WWE News: Huge Ratings Boost For ‘SmackDown’ After WWE Draft
The WWE needed to make changes after months of the same recurring storylines weren’t cutting it anymore. Ratings were dropping, which had the WWE nervous, at least that’s what was speculated. On a consistent basis, WWE Raw had a declining audience, and that couldn’t continue. Despite the hype around the Shield members fighting for the WWE championship, it didn’t help. Not even special appearances by Vince McMahon could help bring viewers in.
That isn’t even factoring in the WWE live event attendance, which is putrid compared to what they used to draw. The WWE, like any other organization, just hit a dry spell. They needed to do something to spice things up a bit. With the WWE Draft, WWE officials did just that. This past Tuesday, SmackDown Live aired on Tuesday night for the first time and will do so from now on. The crowd in Worcester, Massachusetts, was hot.
The matches WWE booked were quick, but they kept a great pace and good feel to the entire night. Lastly, the WWE Draft was a rousing success. It certainly helped that WWE promoted the WWE Draft more than WrestleMania in the past month. They went all in, and it paid off. The feeling around the WWE Draft felt like it did when it was the Summer of Punk in 2011. That kind of hype will benefit the product as a whole, and that’s necessary for the WWE.
When it comes down to it, the WWE needs to make money by selling merchandise, advertising, and tickets as well as bringing in TV ratings. That last one is arguably the most important. While ratings for SmackDown were anemic at times, the WWE Draft changed that this past Tuesday. According to Uproxx and ShowBuzzDaily, SmackDown ratings went sky high after the WWE Draft.
“With the overnight numbers being reported by ShowBuzzDaily.com, Smackdown’s ratings were up by over a million viewers from the last taped episode, which aired last Thursday night.
“Yes, the first edition of Smackdown Live pulled in 3.170 million viewers. Not only is that a YUUUUUGE increase from last week’s 2.068 million viewers, but it actually topped Monday’s episode of Raw, headlined by a WWE Championship match between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.”
As the report states, Monday Night Raw sported 3.11 million viewers. Fans can’t even remember when the blue brand out-performed the red brand, but it certainly did, and WWE officials should be very proud.
They were able to take a stale product with the pieces in line to make it great and produce something that WWE fans will remember. New stars moved to Tuesday nights. Six wrestlers from WWE NXT finally achieved their dream, and Finn Balor will finally make his debut on the main roster.
Here are a few reactions of the WWE Draft by Triple H and Dolph Ziggler.
You need to bring energy and excitement to the ring…and have the smack talk to back it up. #WWEDraft@MojoRawleyWWE @CarmellaWWE
— Triple H (@TripleH) July 20, 2016
Big things can come in small packages. In this case, I know they will… #WWEDraft@AlexaBliss_WWE
— Triple H (@TripleH) July 20, 2016
Thanks for the opportunity @shanemcmahon
All I ask is 3 minutes of time
to speak for myself,
I promise to deliver#smackdownlive— Dolph Ziggler (@HEELZiggler) July 20, 2016
Aside from probably Cesaro, there won’t any public outcry from the locker room about the WWE Draft being a huge mistake. Overall, the morale is high following the big event on SmackDown Live, and the momentum carried from that will only help the product long-term.
This Sunday, WWE Battleground is headlined by the big triple threat match between Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose. After that, the brand split is official, and Raw will kick off the festivities in Pittsburgh on Monday. There will be new storylines, superstars, and matches. The ratings should follow suit.
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