John Cena’s Return Brings In The Highest SmackDown Rating Of The Year

John Cena’s Return Brings In The Highest SmackDown Rating Of The Year

Last Night’s SmackDown saw a 9% week on week increase in viewership. The show averaged 2.717 million viewers. This was the highest number the show has done this year and highest since week two of SmackDown moving to FOX.

The increase will principally be down to the return of John Cena, which was promoted in advance by WWE. There will also have been some fans tuning in to see the followup from Goldberg winning the Universal Championship at Super Showdown the day before.

The big angles on the show were setting up SmackDown’s two big WrestleMania matches.

The first was Goldberg starting the show and saying it wasn’t about who was last, but who was next. At this point, Roman Reigns came down and said he was next, and the pair had a staredown. Reigns still needs to win the Elimination Chamber match at the upcoming PPV, but at this point, it seems a foregone conclusion.

The second angle was Cena saying WrestleMania spots should be earned and not demanded, and he didn’t know when he’d be back. As he was leaving and on the ramp, the lights went out, and The Fiend appeared and pointed to the WrestleMania sign. Cena tipped his cap at The Fiend, and the match at WrestleMania was set.

JAMES RYDER

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