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This will certainly add some fuel to the fire about the debate over the booking of the first ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match this past Sunday on pay-per-view (PPV).
Moments after she left St. Louis’ Scottrade Center with the briefcase, WWE began marketing the controversy over James Ellsworth’s role in Carmella’s win as a reason to tune in to SmackDown on Tuesday, June 21. How much of a surge in ratings and viewership can be attributed to that - an angle that opened the show and continued to the cusp of the main event - and how much credit can be given to general PPV fallout, the return of General Manager Daniel Bryan, the lack of major competition or any number of other factors?
We’ll leave that to others to argue about. But the fact is last night’s episode delivered the biggest audience in two months with 2.6 million viewers, good enough for fourth best among cable originals. They also returned to the top of the ratings among 18 - 49 year olds with a .85 share, up from last week’s .63.
Next Tuesday’s show is loaded with, among other things, the do-over of the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Will that hold or grow these numbers?
While you ponder that, here’s a rundown of the blue brand’s audiences this year:
June 13 - 2.072 million
June 6 - 2.349 million
May 30 - 2.35 million
May 23 - 2.33 million
May 16 - 2.175 million
May 9 - 2.348 million
May 2 - 2.3 million
April 25 - 2.49 million
April 18 - 2.54 million
April 11 - 3.11 million
April 4 - 2.89 million
March 29 - 2.7 million
March 21 - 2.65 million
March 14 - 2.63 million
March 7 - 2.74 million
February 28 - 2.57 million
Feb. 21 - 2.79 million
Feb. 14 - 2.63 million
Feb. 7 - 2.63 million
Jan. 31 - 2.82 million
Jan. 24 - 2.56 million
Jan. 17 - 2.65 million
Jan. 10 -2.53 million
Jan. 3 - 2.59 million
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.