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If there was some disappointment for last week’s episode of SmackDown Live failing to see a boost in viewers following the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, this week made up for it.
A little bit.
Indeed, this week’s show drew 2.79 million viewers, up from last week’s 2.62 million. The blue brand has been doing fairly well for itself over the past month or so:
Jan. 31: 2.81 million
Feb. 7: 2.62 million
Feb. 14: 2.62 million
Feb. 21: 2.79 million
This week’s show was built around a star studded 10-man battle royal to determine the top contender to the WWE championship. The idea, then, was the winner would go on to headline WrestleMania 33 in a match against Bray Wyatt. The result, however, was a controversial finish that saw the match declared a draw when AJ Styles and Luke Harper were last eliminated at the same time.
That was the idea at least.
Either way, the two will have a match on next week’s show with the same prize on the line. That’s when we’ll see if the angle worked.
For complete results and the live blog for SmackDown this week click here. To read a complete recap & review of all the night’s events click here. For a full playlist of the show click here.