Last Monday's episode of RAW was the go home show for Extreme Rules and while it did face stiff competition from the Stanley Cup Final and the fact it was Memorial Day, it was still a 2017 low in terms of ratings for WWE's flagship show. SmackDown Live meanwhile had just three matches and set up a women's only ladder match for Money in the Bank and that managed to flourish.
RAW has been trending downward for the entire month of May, but SmackDown Live has been on an upswing. Tuesday's show drew an average of 2.35 million views and was the #1 show on cable that night. That's up from 2.33 million last week and while it's still behind RAW's 2.61 million, it's easy to imagine it catching up at this rate!
SmackDown Live does have the advantage of not squaring off with NHL and NBA games and it's possible RAW will improve when we get to July and the build to SummerSlam begins. Even so, these numbers could prove to be problematic for WWE when the company looks to sort out a new TV deal with the USA network but it's highly unlikely either show will be cancelled!
TheRingReport.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.