WWE SmackDown Ratings, Viewership (6/20/17): Numbers Rebound This Week
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Tag: featured
The Ross Report Recap w/ Jason Powell – MITB & RAW Analysis, A.J. Styles vs. Nakamura, Lesnar’s Expiring Contract, More!
Ross congratulates Seth Rollins on being named as the cover Superstar for WWE 2K17. He says that’s a big deal for Rollins personally and professionally, and it’s a big deal in the WWE locker room as well. Ross has heard that the two finalists for the cover were Seth Rollins and A.J. Styles, and he thinks Styles would have been very deserving of the cover as well.
Speaking about Sunday night’s Money in the Bank PPV, Ross thought the St. Louis crowd loved the legends sitting at ringside. He also thinks that Naomi is a very talented performer, and her athleticism allows her to continue to grow as a performer in the ring. It was nice to see her continue her Women’s Championship run at Money in the Bank with a win over Lana.
Ross liked that Mahal got some heat by defeating Randy Orton in his hometown on Sunday. The distraction finish protected Orton and allowed Mahal to continue his momentum. Ross does feel that Mahal needs to pick up a few convincing wins as some point where he can show off his aggressiveness, and he needs to vary his style from time to time.
However, Ross does like where Mahal is headed, and he credits WWE for putting their Championship on him to help build his credibility as rises to prominence within the company.
Important Questions That Smackdown Should Answer
This week’s Smackdown got a few gears going shortly after Money in the Bank. Lana and Naomi look to be fighting again. Daniel Bryan returned, and then he stripped Carmella of the Money in the Bank briefcase and scheduled a rematch for next week. Good for the women.
Meanwhile, Jinder continues to reign as the WWE Champion (30 days and counting!), and the Hype Brothers Bros asked for the title shot that they rightfully earned. Daniel Bryan, for some reason, decided not to give them their title opportunity, but forced them to earn it again. This will most likely lead to shenanigans from the Usos to get Zack and Mojo out of the title picture.
Still, this week left us me with more questions than answers. Here are three of those questions that I feel need to be asked.
Is Smackdown Doing Randy v. Jinder III?
If I’m going to be honest, their last two matches have hardly managed to set the world on fire. There are certain duos in the ring who will always have excellent chemistry. Okada – Omega, Styles – Ambrose, Owens – Zayn, Punk – Cena, Orton – Christian, etc. Unfortunately, Orton – Mahal is not one of those pairings.
Mahal wrestles a rather pedestrian style, and Orton is a tricky guy to have chemistry with. A lot of talented wrestlers just don’t really click with Orton. It happens. So why are they continuing the feud between Orton and Mahal?
Let’s even look at it from a kayfabe perspective. Orton lost his rematch. Why should he get another match? He could feasibly earn it again in a match, but they didn’t do that. Randy just said he was gonna RKO a bunch of Indians to get revenge on Jinder.
Then there’s Baron Corbin waiting in the shadows with his Money in the Bank contract. While he is exactly the type of guy to cash in on Jinder, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll have a heel cash in on a heel. What I’m trying to say is that there is going to be a lot of change in the WWE title scene, but we don’t know what’s going to happen.
Where on God’s Green Earth Is Rusev?
This is a question that many people have been asking since last month. Rusev demanded a title match at Money in the Bank, but then he was conveniently forgotten. Of course we all found out that Rusev was only medically cleared like last week, and then we all thought “cool. Maybe he’ll be at Money in the Bank.” Nope. Instead, we got Mike and Maria Kannelis, who, don’t get me wrong, are a cool and welcome addition to the Smackdown roster, but they’re not Rusev. So where on God’s green earth is Rusev?
They clearly had something before he got injured. He had beef with Mahal for some reason. I’m not entirely sure why because to be honest, there was a period of time where I stopped watching Raw completely and only watched Smackdown. But I know they had a squabble.
The story really writes itself. Rusev could’ve helped Jinder retain at Money in the Bank, and then turn on Jinder so he could get the WWE Championship. Or have Rusev return and attack Jinder, because they have unfinished business.
Rusev is one of the best performers on the roster today, so Smackdown should find a way to put him on the show.
How Far Will Smackdown Go with the Kevin Owens Open Challenge?
I like the idea of the Open Challenge. It helps the image of a fighting champion who is looking for competition and looking to prove himself. It also showcases the skills of often overlooked superstars, and makes them look like they want the gold.
This week, Owens defended the US title against Chad Gable in a pretty good match. Gable returned from doing absolutely nothing the last few months, while Jason Jordan got exactly 10 seconds of screen time. While I like the idea of the Open Challenge, there’s still AJ Styles hanging around in the title picture.
Was this Open Challenge a one-time thing? I think it’s a potentially great idea to have Styles keep answering the challenge and Owens repeatedly denying him and defending it against someone else. Of course, that’s just me, and surely there’s some sort of flaw that I don’t see.
So how far will Smackdown take the Open Challenge? When will Styles and Owens face off again?
Dinner with the King Recap – Great Balls of Fire Insight, Advice for Wannabe Wrestlers, Who Had the Best ‘Puppies’ in WWE? More!
Lawler is joined on today’s show by his co-host Glenn Moore.
Lawler informs that he appeared at the Comicon in Washington, DC this past weekend. He says that he had a great time there and he was able to see a lot of old friends. WWE Superstars Charlotte Flair and Nakamura even made an appearance on Saturday.
A listener writes into the show and asks Lawler which current WWE Superstar would fit well in Memphis Wrestling back in the day. Lawler says that he worked as the top babyface in Memphis for a long time, so their goal was always to find big, strong heels to work against him. Guys like Kamala and Bam Bam Bigelow fit that mould.
In that sense, there are a number of guys in WWE today that would work out well in Memphis. Lawler says that they would have made a lot of money with someone like Brock Lesnar in Memphis back in the day. They could also do wonders with talents such as Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt and of course Braun Strowman.
Possible Spoiler for Tonight’s Episode of RAW
As previously noted, Roman Reigns will be kicking off tonight’s episode of RAW to make his SummerSlam announcement. It’s being speculated that Roman will announce that he wants to face the winner of the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view match of Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar.
With Braun Strowman now being cleared to return to action, Bryan Alvarez speculated on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Live that Strowman will return on tonight’s show to continue his feud with Roman Reigns. It’s expected that this will lead to another match with between the two, with the winner getting a shot at the Universal Title at SummerSlam.
Carmella Reacts to Her Controversial Win at Money in the Bank
As seen at tonight’s Money in the Bank event, James Ellsworth injected himself into the first-ever Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match and captured the briefcase only to give it to Carmella. There was tons of backlash on social media regarding the finish to the match.
Carmella took to Twitter and responded to her victory with the following remarks:
Bischoff on Wrestling Recap – WWE’s Aging Fanbase, Free Agent John Cena, Cornette vs. Russo, More!
Bischoff comments on the Sports Business Journal’s recent report, which suggested that the median age of wrestling fans has grown to 54 years old. In his opinion, the median age of wrestling fans is closer to mid 40’s, based on some research that he has seen over the last couple of years. Either way, that’s probably a higher number than WWE would like.
He points out that some people still wish that WWE would return to a more mature style of programming, but sponsors write the cheques, and they want WWE to target a younger demographic. Younger audiences are always preferable for sponsors, because older people don’t spend money as freely. As long as the sponsors demand WWE to continue with PG programming, that’s exactly what they’ll do.
Bischoff points out that IMPACT Wrestling’s audience is made of up mostly older male viewers. Because of this, he says that sponsors can probably get commercial time on PopTV for $49 a spot during an IMPACT showing. Older audiences, specifically males, simply don’t spend money.
Bischoff comments on the fact that ICW from Ireland has pulled their video library from the FITE TV app, and they’re the first independent promotion to be announced as moving their library to the WWE Network. Bischoff thinks this is very interesting, because WWE has always ignored all of their competition in the past. He’s intrigued to see how this relationship plays out.
Possible Reason Why WWE Called Several Legends In for Sunday’s Money in the Bank Event
Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair, Greg Gagne, Larry Hennig and Baron Von Raschke have all been spotted in St. Louis this afternoon.
As previously noted via Wrestling Observer, these legends are expected to take part in a segment at Sunday’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view event. While it hasn’t been confirmed, it’s very possible that they could be doing some sort of “father’s day” segment, considering that is tomorrow’s holiday. We will keep you updated if we hear anything as we head into tomorrow’s event.
Rusev Returning to SmackDown Next Week
We reported a few days back via Pro Wrestling Sheet that Rusev has been cleared to return to in-ring competition after having shoulder surgery back in March.
PWInsider reports that Rusev is expected to make his return to WWE programming on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live. There is no exact word on what his role will be upon his return. WWE teased a feud with Shane McMahon last month, but those plans got nixed. It’s unknown at this time if the company will pick up where they left off. We will keep you updated.