WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER
OCTOBER 23, 2018
NEWARK, N.J. AT THE PRUDENTIAL CENTER
AIRS ON USA NETWORK 8:00PM EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Words on Roman Reigns

Before we discuss tonight’s Smackdown, I can’t help but mention what we learned last night on Raw regarding Roman Reigns. For those who didn’t watch, Reigns announced he was taking leave from WWE and relinquishing the Universal Championship to battle a re-ocurrence of leukemia. We learned he was diagnosed with this terrible cancer 11 years ago and put it in remission. Unfortunately, it has returned. Reigns must now take care of himself and his family. Having lost a father, two close friends, and nearly another to cancer, I could certainly empathize with what he is about to go through.

It amazed me to see the support both from the fans and the WWE locker room in a WWE.com exclusive video. Many have booed Roman Reigns throughout his push that has been scrutinized here at PWTorch and rightfully so. It is the character that we see on TV, and for many years we as fans have chosen to cheer and boo based on our feelings about the character. That’s our right and we should feel absolutely no guilt about negative feelings in regard to a character.

I’m sure if we asked the naysayers, we would find out they’re booing Roman Reigns and not Leati Joseph Anoa’I, the man who portrays Reigns. People who boo him have every right to do so when he’s in character, and they have every right to support him as he battles this terrible cancer. I say all of this because after learning of the news I felt bad of being critical of him in the past, but realized my criticism was of Reigns and not Joe Anoa’i.

My family’s full support goes to this man in this very trying upcoming time. May he and his family have everything they need in this upcoming battle

Arena / Recap of Last Week

WWE Smackdown returns to Newark, N.J. in the Prudential Center, otherwise known as “The Rock” (not to be confused with the beloved wrestler portrayed by Dwayne Johnson of course). Smackdown was last in this arena a week before Christmas in 2017. We’ll continue to get ready for Evolution, which is just under a week away this coming Sunday. Crown Jewel also looms a little over a week away on Nov 2.

Last week we celebrated 1000 episodes of Smackdown. The stable Evolution reunited, and possible groundwork was laid for a match between Batista and Triple H. The Usos defeated the unlikely team of Crown Jewel opponents, WWE Champion A.J. Styles and Daniel Bryan. Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and Evolution opponent Charlotte Flair had an altercation on the Cutting Edge, hosted by a returning WWE Hall of Famer Edge. Rey Mysterio qualified for the World Cup at Crown Jewel by defeating U.S. Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. The Miz advanced as well scoring a quick victory over Rusev. We now have all U.S. born wrestlers in the World Cup tournament. Apparently Rusev shares my sentiments somewhat, as he said on Twitter:

If it’s only Only Americans in the #WWEWorldCup does it become USOpen ?

— Rusev (@RusevBUL) October 17, 2018

The Bar captured the Smackdown Tag Team Championship by defeating New Day with help from the Big Show.

Thus far, WWE has announced three matches in advance of tonight’s show. There’s also a MizTV segment planned, and follow-up on another altercation between Becky Lynch and Charlotte.

The Usos vs. WWE Champion A.J. Styles and Daniel Bryan

At the upcoming WWE Network event Crown Jewel, A.J. Styles will defend his WWE Championship against Daniel Bryan. Bryan won this right by defeating the Miz at Super Showdown. Last week, these gentlemen teamed up to face former Smackdown Tag Team Champions the Usos in the opening match. The match went around eight minutes and when there was a “miscommunication” between Bryan and Styles towards the end, the Usos scored the victory by double kicking Bryan. Tonight, there will be a rematch.

Here’s a little Twitter exchange between these gentlemen this past week:

Everyone thinks they’re unbeatable until they get caught by a Small Package! #MrSmallPackage https://t.co/kBjP3Wa4qz

— Daniel Bryan (@WWEDanielBryan) October 22, 2018

Frank’s Analysis: Historically matches like these have worked better when they’re announced in advance, especially when it involves babyfaces who will be opponents at an upcoming event. Doing this match last week unannounced doesn’t give us the opportunity to wonder whether or not Bryan and Styles will get along. It’s good that we know about the match tonight, because we can at least think about the miscommunication in the match last week and wonder how things will work this time around. Look for more issues to arise as WWE will want to present that there’s tension between these wrestlers in advance of their championship match.

Let’s not underrate the Usos getting a win last week. This year they have been on the losing end quite often, and thus getting back in the win column reminds us of just how valuable this team can be. With the Usos being Roman Reigns’s cousins, I wonder how much that will be discussed tonight by the announcers and factored into the finish of the match given the Reigns news last night.

Rey Mysterio on MizTV

Rey Mysterio, who qualified for the World Cup last week, will appear on MizTV hosted by another World Cup participant in the Miz. Here’s the Miz discussing it on Twitter:

I have BREAKING NEWS from @f1. This Tuesday on #SDLive my guest on #MIZTV will be… @reymysterio and it’s going to be #AWESOME! pic.twitter.com/TN9z2XtQ4q

— The Miz (@mikethemiz) October 20, 2018

These two are no strangers to each other whatsoever. They have had many matches on Raw and Smackdown through the years and most notably, they worked together over the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam in 2012 which saw Miz retain the title. Tonight, they will likely discuss the upcoming World Cup tournament.

Frank’s Analysis: If they are giving the Daniel Bryan-Miz feud a break for the time being, this is certainly a good way to go. This is one of those “staple feuds” that always works as Miz and Mysterio have history, have worked well together, and thus I have no concerns about them working together again. It would be smart if they call on their history somewhat and not start from scratch. There have been cases where WWE ignores history for whatever reason, and I hope that’s not the case here.

Rusev vs. Aiden English

Following their long storyline and breakup, things will come to a head tonight as Aiden English and Rusev go one-on-one.

English cost Rusev a spot in the World Cup tournament when he interfered in the match between Rusev and Miz. English continues to claim he is the one who created Rusev Day, as he says on Twitter:

I created #RusevDay…now I’ll kill it.

See you, Tuesday old friend. #SDLive#AidenDay pic.twitter.com/QFRjv6XQkS

— Aiden English (@WWEDramaKing) October 21, 2018

Frank’s Analysis: As down as I was on “One Night in Milwaukee” and the storyline in general, I do like the acting on English’s part as he has played the heel role very well. For this match to happen on Smackdown and not on a PPV shows how low it is on the card. Historically “betrayals” have always been paid off better for the most part when the match takes place at a bigger event and there’s a meaningful build. Perhaps this is just a start with something bigger to come later, but I wouldn’t put money it. English as a heel is likely ticketed for the lower to mid card. Rusev as a babyface will go as high as WWE feels about him, which is questionable at best.

Follow-up on Becky Lynch-Charlotte Altercation

Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will defend her title in the first ever Last Women’s Standing match against Charlotte at Evolution.

Last week, WWE Hall of Famer Edge brought the Cutting Edge back and Becky was his guest. They discussed her change in heart when Charlotte came out. They had an altercation which had to be broken up by WWE officials.

According to WWE NXT’s Twitter account, another altercation took place at the Performance Center in Orlando, FL.:

There was a physical altercation between @BeckyLynchWWE and @MsCharlotteWWE at the @WWEPerformCtr yesterday morning. @WWE and #SDLive officials are investigating the matter. pic.twitter.com/q275mHpZNC

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) October 21, 2018

Becky certainly hasn’t been quiet since:

Investigate? You dopes better call Mulder and Scully then because the champ is out of this world. https://t.co/pjEtsrih2G

— Rebecca Quin (@BeckyLynchWWE) October 21, 2018

Daddy can’t help you now. #Iamtheman pic.twitter.com/26fHXHjCkE

— Rebecca Quin (@BeckyLynchWWE) October 22, 2018

Frank’s Analysis: There’s a few things here. One, they are obviously going out of their way to build tension between these two in advance of their match at Evolution. Two, WWE wants you to pay attention to social media because anything can happen at any time. If a real fight took place at the PC or anywhere for that matter, I’m not sure WWE would acknowledge it unless they wanted to build it into their storyline. I think of the infamous “plane ride from hell” in 2002 that featured many issues including a fight between the late “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig and Brock Lesnar. That was never acknowledged on TV because WWE had no plans of using it in a storyline and the issues were real between the two wrestlers.

With that said, I noticed Becky finally getting a negative reaction when she told Edge to “get out of her ring” and don’t hurt his neck on the way out. I’m not a fan of exploiting real injuries. It goes to show the uphill climb they have getting Becky over as a heel.

Naomi vs. Mandy Rose

It what is apparently a first ever one-on-one between these two women, Naomi takes on Mandy Rose. This match was likely made as a result of a little Twitter exchange between Mandy and Naomi:

Uh-uh! The only thing you’ll be doing is going over the ropes. I’m happy to help you with that. 🤗 #WWEEvolution https://t.co/kbOnVz9gT9

— Trinity Fatu (@NaomiWWE) October 22, 2018

That’s why youre my fav GM😁 https://t.co/PrERveknx7

— Trinity Fatu (@NaomiWWE) October 22, 2018

Frank’s Analysis: There’s not much here, as it’s fairly straight forward. Naomi and Asuka have recently worked with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. I do like announcing matches ahead of time, as it makes them feel important no matter their location on the card. This is certainly a low-card match, but I’m happy to know about it in advance. I wish this practice was replicated on Raw, as typically we know nothing until the afternoon of or even at showtime. It makes the matches feel less important when you don’t announce them prior to the show.

Other Items from Smackdown Last Week

We saw another episode of TruthTV which featured Vince, Stephanie, and Shane McMahon. I share PWTorch VIP audio analyst Todd Martin’s negative feelings about this segment. By the way, go VIP to hear Todd’s show, “The Fix,” along with all other VIP podcasts and ad-free PWTorch reading. You will not regret this decision.

The Rock and John Cena sent their congratulations to Smackdown 1000 via Twitter and a selfie video respectively.

Start Time & Matches Advertised

The arena website shows a start time of 7:30 p.m. local time with doors opening at 6:00 p.m. They advertise these matches:

AJ Styles & Daniel Bryan & Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz & Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura.
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair & Asuka & Naomi in an apparent three-on-one match?

They also show Smackdown Tag Team Champions New Day, which is obviously inaccurate as The Bar are now champions.

Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani and ask any questions you may have. Thank you for reading!

---

NOW CHECK OUT THIS STORY: Afternoon Update: Smackdown locker room reaction to Reigns announcement, Cena not going to Saudi Arabia if Crown Jewel is there, Saudi media coverage, Marko Stunt, Size Matters match, Cody’s future

---

CHECK OUT LAST NIGHT’S TWO-PLUS-HOUR LIVE CALL-IN SHOW (posted in two parts) OF THE WADE KELLER PRO WRESTLING PODCAST COVERING THE REIGNS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE LATEST RAW HAPPENINGS…

-On Stitcher: HERE
-On Apple Podcasts: HERE
-Or search “Wade Keller” on any podcast app

PART ONE:

PART TWO:

---

-WWN issued a statement in the latest WWN Alerts about LAX being pulled off of both Evolve dates this month. The statement said that Impact officials had LAX relay the news to Evolve management that they had been pulled from Evolve 117 on Dec. 15 and Evolve 118 on Dec. 16. The statement indicated that the match had been booked to avoid any political issues where LAX would have to lose in their announced matches, but Impact Wrestling waited until the matches were announce to pull them from the shows. As a result, Evolve announced it will no longer book Evolve contracted talent.

Radican’s Analysis: Impact Wrestling has not issued any statement about pulling LAX from their events yet, but this seems to be poor form on their part to not even contact WWN management directly to let them know that the tag team was being pulled from both Evolve events. Situations like this just hurt the fans. LAX is an amazing tag team and seeing them against the Street Profits on two nights would have been incredible, but unfortunately it looks like Impact allowed politics to get in the way of a good time even when every precaution was taken to ensure LAX didn’t lose on either night. 

-Roderick Strong tweeted out a challenge today to Fabian Aichner for the Evolve Championship on Dec. 15. You can see his tweet below:

Thought of the day- NXT Superstars holding #EVOLVE titles? Well there are no bigger Superstars than the #UndisputedERA and I’ve won just about every @WWNLive title but the #EVOLVE title. So Maybe Dec. 15th I come to La Boom and #ShocktheSystem? #OurERA

— Roderick Strong (@roderickstrong) December 1, 2018

PWTorch has confirmed Fabian Aichner will defend the Evolve Championship against Roderick Strong on Dec. 15. Evolve management was said to have been pleased to be able to put this match together with an NXT talent after recently having LAX pulled from both Evolve events this month.

Update: Roderick Strong’s role at Evolve on Dec. 15 has not been confirmed yet. I apologize for the error.

Radican’s Analysis: It is huge for Evolve to get Strong, who has such a high profile on NXT TV and PPV and is part of the top faction in NXT in Undisputed Era. This will help the company get some interest in their upcoming shows. Losing LAX was a blow, but having Roderick Strong headline a show definitely softens that blow. 

WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER
JANUARY 15, 2019
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. AT THE LEGACY ARENA AT THE BJCC
AIRS ON USA NETWORK 8:00 P.M. EST
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST

Announcers: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves 

Arena and Items Advertised by WWE

Smackdown returns to the Legacy Arena at the BJCC for the first time in nearly three years.  This arena has hosted WWE events going back to Wrestling Challenge from the late 1980s.  WCW Monday Nitro and Thunder (sorry to remind you about that show) also took place here through the 1990s.  WWE (then WWF) had its Armageddon PPV here in December of 2000.  That night saw Kurt Angle retain the WWF Championship in a six-pack Hell in a Cell match that featured “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, Rikishi, and Triple H.  During the match, Undertaker choke slammed Rikishi off the top of the cell onto a truck filled with pine chips in one of the many “OMG” moments in WWF/E history.  It’s funny how time flies as Austin, Rikishi, and Angle are all members of the WWE Hall of Fame.  The others are certain to enter at some point.

Back to today’s events, here’s what’s on tap for tonight according to WWE.com

Carmella and Sonya Deville to square up
The Miz to throw Shane McMahon the “best birthday bash in the world”
Rey Mysterio and Andrade “Cien” Almas to continue their epic series
What’s next for Becky Lynch and Asuka?
Will A.J. Styles find out how vicious Daniel Bryan can be?

Carmella vs. Sonya Deville

 Last week, Carmella participated in a triple threat match involving Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair to determine the #1 contender to Smackdown Women’s Champion Asuka at the Royal Rumble.  She was unsuccessful as she tapped out to Becky’s Disarm-her, allowing Becky to move on to challenge Asuka.  Charlotte, Carmella, and Becky all held the title at various times throughout 2018 before Asuka captured the title at TLC in December.

You can always smell a match brewing if you follow Twitter.  Carmella, who’s never at a loss for words in her social media platform, has been going at it with Sonya Deville all week.  Here’s a few tweets to paint the picture:

Hey, Rosebud, let me just spit some facts right quick:

1st Ms MITB
Longest MITB holder
1st woman to cash in successfully
Champion for 130 days
Beat Charlotte 2x
Beat Asuka 2x
Putting smiles on kids faces by allowing them to join our dance break

How long was your title reign? 🧐 https://t.co/n3frfZ8May

— Leah Van Dale (@CarmellaWWE) January 12, 2019

“I support my best friend trying to ruin Naomi’s relationship with Uce, even though there’s no title or ANYTHING on the line” – Sonya Deville. https://t.co/SW3l9YHNXY

— MELLA I$ MONEY (@CarmellaWWE) January 12, 2019

Says the chick who got eliminated by her “day one” at #WWEEvolution. 🤣

Why don’t you put your hair up and square up with me this Tuesday on #SDLive? Unless you’re gonna be too embarrassed when you lose to the chick with the dance breaks.. 😏 https://t.co/sDEaUR7Qej

— Leah Van Dale (@CarmellaWWE) January 12, 2019

Tonight, Carmella and Sonya go at it one-on-one.

Frank’s Analysis:  I have to admit I liked Carmella in her pre-match promo last week.  I could have done without the “Mella is Money” catchphrase at the end, but I know WWE writers are addicted to this so, I just accept it as standard operating procedure.  Nonetheless I thought she held her own in the triple threat match, as best as Carmella can.  I hope we move forward with a more serious and competition-driven Carmella instead of the person who gives us “dance breaks.”  Look for Naomi and Mandy Rose’s feud to be tied into this match.  Last week, Mandy cost the Usos an opportunity for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship by distracting Jimmy Uso during their non-title match against the Bar.

Miz’s Birthday Bash for Shane McMahon

Before I proceed, do I still have to call Shane McMahon “Best in the World?”

According to Wikipedia, Shane’s birthday is tonight (as is my niece, a fact I know nobody reading these cares about LOL).  Anyway, his “bestie” The Miz is planning to throw him the “best birthday bash in the world.”  He announced it on Twitter:

Make sure to tune in this Tuesday on #SDLive as yours truly hosts the best birthday bash in the world for my bestie @shanemcmahon…it’s gonna be AWESOME! @WWE pic.twitter.com/nOqhhg3mjC

— The Miz (@mikethemiz) January 13, 2019

Frank’s Analysis:  Is there really an intelligible analysis for this?  I just wonder where this is ultimately going.  The Miz turning on Shane would be the first thought, but that’s too obvious.  Shane turning on the Miz is a possibility, but do we need a heel Shane at this stage of the game?  What purpose would it serve?  It’s not as if a win over Shane does a babyface any favors.  My thought is this just plays itself out, and Miz goes on as a babyface.  His last babyface run was from late 2012-late 2013.  He never truly turned then, and still hasn’t had that moment during this apparent babyface turn.

Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas 

Last week, Andrade “Cien” Almas and Samoa Joe teamed up to defeat Mustafa Ali and Rey Mysterio.  They got the win when Almas hit his signature hammer lock DDT on Mysterio to score the pin.

They last had a singles match back in November following Mysterio’s return to WWE.  That match saw Mysterio come out on top.  They go at it again tonight.

Almas and his business manager Zelina Vega have not been at a loss for words on Twitter:

This year is #Tranquilo 2019 #RoyalRumble #ElIdolo pic.twitter.com/7T9dKbhsoV

— “EL IDOLO” Andrade Cien Almas (@AndradeCienWWE) January 13, 2019

Nothing but #GOLD in our future… #elidolo #lamuñeca @WWE pic.twitter.com/IPIHB9eNMH

— Zelina Vega (@Zelina_VegaWWE) January 10, 2019

Frank’s Analysis:  In my opinion this match should have more build and should have been saved for a PPV, but I’m not going to complain.  WWE announced this match on Saturday, so that tells me they see it as a big deal.  Both men are in the Royal Rumble, so it’s possible whatever happens from tonight and up to and including the Rumble leads to a bigger match at a PPV.  Mysterio won the Rumble in 2006, which lead to a World Championship win at that year’s WrestleMania.  I have Almas as a dark horse candidate to win this year’s offering, and if not be one of the guys to spend significant time in the match.  I’ll take it a step further and say it’s not crazy to see them as #1 and #2.

Becky Lynch and Asuka 

As discussed earlier, Becky Lynch won a triple threat match against Carmella and Charlotte Flair to earn the right to face Asuka at the Royal Rumble for the Smackdown Women’s Championship.  She did so by tapping out Carmella to the Disarm-her.  All three women held the title in 2018 prior to Asuka winning at TLC.

At the end of the match, Asuka came out and had a face-to-face with Becky to close out the show.  Here’s Becky in a WWE.comexclusive after the match:

Tonight, we continue to get ready for this championship match taking place in less than two weeks.

Frank’s Analysis:  I could probably do an entire report on the women’s division.  It is intriguing where things are headed.  It has been speculated that Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey, Charlotte, and Becky will have a triple threat match at WrestleMania.  How do we get there?  If Becky wins back the title, does Ronda and/or Becky challenge each other in the champion vs. champion match we never got at Survivor Series and do we cherry pick Charlotte into the match if she wins the Royal Rumble?  What if Becky doesn’t win the title?  Is their title match before the women’s Royal Rumble where she can enter and win and challenge Ronda?  Perhaps Charlotte gets involved either in the title match or dare I say, we do a Bret Hart & Lex Luger finish to the Rumble from 1994 where both men’s feet touched the floor (please no, but the thought crossed my mind)?  I could go on and on.  I think they’ve set things up in a way that make it difficult to figure out the path to WrestleMania, and in a way that’s good.  When things are too predictable as they were in recent years, it makes watching the events boring.

A.J. Styles and Daniel Bryan

Two weeks ago, A.J. Styles (and the animal inside of him) won a fatal five-way to earn a WWE Championship match against the “New” Daniel Bryan.

Bryan went on a tirade to start Smackdown last week in the concession area.  He lambasted fans for various reasons including eating popcorn, candy, hot dogs and drinking soda containing high fructose corn syrup.  He went so far as to slap a hot dog out of someone’s hand and pour soda on another.  Does anybody know if those fans were compensated?  Nonetheless he went on and on and went even further to call a fan “impotent.”  Eventually R-Truth attacked Bryan prior to their scheduled match (that wasn’t announced ahead of time).  Bryan would make quick work of Truth in a non-title match.

Later on, Kayla Braxton caught up with Bryan as he was leaving the arena.  He continued discussing how he wants to make the world a better place and will be WWE Champion forever.  Here’s the clip:

The build for their match at the Royal Rumble continues tonight.

Frank’s Analysis:  Bryan has truly settled into his character.  I am legitimately intrigued by what he’s going to do on a weekly basis.  My uncle, who watched wrestling during the Bruno days up until the mid-1990s, recently started watching wrestling casually again.  He said he likes this Bryan character better than when he was a babyface.  I thought that observation was interesting because it seems a lot of people feel that way about Bryan, and you can put me in that camp.  I thought his babyface character was good, but he looks all in (no pun intended) on this character.  I do reserve it could be Vince’s negative feelings about “environmentally conscious” people coming through Bryan, but even if it is, he seems 100% invested.  I am intrigued by the finish to this match.  It’s not out of the realm of possibility that A.J. regains the title, but I’ll stick with Bryan retaining. 

Other Items from Last Week:

U.S. Champion blamed Shinsuke Nakamura for his wife Lana being home injured, after taking a bump in the previous week.  Nakamura was in the video truck to attempt to prove otherwise.  When Rusev went after Nakamura, he was waiting and attacked him in the back.
Naomi went after Mandy Rose after she interfered in the match between the Usos and the Bar.  By the Usos losing, it cost them a chance for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship.

NXT Callups

Last night on Raw, all of the NXT callups appeared on Raw except for Lars Sullivan.  EC3 was standing outside of Vince McMahon’s office smiling (is he replacing Finn Balor in that role?) in his attempt to get a Universal Championship match, Nikki Cross teamed with Bayley & Natalya to defeat the Riott Squad, Lacey Evans was seen in the back talking to Dana Brooke, and Heavy Machinery interrupted A Moment of Bliss with Alexa Bliss and Paul Heyman in a vey odd spot.  Michael Cole informed us that the callups would appear on both shows for the time being until it was decided on what shows they would permanently reside.

Nikki had previously worked a match with Becky Lynch on Smackdown when Becky was women’s champion.

It’s still unknown what’s going on with Sullivan.  Rumors are he was to work with John Cena at WrestleMania, but that is looking more unlikely.

Start Time and Matches Advertised by the Arena Website

The arena website shows a start time of 6:30 p.m. with doors opening at 5:15 p.m.  The website was troublesome, but I was able to watch a YouTube clip of their advertisement.  It announces the following matches:

Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship:  Daniel Bryan (champ) vs. The Miz vs. A.J. Styles
Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton

The triple threat match I suppose is possible as a dark match.  Mysterio vs. Orton could happen I suppose if Orton gets involved in the Mysterio-Almas match.

---

Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani.  My e-mail is [email protected].  Questions and discussion are welcome.  Thank you for reading!

The May 14 episode of WWE Smackdown on USA Network drew a 1.38 rating with record-low viewership of 1.827 million, below the two weeks ago previous low of 1.833 million. The rating is below the year-ago rating of 1.64 and the two-years-ago rating of 1.53.

The yearly average rating through this week is 1.54, below the year-ago average through this week of 1.78. The current ten-week rolling average is  1.55.

In the Tuesday night cable ratings, the NBA’s Golden State Warriors vs. Portland Trailblazers Conference Finals game blew away all competition with 7.315 million viewers, nearly quadruple the Smackdown viewership. Smackdown dropped to no. 6 in the nightly cable ratings among 18-49 year olds behind the NBA Draft Lottery, ESPN SportCenter, another ESPN NBA show, and the NHL Conference Finals between the Boston Bruins and Carolina Panthers .

“Miz & Mrs” on USA Network drew 1.009 million viewers, finally topping 1 million after previously coming very close. “Growing Up Chrisley” aired after “Miz & Mrs” and drew 728,000.

---

RECOMMENDED: Raw Rating: Viewership rebounds from record depths of two weeks ago with no NBA competition, key stats and perspective