SmackDown Live Barely Scores Its Lowest Rating Since October

Generally every year following WrestleMania, the WWE goes into a “funk” if you will before ramping up its action and storylines heading into SummerSlam in August. They’ve managed to hold it off a little longer the past couple of years with their successful RAW and SmackDown Live after WrestleMania shows, plus the addition of what has become a yearly Superstar Shake-Up.

With WWE’s Backlash pay-per-view this coming Sunday, it appears as if that lull may already be coming into affect. Last night’s SmackDown Live episode garnered the show its worst rating since October of 2017 by drawing 2.437 million viewers. Sometimes though, numbers can be deceiving.

On a night that SmackDown Live was opposed by multiple playoff games for the NBA and NHL, the 2.437 is just a tick under the 2.47 they drew on April 3rd and the 2.45 on February 13th.

EA’s Take: Some other sites are putting this out and not really explaining it, instead using headlines to make you think SmackDown Live did horribly when that’s clearly not the case. If anything, they score in the 2.4-2.9 range regularly. It might be a little unusual for the go-home show before a PPV, but it’s only Backlash, this isn’t Money In The Bank or one of the more anticipated shows. I wouldn’t put too much stock into this and if anything, it may go lower before picking back up as we head towards SummerSlam.