News
WWE News: SmackDown Live Viewership Remains Steady This Week
After what was a historically bad week for Monday Night RAW in the ratings (which you can check out here), it looked like things could be troublesome for WWE SmackDown Live the following night when the blue brand was in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Wipe those worries away as the numbers are in and this week’s episode of the blue brand stayed consistent with its recent viewership, garnering a 2.195 (which is exactly the same as last week). While Monday’s RAW was opposed by Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, SmackDown Live faced no NBA competition. It’s not all good news however, as the 2.195 last week was good for the show’s lowest since the Halloween 2017 edition.
Overall, SmackDown ranked number seven for the evening, being outdrawn by a number of political-based programming such as Hannity, Tucker Carlson and others. In the end though, the blue brand came in at number one in the 18-49 demographic for the night.
Below are the ratings for SmackDown Live for the month of May:
- May 1st:Â 2.436 million viewers
- May 8th:Â 2.293 million viewers
- May 15th:Â 2.298 million viewers
- May 22nd:Â 2.195 million viewers
- May 29th:Â 2.195 million viewers
Source: Showbuzz Daily
EA’s Take:Â As I stated in my article for the RAW viewership, it all boils down to competition which was the case on Monday. In the words of Officer Barbrady, “Move along people, nothing to see here ya looky-loos!”. We’re still entrenched in the annual “dog days of Spring” for the WWE, so things like “worst rating since Halloween” are a bit inflammatory. THIS HAPPENS EVERY YEAR PEOPLE. Let’s not act like it isn’t the norm.
Continue following TheChairshot for all the latest skull smashing opinion, news, reviews and so much more! @theCHAIRSHOTcom on Twitter
Always #UseYourHead
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
Did your picks win points?
The AEW Continental Classic is underway, with almost everyone competing. Check in here if you haven’t seen the winners and losers of week 1!
Here are your Gold League standings!
- Jon Moxley: 1-0, 3 points
- Swerve Strickland: 1-0, 3 points
- Jay White: 1-0, 3 points
- Rush: 0-1, 0 points
- Mark Briscoe: 0-1, 0 points.
- Jay Lethal: 0-1, 0 points
Here are your Blue League standings!
- Brody King: 1-0, 3 points
- Claudio Castagnoli: 1-0, 3 points
- Daniel Garcia: 0-1, 0 points
- Eddie Kingston: 0-1, 0 points
- Bryan Danielson: Yet to Compete
- Andrade El Idolo: Yet to Compete
My Thoughts:
Nothing too crazy, nothing too wild, this tournament only just got started. The only disappointing point is that they could not get Bryan “cleared to compete” Saturday night. Not sure how much of that is shoot given the bad eye, but this was kinda the problem of wanting him in the tournament over tons of other choices. Bryan wants to face Okada for WrestleKingdom 18, how is Bryan supposed to do that at his best if he’s also gonna be in a round robin, doing five top level matches in about as many weeks? And it takes away from Andrade being able to do something. Also a little surprised we didn’t even hear from Andrade on Saturday.
Now as we heard on Saturday, round two’s matches are set. Gold League will see Mark Briscoe VS Rush, White VS Swerve, and of course, Moxley VS Lethal. Nice variety there, a couple 0-1 guys facing off, as well as two 1-0 guys, and then 1-0 VS 0-1. No offense to Lethal, but he feels like an 0-2 going up against Moxley. Hard to call the other ones but that’s the fun of it. Meanwhile, Blue League sees Brody VS Claudio in a showdown to be 2-0, then Bryan and Andrade finally jump in, Bryan against Eddie and Andrade against Garcia. Sadly, feels like Eddie and Garcia are going 0-2, no way Tony Khan is booking Bryan and Andrade to lose their first shots.
In fact, that could be half the reason they did wait on those two, that’s almost too good for just a first round opener. But I still would’ve done it, same as NJPW does stuff like that for round robins, which this is all modeled after anyway.
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
Tony Khan Reveals the Blue and Gold “Leagues!”
Originally livestreamed, Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone officially announced the twelve total entrants and divided them into the two round robin blocks known as the “Blue League” and “Gold League.” If you don’t feel like sifting through the almost 30 minute video, the groups are:
Blue League
- Bryan Danielson
- Andrade El Idolo
- Brody King
- Claudio Castagnoli
- Daniel Garcia
- Eddie Kingston
Gold League
- Jon Moxley
- Swerve Strickland
- Rush
- Mark Briscoe
- Jay Lethal
- Jay White
Tony Khan also explains the rules for the Continental Classic:
- Every match has a 20 minute time limit
- The winner of each match earns 3 points, losers earn 0, 1 point for a draw
- EVERYONE ELSE is banned from ringside for true 1v1 action
Eddie Kingston also joined the selection special as his “life’s work” is on the line in this tournament, both the ROH World Championship and NJPW Strong Openweight Championship on the line as part of the modern day North American Triple Crown Eddie, Tony Khan, AEW, ROH and NJPW are looking to create together. Gold League competes tonight on Dynamite while Blue League will have their start this Saturday on Collision. Look for more articles like this one to keep up with the Continental Classic standings over the next six weeks of tournament action!
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!