EA’s Weekly SmackDown Live YouTube Report (8/28/18)

As we all know, social media and other outlets have become a huge means of drawing in interaction and viewers for WWE. Most people will point to television ratings like they did during the Monday Night Wars in the late 1990’s, however that can be skewed with so many various means of watching today that do not include cable television.

As you’ve become accustomed to, here is this week’s SmackDown Live YouTube Report (2:30 PM EST, 8/30/18):

1. King Booker welcomes The New Day into the 5-time champions club – 1.6 million views
2. Becky Lynch ambushes Charlotte Flair – 1 million
3. Samoa Joe gives AJ Styles’ wife a call – 764k views
4. Daniel Bryan vs. Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas – 543k views
5. Jeff Hardy challenges Randy Orton to a Hell In A Cell match – 510k views
6. Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas challenges Daniel Bryan to a match – 424k views
7. Naomi vs. Billie Kay – 358k views

No surprise to me what comes in at number one this week if you read yesterday’s RAW YouTube Report (check that out here). I said people love a returning legend that they remember from the “good old days”, as we see again here with King Booker’s surprise appearance ranking atop our leaderboard. Trish’s return on RAW did great numbers, so I fully expected Booker’s to do the same and that’s exactly what we got.

Sliding in at number two is the aftermath of our SmackDown Women’s Championship main event, as Becky Lynch continues to have momentum and a large number of fans behind her since turning heel. I still don’t understand why people are so against the heel turn, as it’s made Becky the most interesting she’s been in her WWE career. In my opinion, this is just more evidence of that. Let it play out people and enjoy it, this is by far the best of ‘The Lass Kicker’ we’ve ever seen.

The third spot this week is reserved for the next step in the Samoa Joe/AJ Styles feud, with Joe continuing to get under the WWE Champion’s skin by taking shots at his family. The rivalry seemingly gets more personal with each week and while it’s certainly keeping fans interested, it’s not enough to get them cracking the top two or even close to a million views.

Coming in at numbers four and six are the back-to-back segments for Daniel Bryan and Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas. Of course, the driving factor here is Bryan because we haven’t seen very good numbers out of Almas so far, despite how good in the ring he is. Even then, these still are not stellar numbers and as much as a lot of fans want Bryan at the top of the company, these sorts of things aren’t exactly the best reflection of his drawing power.

Number five this week is the continuing rivalry between two of SmackDown Live’s most popular Superstars, Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton. These guys have name value, but only to a certain point. Of everyone on the blue brand, they have the most mainstream appeal (along with Styles and Bryan), but it’s not to the extent where they’re pulling in massive views.

Lastly, it’s another case of the “best of the rest” even if I think the Tag Team Triple Threat match was much more entertaining and interesting. There’s definitely an appeal to Naomi with her association to Total Divas. She’s been on the backburner for quite some time though and has never had a propensity for big numbers outside of previous segments where she was involved with The Usos.

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