena's return:

July 4th Episode: 2.329 million viewers

July 11th Episode: 2.465 million viewers

July 18th Episode: 2.548 million viewers

July 25th Episode: 2.535 million viewers

August 1st Episode: 2.569 million viewers

What's next?

Both brands seem to be doing great in the ratings, and the blue brand's build to SummerSlam promises to make the PPV and the shows leading up to it a must-watch.

Author's take

SmackDown Live continues to hold its own against its red counterpart and episodes with openers and main events like this will continue to guarantee that it does so for the foreseeable future.

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