WWE SmackDown Premiere DOUBLES Viewers For FOX Debut

The numbers are in for SmackDown's huge debut on FOX last night, and they're... pretty good... but perhaps not quite as big as company bigwigs may have expected.

According to ShowBuzz Daily's weekly scorecard, the premiere ended the night with an average of 3.87 million viewers, hitting a peak of 3.92 in the first hour. This figure nearly doubles the 2.099 million sets of eyes tuning in for the blue brand's USA Network valediction last week, and has smashed the 3 million figure quoted as the new home's typical expectation.

There's one caveat to consider: the debut episode is anything but a regular edition of the show, and with just about every relevant legend of the industry advertised for it, is likely to represent the high benchmark for what SmackDown can achieve on FOX.

For comparison, the most recent all-out show, July's Raw Reunion, attracted 3.093 million viewers. The fruit being equated here isn't necessarily similar: SmackDown doesn't have three decades of flagship prestige, and the Friday night slot is uncharted territory.

Given the promotion surrounding the show, and FOX's mammoth install base, WWE may have been hoping to break the four million barrier - if not for the sake of confidence, if nothing else. Indeed, they may have been hoping for a number closer to the 4.53 million who tuned in for Raw 25 last January - their biggest in three years. Arguably, last night's SmackDown was WWE's most pushed individual episode since then.

Of course, a strong start could allow the programme to build momentum - and it could be that the likes of Tyson Fury and Cain Velasquez are more relevant than Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin. We'll get a much clearer picture of the new landscape when the first 'normal' show hits next week.