EA’s Weekly SmackDown Live YouTube Report (1/22/19)

A look at the YouTube performance for this week’s 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, 1/24/19):

1. Asuka sucker punches Becky Lynch – 886k views
2. 2/3 Falls: Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade – 772k views
3. AJ Styles & WWE Champion Daniel Bryan go face-to-face – 754k views
4. Mandy Rose vs. Naomi – 463k views
5. Mustafa Ali vs. Samoa Joe – 446k views
6. Charlotte Flair has a warning for Carmella before Royal Rumble – 364k views
7. The Miz vs. Cesaro – 345k views

Comparatively speaking to RAW (see the RAW YouTube Report), a pretty disappointing showing yet again for the blue brand. Taking the top spot this week is ‘The Man’ Becky Lynch and Asuka as they prepare to clash this Sunday at Royal Rumble for the SmackDown Women’s Title. Are people finally starting to have enough of Becky’s schtick? I’m seeing a bit more of that sentiment on social media, but there are certainly still a large amount of fans who think everything she does is the second coming. I’ve been beating this drum for a while now, but she’s only popular with the die-hards and I’m not seeing any indications that her mainstream appeal has grown at all. Still a lot of work to do for Becks.

At number two is the most anticipated match from SmackDown Live, a rematch of last week’s instant classic between Rey Mysterio and Andrade, but this time it was 2/3 Falls. Another drum I’ve been beating is my stance that great wrestling matches don’t equate to drawing power/YouTube views. Why else would this clip fall below a simple promo from Becky Lynch when we all knew these two would give another amazing performance?

The third position goes to the final step in SmackDown Live’s top title feud before Royal Rumble, as Mr. McMahon moderated a “face-to-face” between AJ Styles and WWE Champion Daniel Bryan. I spoke about the blue brand not really having any “needle movers” in my take for this week’s SmackDown ratings (see that here) and we’ve seen on a weekly basis now with these guys how true that it. Again, they’re both tremendous. I don’t have a bad word to say about either, especially Bryan who has been such a great heel lately that even someone who’s smartened up has been looking at him cross. I’m expecting this one to steal the show on Sunday, but I don’t picture a title change taking place.

This week’s number four clip comes from the feud that crushed the competition last week with over two million views. That’s not the case this week, as Mandy Rose vs. Naomi falls into the “best of the rest” category. I’m just wondering, are people not interested in this match because they’re disgusted by what they saw last week? Is it because they found it insulting? Of course these are rhetorical questions.

The rest of our list also falls under my “best of the rest” as there’s really not much else to write home about with numbers five, six and seven, all building to Sunday. I can tell you that personally, this whole The Miz/Shane McMahon/The Bar feud does absolutely nothing for me and after a surprising showing last week with The Miz vs. Sheamus, this is much more what I would expect.