SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Tuesday night’s WWE Smackdown Live (Apr. 18) drew a live and same-night-DVR rating of 1.72, well below the 2017 average of 1.86. It’s the lowest rating since Dec. 13 when Smackdown drew a 1.71. Total viewership was 2.544 million.
The ten-week average headed into this week was 1.87.
The rating is barely above the year-ago number when Smackdown wasn’t live and didn’t have exclusive use of 40 percent of the roster.
Keller’s Analysis: This is a sharp dropoff, perhaps due the reality sinking in for John Cena fans that he’s gone. It doesn’t reflect well on the inherent following of Charlotte, Kevin Owens, or Sami Zayn, nor the in-show enthusiasm for Jinder Mahal winning the Six-Pack Challenge or sticking around for the A.J. Styles vs. Baron Corbin main event. It’s just one week, but it’s an ominous sign of how the post-Superstars Shake-up era for Smackdown will go. That said, Shinsuke Nakamura is just getting started.
It has almost become the jobber show with a handful of stars. Jinher Mahal is the number one contender? Randy Orton is the champ? Yet, we have two of the best wrestlers on the roster wrestling for the secondary title. The Colons are also getting a push after being jobbers for years. Boring.