EA’s Weekly SmackDown Live YouTube Report (10/23/18)

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, 10/25/18):

1. A look back at Roman Reigns’ RAW announcement – 1.4 million views
2. Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz – 841k views
3. The Miz welcomes Rey Mysterio to MizTV – 798k views
4. Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton – 723k views
5. Kofi Kingston vs. Big Show – 637k views
6. Shane McMahon addresses the World Cup – 479k views
7. Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair brawl at the Performance Center – 475k views

Different brand, same results this week after Roman Reigns’ big revelation on Monday. Just a mere recap of the disappointing words from ‘The Big Dog’ brings home over a million views again, after posting plus-seven million numbers in yesterday’s RAW YouTube Report (check that out here).

The first spot obtained by the blue brand is number two this week as the newly returned Rey Mysterio leads the way with The Miz at number three as well. There’s still genuine excitement surrounding Rey’s comeback, which we saw with another second place performance in his first match back in last week’s YouTube Report for the blue brand. Mysterio and Miz was really the top draw of the entire program, so it equaling that spot with a top YouTube performance only makes sense.

Our other match between World Cup participants and the night’s main event slides into the fourth spot this week. We’re not that far removed from the heated feud between Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton that culminated at Hell In A Cell. So, with both guys being top names on the blue brand and memories of their intense rivalry still fresh, it doesn’t surprise me that it ranks higher on the board this week, especially given the overall competition.

Coming in at number five is the continuation of last week’s surprising heel turn by Big Show when he cost The New Day the SmackDown Tag Titles. ‘The World’s Largest Athlete’ did well in our report for his return match a couple of weeks back and while this is far from as strong as that showing, there’s enough going on here to drive it above the 650k mark. Make all the ‘Big Show turns heel/face a lot’ jokes you want, but this one is a little more intriguing because it feels fresh given who he’s joined up with in Sheamus and Cesaro. Plus, it gives those two something new as well after spending most of 2018 on the backburner.

Number six this week is our SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon, who is back as a regular part of the program after taking a number of months off to heal up. There’s not much to say about this one, as anything under the 500k mark borderlines on my “best of the rest” territory. The same goes for number seven, the final chapter between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair before they get to Evolution this Sunday. What I find more interesting is your top title feud on SmackDown Live has fallen completely off the map as the rematch between WWE Champion AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan against The Usos drops 130k views from last week. Honestly, where is the excitement for this “dream match” people have clamored for?

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