Its called the Friday Night Death Slot for a very good reason; shows put on during this time are often perceived to be approaching cancellation and are at the very least, insignificant in terms of drawing power and popularity, when compared to other times. SmackDown had a good thing going it when it was originally on Thursday nights. That way, not only did it not have to compete with other Friday night sports programs and movies, but there was a larger percentage of people still at hone on Thursdays who could actually watch the show. While SmackDowns viewership initially increased from its old Thursday night slot, it gradually dropped since it started airing on Fridays, which in turn led the WWE to think that the shows stars werent big enough, which eventually led to company-wide apathy towards the show. No matter what they did, no matter which stars they put on the show (including John Cena and Triple H), SmackDowns ratings were much lower. Eventually, Vinces priorities shifted to RAW and Triple Hs priorities shifted to NXT, which is what led to SmackDown being in the low place it is today. Its a good thing that SmackDown moved back to Thursday nights. Maybe now it will gain at least a few more viewers.