SmackDown Live Rating DROPS Despite The Undertaker's Madison Square Garden Return
'The Deadman' can't bring blue brand numbers back to life.
The September 10th SmackDown Live' lost 69,000 viewers from the prior week's episode, despite a heavily-promoted appearance from The Undertaker and WWE ostensibly going all out to entertain tickets to those that actually elected to attend the rare Madison Square Garden edition of the broadcast.
Cageside Seats reported a final number of 2,061,000 for the show, headlined by the King Of The Ring semi-final between Chad Gable and Shane McMahon that later saw 'The Money' give Kevin Owens his P45 after failing to carry him through to the tournament final.
The figure was stronger than the company's lengthy stretch below two million viewers over a period of weeks between May and June, but was the lowest since August's largely enjoyable SummerSlam.
In an atypical period that finds Raw receiving substantial praise for its output, SmackDown has somewhat sagged since the 'Biggest Party Of The Summer', with the profound failure to build on the growing babyface momentum of Kevin Owens and effectively pay off the Roman Reigns whodunnit storylines both perhaps contributing to a lingering disinterest in the blue brand. The show will move to Fridays on Fox on October 4th, with huge stars and stories expected on the brand in an effort to give it the best possible start.