Photo: WWE

Last night’s SmackDown Live saw its viewership increase despite heavy competition from cable news channels. SmackDown Live‘s two hours attracted 2.685 million overnight viewers, which is an increase from last week’s 2.530 million viewers. Despite the viewership increase, SmackDown Live was the sixth most popular program on cable on Tuesday night, losing to cable news shows on Fox News Channel and MSNBC, which covered WWE Hall of Famer and U.S. President Donald Trump’s rally in Arizona. The top cable program on Tuesday night was Fox News Channel’s Hannity, with 4.578 million viewers, although the show airs at 10 p.m. EDT, after SmackDown Live.

It was the first SmackDown Live broadcast following SummerSlam, one of the four major pay-per-view events for the company. Last night’s show saw the main roster debut of Bobby Roode and the return of Shelton Benjamin after several years away from WWE. The show opened with WWE United States Champion AJ Styles, Kevin Owens and SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon setting up the main event of Styles vs. Owens with another special guest referee.

SmackDown Live may have lost the overall viewership battle but it did easily win the important 18-49 age demographic with 0.87 rating, up from last week’s 0.77 rating.

The post WWE SmackDown Ratings, Viewership (8/22/17): Numbers Continue To Rise appeared first on TopRopePress.com – Wrestling News, WWE News, TNA News, Wrestling Results.

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The numbers are in for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown Live. Smackdown finished with 2.530 million viewers on Tuesday night, good enough to finish as the fifth watched show on cable television in the Tuesday night ratings.

This number was down every so slightly from last week’s broadcast, which garnered 2.584 million viewers. SmackDown did finish number one for the night in the all important 18-49 age group demographic. It finished the night with 0.77 rating in that demo, down from last week’s 0.80.

SmackDown was defeated in overall viewership this week by the Rachel Maddow Show (3.297 million) on MSNBC, The Last Word with Laurence O’Donnell (2.785 million) on MSNBC,  Hannity (2.675 million) on FOX News, and Tucker Carlson Tonight (2.596 million) on FOX News.

SmackDown was the final cable broadcast before this Sunday night’s SummerSlam PPV. It was headlined by WWE Champion Jinder Mahal taking on John Cena. The match ended in a no contest after Baron Corbin interfered, cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase, and was then pinned by Mahal.

The post WWE SmackDown Ratings, Viewership (8/15/17): Numbers Steady appeared first on TopRopePress.com – Wrestling News, WWE News, TNA News, Wrestling Results.

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Tuesday was a good night for SmackDown Live. The blue brand’s August 8th show was the second most-watched program on cable on Tuesday night with its two hours averaging 2.584 million viewers. SmackDown Live lost the overall viewership to Fox News Channel’s Hannity, which snagged 2.669 million viewers. Viewership increased from the 2.569 million viewers that SmackDown garnered last week.

This week’s broadcast of SmackDown Live saw the “Grudge Match” between WWE Champion Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton, SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi vs. Carmella, Charlotte Flair vs. Lana, and the latest in Breezango’s backstage segments.

SmackDown Live did win the important 18-49 year-old viewership demographic. The show scored a 0.80 rating in that demo, an increase from last week’s 0.76 rating. SmackDown Live comfortably won against OWN’s Have and the Have Nots’ 0.62 rating and Bravo’s Below Deck Mediterranean’s 0.59 rating. Hannity may have won the overall viewership numbers but was 25th in the important 18-49 demo rating with 0.26. Apparently old people love Sean Hannity, who would have guessed?

As Top Rope Press reported, it was also a good Monday night for RAW. All three hours of RAW stayed above three million viewers, but unlike SmackDown Live, RAW lost the 18-49 demo rating to VH1’s Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood.

The post WWE SmackDown Ratings, Viewership (8/8/17): Improved Numbers This Week appeared first on TopRopePress.com – Wrestling News, WWE News, TNA News, Wrestling Results.

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This week’s WWE SmackDown ratings and viewership information is in. The August 1st broadcast of SmackDown Live on the USA Network averaged 2.569 million viewers, which was enough to be the third most-watched cable program on Tuesday behind the Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson Tonight (2.643 million viewers) and MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show (2.571 million viewers). Last week, SmackDown Live averaged 2.535 million viewers.

Last night’s SmackDown Live was an action-heavy show with WWE United States Champion AJ Styles successfully defending the title against Kevin Owens. Since there was another controversial finish, Owens will have a rematch against Styles at WWE SummerSlam on Sunday, August 20th, with SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon as the special guest referee. Last night’s show also featured the first-ever John Cena vs. Shinsuke Nakamura match to determine the No. 1 contender for Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship. Nakamura won the match and will meet Mahal at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

SmackDown Live did win the important 18-49 year-old demographic. The blue brand comfortably snagged a 0.76 rating in the important demographic for advertisers, ahead of OWN’s Haves and the Have Nots (0.59 rating).

The post WWE SmackDown Ratings, Viewership (8/1/17): Cena vs. Nakamura Impact appeared first on TopRopePress.com – Wrestling News, WWE News, TNA News, Wrestling Results.

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It looks like John Cena’s days as a SmackDown Live roster member are numbered.

Cena looks to be moving to Monday nights immediately following SummerSlam. He is scheduled exclusively for RAW television and PPVs starting in September. His final scheduled date for SmackDown television is two weeks from today on August 15. As far as house shows go, he will start working RAW live events even sooner. Throughout the month of August, Cena will work all RAW events except for one SmackDown show (August 14 in Springfield, MA).

Cena will face Shinsuke Nakamura on tonight’s edition of SmackDown Live for an opportunity to face WWE Champion Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam. Given the pending change of brands for Cena, does this spoil the result of tonight’s match? Not necessarily. WWE still could have Cena go into SummerSlam looking to win SmackDown’s top title, though that would seem to be counter-productive with word leaking that he is leaving the brand. There’s also the possibility of a triple threat, though that also seems unlikely with the RAW brand doing a multi-person championship bout.

Early SummerSlam betting odds were released today by Bet Wrestling, and Jinder Mahal is favored slightly (as of now) to walk out of SummerSlam with the championship. Nakamura has the second highest odds, Cena third, and Baron Corbin (Mr. Money In The Bank) fourth.

John Cena has been billed as a “free agent” ever since making his return to WWE this summer.

The post John Cena Moving To WWE RAW Soon, SummerSlam Impact appeared first on TopRopePress.com – Wrestling News, WWE News, TNA News, Wrestling Results.

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Rusev Expected To Return On SmackDown Live This Week

This week’s WWE SmackDown Live is shaping up to be a big show. Not only will it feature the return of Daniel Bryan, the possible TV debut of Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis, but it looks like Rusev will be making his return this week as well.

Rusev was recently cleared from his shoulder injury which he underwent surgery for in March. His wife Lana, now receiving her own single’s push, will be wrestling Naomi for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship on Sunday at Money In The Bank. It will be interesting to see how WWE works the dynamic of the pair once Rusev returns.

Enzo Amore Takes Shot At Conor McGregor

In case you haven’t been following the sports world, it was recently confirmed that undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be taking on MMA star and UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor in a boxing match on August 26. The fight has been getting a ton of publicity. WWE stars are already starting to weigh in, with Enzo Amore taking a shot at Conor on Twitter.

.@TheNotoriousMMA , you talk s*** and Floyd is going to knock it out of you. And if he doesn’t, I will.

— Enzo Amore (@real1) June 16, 2017

McGregor received lots of heat last year when he took some shots at WWE wrestlers, including John Cena. Always the entertainer, McGregor is a noted wrestling fan and was likely just trying to draw media attention. He even spoke late last year about possibly working for WWE in the future.

The post Another Return On SmackDown This Week; Enzo Takes Shot At Conor McGregor appeared first on TopRopePress.com – Wrestling News, WWE News, TNA News, Wrestling Results.

Photo: ROH

According to recent reports, former ROH and NJPW stars Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis are expected to begin work for the WWE very soon. The pair could make their television debut as early as next week.

Bennett and Kanellis signed with WWE in April following a stint with Impact Wrestling. Prior to that, the couple had worked ROH and NJPW for a significant amount of time. The pair was originally thought to make their debut not long after signing, but that was eventually delayed by WWE due to creative plans.

Kanellis, of course, worked at WWE for many years in the past (2004-2010). She originally took part in the Diva Search competition prior to being signed by the company. Kanellis has been a vocal critic of the Bella twins in the past, claiming that they prevented her from re-signing with the company at one point. However, Kanellis has commented recently that she and Nikki Bella have spoken and worked out their differences. Mike Bennett has never worked for WWE.

The pair will be part of the WWE SmackDown Live brand. PWInsider reported the pair will be starting on the house show circuit this weekend. However, there are no SmackDown Live house shows scheduled for this weekend. If the PWInsider report is correct, they would be working RAW house show events this weekend in Canada before heading to St. Louis for Money In The Bank on Sunday, a SmackDown house show Monday in Indianapolis, or television on Tuesday in Dayton.

The post Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis To Debut With WWE As Soon As This Weekend? appeared first on TopRopePress.com – Wrestling News, WWE News, TNA News, Wrestling Results.

Photo: WWE

The ratings are in for this week’s WWE SmackDown Live. Following an incredibly disappointing number drawn by RAW on Monday night, SmackDown didn’t do any better. This week’s show drew 2.072 million viewers, down from 2.349 million last week (and 2.350 million two weeks ago).

There’s really no sugar-coating this number. It’s bad. Real bad. Especially considering this was the go-home show for a PPV, Monday In The Bank this Sunday. There was also no competition from the NBA or NHL this week, so there’s really no built in excuse for such a falloff in viewers. The show drew the second lowest viewership since the brand split. The only show to do worse, November 8, was the night of the U.S. presidential election.

In the 18-49 age group demographic, SmackDown was number two for the night on cable behind ESPN. The show drew a 0.63 rating in that demographic. In terms of pure viewership, SmackDown ranked 14th for the night on cable.

We will update this post with the final cable broadcast rating for SmackDown this week when it becomes available.

The post WWE SmackDown Ratings, Viewership (6/13/17): It’s Bad, Real Bad appeared first on TopRopePress.com – Wrestling News, WWE News, TNA News, Wrestling Results.

Photo: WWE / Top Rope Press

Dream Tag Team On Tonight’s SmackDown Live

It’s being reported that on tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live, Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles will be teaming up to take on Dolph Ziggler and US Champion Kevin Owens. Personally, I would prefer to see these two fight each other like they did at NJPW’s WrestleKingdom 10, but I will take them teaming up.

As we reported yesterday, the Backlash rematches for both Nakamura and Ziggler and Styles and Owens are scheduled for the June 13th episode from New Orleans.

SmackDown Live Women’s Division Getting Their Own Money In The Bank Match This Year?

While it’s being reported that we will see a multi-woman match to determine who challenges Naomi at Money In The Bank on tonight’s SmackDown Live, word going around is that the blue brand’s Women’s Division will have their own MITB Ladder Match at this year’s PPV on June 18th. If this comes to pass, it will be the first match of its kind in the company’s history.

Apparently, this year’s SmackDown exclusive event will feature both a men’s and a women’s MITB match. No word on when the match or the participants will be announced, but if it’s going to happen, is should be announced relatively soon so that it can be promoted properly.

The post SmackDown Live News: Dream Tag Team & Women’s Division MITB Match Announcement? appeared first on TopRopePress.com – Wrestling News, WWE News, TNA News, Wrestling Results.

The show will be headlined by Dean Ambrose and Baron Corbin.
Baron Corbin injured Dean Ambrose in a Forklift assault two weeks ago and sent him out on a stretcher. Will the lunatic fringe kick up or the lone wolf find his prey.

Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton on the other hand are playing mind games with each other. Will this intensify this week ?

Who will emerge as the A Couple of Smackdown Brand ?

With the ongoing feud between Cena/Nikki and Miz/Maryse intensifying every week, what will be the series of events when these two couples come under the same roof again.

American Alpha to defend the SmackDown Tag Team Titles against The Usos

With only three episodes of SmackDown LIVE left before The Ultimate Thrill Ride, The Usos scored a huge non-title over Chad Gable & Jason Jordan. As a result, WWE.com has learned that American Alpha will defend their titles against Jimmy & Jey tonight on SmackDown LIVE!

What does the future hold for AJ Styles ?

After getting fired from Smackdown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan. what will be AJ Styles next move ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ0dTFpJJjQ