WWE SmackDown Live Rating Soars Following Further McMahon Shake-Up

Mustafa Ali unlikely to receive the credit...

by Michael Hamflett
Daniel Bryan Smackdown
WWE.com

Following a predictable surge in the post-Tables, Ladders & Chairs Monday Night Raw viewing figures, The McMahon Family's "new" era piqued additional interest in this week's SmackDown Live after Vince McMahon rang additional changes on the blue brand.

ProWrestling.net reported the numbers, noting that the December 18th edition of the show drew 2.214 million viewers - up healthily from the 1.977 million that tuned in for the TLC pay-per-view go-home show.

The fact that Vince himself wasn't advertised for the show implies that interest from the supposed shake-up on Monday Night had partially carried over to the B-show, though some of the credit for the rise should also be given to those Tuesday talents that excelled on Sunday.

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The SmackDown Live Mens, Womens and Tag Team Championship matches were among - if not the - best matches on the card, with Asuka's victory over Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in particular leaving much to address in the post-script.

As with Raw, WWE taped next week's edition of the show after Tuesday's concluded in order to give the crew Christmas Day off, and they'll hope some of this unusual festive momentum will carry across into what's traditionally been one of the lowest-viewed shows of the year.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett