SmackDown Live Live SmackDown Discussion thread, September 1st 2023: John Cena returns on the Payback go home show.

[Butters]

Yeah, what happened on screen and what they said didn't seem to mix well.

 

[Hidden Blaze]

Jimmy definitely held up the 1. But yeah it could be trying to save Solo. Which if so, I’m good with that. As long as they don’t have Jimmy just be like yeah I’m in again fam.

 

[Butters]

 

[Butters]

Looks more ominous that normal I guess

 

[Y2Jayne]

Grayson and Austin together makes so much sense

 

[Y2Jayne]

They're... they're still giving Lashley a mic. Why are they still giving Lashley a mic?

 

[Y2Jayne]

I hate how Del Toro and Wilde are being used

 

[Butters]

I hate how Del Toro and Wilde are being used

to prove your point it took me awhile to figure out who you were talking about.

 

[Y2Jayne]

Ooooooh L.A. Knight had a not very PG line about Maryse and I want more of this

 

[Y2Jayne]

A.J. Styles managing to get a solid match with Solo at his age... I swear this guy belongs to the wrestling Mount Rushmore

 

[Jimmy King]

Jimmmy Uso.

I should change my name to Jimmmy King.

 

[Chris]

Friday's episode of WWE Smackdown averaged 2.443 million viewers on Fox. While that is down 7.7 percent from the previous week's Bray Wyatt and Terry Funk tribute show, it's SmackDown second-highest audience total since July 7.

SmackDown topped all of television in total viewers, which is very rare for a wrestling show. The episode was SmackDown's go-home show for Payback and also featured John Cena's return to WWE television.

SmackDown also topped all of TV with a 0.65 rating in the 18-49 demo. That more than tripled anything else on English-language network TV. It also beat two college football games that aired head-to-head on FS1 and ESPN in both total viewers and the 18-49 demo.

The rating is down 16.7 percent from last week but is SmackDown's second-best number since the July 7 show.

As compared to the same week in 2022, Smackdown was up 17.6 percent in total viewers and up 32.7 percent in 18-49.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week averages in both categories. This week's show was up 3.6 percent in total viewers but even in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/wwe-smackdown-draws-strong-ratings-for-john-cenas-return