Sami Zayn Popularity Changes WWE Plans, Ratings, Sheamus Gets Married, Big XFL Update - Wrestling Inc.
WWE SmackDown and AEW Rampage ratings
SmackDown this past Friday on FS1 averaged 835K viewers with a 0.23 P18-49 rating. Week-to-week comparisons aren't fair since the prior week it was on FOX, but regardless, the audience was down 63% from the prior week, while the P18-49 rating was down 56%. Year-over-year, SmackDown was down 19% in total viewers, while the P18-49 rating was down 21%. Last year's episode also aired on FS1 and was a 2 1/2 hour show with the last 30 mins head to head with Rampage. SmackDown was still #5 for the night on cable, behind NBA programming and the post-NBA game episode of Sportscenter.
AEW Rampage averaged 378K viewers (-21% from last week) with a 0.12 P18-49 rating (-8%). The audience was the lowest since 7/29, while the P18-49 rating was on the low end of what the show averages. It was #27 for the night on cable. Year-over-year, Rampage was down 39% in total viewers, while the P19-49 rating was down 52%.
More Wrestling News
Sheamus married Isabella Revilla this past Friday in New York City. Sheamus was written off TV following a brutal attack from The Bloodline which could set up a feud between he and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns along with The Bloodline, allowing Sheamus the opportunity to properly celebrate his nuptials. Drew McIntyre was the Best Man for the occasion. AEW stars Claudio Castagnoli and Miro were also Groomsmen for the "Celtic Warrior."
The XFL unveiled the team names and logos for the upcoming season, the second reboot of the failed 2001 football league. The team names are: the Arlington Renegades, D.C. Defenders, Houston Roughnecks, Orlando Guardians, San Antonio Brahmas, Seattle SeaDragons, St. Louis BattleHawks, and the Vegas Vipers.
Tony Schiavone recently discussed the scary situation on Rampage a couple of weeks ago where Hangman Page suffered an injury during his match with Jon Moxley. Schiavone revealed that Dr. Sampson made the call to end the match immediately: "Paul Turner communicates with the back that he's hurt, and Dr. Sampson comes in and says that he's hurt ... There's no good news about a concussion, but the good news was it wasn't a neck injury, which I originally thought it was when it first happened. The flipside is now we have eight minutes left in the show, so now what do we do? I think we did a good job of, on the fly, filling that time."
Wes Lee named AJ Styles and the New Day as his dream opponents: "I am a huge fan of AJ Styles. He has been pivotal to the growth of my career from afar. I've had the opportunity to meet him a couple of times, and when they say not to meet your idols because they will let you down, that is a lie. Every single one of my idols has lived up to and or exceeded my expectations."
Video of the day
More Headlines
Nakamura was patient but persistent in wedging open the 'forbidden door.'
Owens says there's nothing about this former WWE Champion that doesn't hurt.
Bowens called on the AEW fans of Baltimore Maryland to help Billy Gunn feel better.
Quote of the day
Eric Bischoff responds to Tony Khan calling him a hypocrite:
"My issue and my comments about AEW, and the creative behind it, [are] really about [their] top matches that don't have sufficient story or structure, or at least a compelling one. There's always an excuse for a match. There's always an angle. You know, your traditional ... inciting moment that creates a match or creates a storyline. But your top matches, your A, B, C and D storylines — that's different. And I've seen a lot of ... what AEW calls storylines ... that I feel are nothing more than just excuses for a match. They're not well-crafted stories. That's my criticism."
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Special Features
Roman Reigns is on a title run for the ages, but not all of his title defenses are of equal quality.