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WWE have returned to Europe ahead of the Clash In Paris Premium Live Event on August 31, and are touring around the United Kingdom and Ireland to build anticipation for the big event. Their first port of call was the Irish capital of Dublin for the August 22 episode of “WWE SmackDown,” which saw a homecoming for Becky Lynch, a confrontation between John Cena and Logan Paul, and Piper Niven pick up one of the biggest singles victories of her career as she defeated Charlotte Flair.
Given that the show took place overseas, “SmackDown” aired via tape delay on the USA Network which, according to Wrestlenomics and The Programming Insider, took a toll on the TV ratings. The August 22 episode of “SmackDown” averaged a total of 1,258,000 viewers, a 12% drop from the previous week’s 1,430,000 viewers, and sits 19% below the trailing four week average of 1,596,000 viewers. These figures made this week’s “SmackDown” the least watched episode of WWE’s blue brand since July 4, another taped show, which also saw WWE move “SmackDown” back to two hours. However, viewership was low across the board on Friday night, and 1,258,000 was enough for WWE to crack the top ten overall viewership rankings by placing tenth.
For the 18-49 demographic, the results were much better as “SmackDown” posted a 0.35 number for the second week in a row. While this might be 20% below the trailing four week average of 0.44, it was enough for “SmackDown” to place first for the night in the cable rankings. WWE beat out the NFL pre-season game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Atlanta Falcons to clinch the top spot on cable, but when including network telecasts, “SmackDown” had to settle for second place as the other NFL pre-season game, the Minnesota Vikings at the Tennessee Titans, which aired on CBS took the top spot for the night.
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