EA’s Weekly SmackDown Live YouTube Report (12/11/18)

A look at the YouTube performance for this week’s WWE SmackDown Live!

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, 12/13/18):

1. Rey Mysterio gets some revenge on Randy Orton with a chair – 867k views
2. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka – 865k views
3. Mustafa Ali interrupts Daniel Bryan – 649k views
4. Mustafa Ali vs. Daniel Bryan – 641k views
5. Shane McMahon & The Miz vs. The Vegas Boys – 451k views
6. The Usos face The Bar in a Rap Battle – 424k views
7. Jeff Hardy & Rusev vs. Samoa Joe & Shinsuke Nakamura – 406k views

While no clips hit the million mark for the blue brand for the second straight week (see last week’s report), it’s a dogfight for the top spot that goes to the last step in Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio’s feud before their Chairs Match at TLC on Sunday. To be frank, there’s really not any one thing that gave this the edge over our number two spot, which goes to the SmackDown Live main event, a WrestleMania rematch between Charlotte Flair and Asuka. Although, if you were to present fans with the question about which one they would predict would finish number one, the most common answer likely would have been the Women’s Match.

At numbers three and four was a fresh match-up that is one of many things people who have been bashing the company lately for their ratings have said they want. So I’m not sure why they aren’t tuning in for it, as it doesn’t even hit 700k at number three or four. The outcome was predictable, yet the right call as well, as Bryan is still in the beginning stages of not only his WWE Championship reign, but a new evolution of his character as well, on top of heading into a big PPV title defense on Sunday. Mustafa’s great and I love 205 Live, but he should not be getting any kind of win here whether it be count-out, DQ or whatever.

The rest of this week’s list is “best of the rest” worthy, although in my mind the number six spot was the easily the most entertaining of the three. At number five we have the SmackDown Live feud I’m least interested in, but it does involve some mainstream appeal with Shane and The Miz. Number seven is merely a case of lack of competition and sixth was our Rap Battle. You know, there was nothing wrong with this segment. Was it as good as the first one last year between New Day and The Usos? Of course not, that one will never be replicated and for anybody to expect it is completely unreasonable. However, the segment did what it was intended to do and that was garner laughs. I’m sorry, but if Sheamus and Cesaro wearing track suits and rapping their own remix of ‘Ice Ice Baby’ doesn’t get a laugh out of you then just shut the TV off. This is sports-entertainment and it was entertaining. I’d be willing to bet that a lot of the people complaining would have applauded if it were The Guerrillas Of Destiny and The Young Bucks doing the same thing. “Ice, Ice, Matty.”

What do this week’s YouTube results for SmackDown Live tell you? Let us know on social media @theCHAIRSHOTcom and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!