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What's the story?
SmackDown Live came to us this week from Newark, NJ and to be fair, it was one of the stronger episodes of the show that we have seen, of late. Buoyed by the fallout between Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan at Clash of Champions, the episode saw an increase in viewership.
Last week's episode was seen by a disappointing number- 2.481 million viewers. This week the number jumped to 2.578 million viewers.
In case you didn't know...
SmackDown Live had a hot crowd from start to finish. The compelling angle from Clash of Champions, where tensions ran high between SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon and GM Daniel Bryan was enough to hook viewers in.
The main event match was a 6 man tag team contest between AJ Styles, Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura against Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Jinder Mahal.
The heart of the matter
As compared to the strong showcase of matches and plots last year, SmackDown Live has been a hit and miss show in the year 2017. However, this particular episode was strong enough to make it #2 in viewership in the 18-49 demographic, behind Curse of Oak Island.
While the increase isn't significantly higher, it is a welcome sign for the blue brand that has suffered from a lack of interest and genuine stars. Let's hope they carry the momentum into next week as well.
What's next?
All hands are on deck, as SmackDown Live goes into the first pay-per-view of the year 2018, The Royal Rumble. Rumours indicate that it may be a SmackDown Live superstar who wins the big event. It'll also be interesting to see who AJ Styles faces, now that he has disposed of Jinder Mahal.
Author's take
It's impossible to not root for the blue brand, considering it has always been the underdog. I was entertained by the show, and also mentioned it in the 'Best and Worst of SmackDown Live'.
Kudos to Road Dogg and here's hoping for an episode as good, every single week.
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One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
