After seeing ratings increase weekly, last week’s episode of WWE’s SmackDown Live saw its first decrease since mid-July. However, this week’s edition was the final show before we hit SummerSlam this Sunday. So could the blue brand turn things back going upward?

With the numbers in for last night’s episode, that answer is “No”, although it wasn’t a big change as SmackDown Live comes in with a 2.189 rating, only a .36% slide. Here’s a look at the last four weeks of ratings:

• July 24th: 2.340
• July 31st: 2.401
• August 7th: 2.197
• August 14th: 2.189

Even with the slight downturn, SmackDown Live remained at the number one spot in the Cable Top 150 Rankings for the 18-49 demographic, which has generally been its home on a weekly basis:

1. SmackDown Live – USA Network – 0.70
2. Below Deck Mediterranean – Bravo – 0.56
3. Miz & Mrs – USA Network – 0.51
4. Haves & Have Nots – Oprah Network – 0.46
5. The Challenge: Final Reckoning – MTV – 0.45

EA’s Take: Just as we saw on Monday Night RAW this week, ratings for the go-home shows before we hit SummerSlam on Sunday weren’t stellar. I’m a big proponent of the blue brand on a weekly basis, but to be honest I felt as though this was another rare occasion where RAW was the more entertaining program. One thing that Monday nights has over SmackDown Live are those “needle movers” such as Brock Lesnar or Ronda Rousey. SmackDown has nobody like that and while I don’t feel like those top stars make a massive difference in ratings, they’re still mainstream personalities that the blue brand lacks. One thing that SmackDown Live usually has over RAW is more quality matches, but this week that was not the case. Essentially, the show was just a two hour long advert for SummerSlam and if you tuned in, you may have realized that and tuned back out. This week, neither show did what I believed they would do in the ratings heading into Sunday’s pay-per-view.

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