The Aug. 11 episode of WWE: Friday Night Smackdown featuring a segment with the former Bloodline(Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa, Jimmy & Jey Uso) faction averaged 2.097 million viewers and did a 0.55 rating (P18-49). While the average viewership and rating were down from the Aug. 4 episode (2.248 million viewers, 0.62 ratings), it's worth noting it was going against five NFL Preseason games that started before the show.

According to Wrestlenomics, WWE: Friday Night Smackdown was preempted and aired on delay or on an affiliated network in several areas in the United States like Atlanta, Georgia, St. Louis, Missouri, and Richmond, Virginia. They noted that this happened last year during the first week of the NFL Preseason, which resulted in a decline in viewership.

WWE promoted this past Friday's segment with Jimmy explaining why he betrayed his brother at WWE: SummerSlam on Aug. 5. Fans have been waiting to hear what he would say and the direction WWE is taking the storyline after the premium live event.


On the episode, Reigns called Jimmy to the ring to thank him for his help in defeating Jey at WWE: SummerSlam and wanted to reward him. However, Jimmy surprised fans by saying that he wasn't aligning with Reigns and did it to stop his brother from leaving his side as a tag team. Jey came to the ring, confronted his brother, and got some revenge on Jimmy, Reigns, and Sikoa. After he took them out, he shared on camera that he was done with them and that he quit WWE.

The angle to end the show left fans wondering what the company has planned for Jey. On WWE's YouTube Channel, the highlight of Jey leaving the company was the most-watched segment on WWE TV last week, with over 1.5 million views.

In another critical moment of the episode, WWE had Rey Mysterio defeat Austin Theory to become the United States Champion. Santos Escobar was supposed to face Theory, but WWE decided to have an angle where Theory attacked him backstage to make him unable to compete. Mysterio stepped him to face Theory to become a three-time United States Champion.


This week WWE: Friday Night Smackdown will have a first-time-ever match between Edge and Sheamus. The match was made when Edge challenged "The Celtic Warrior" on the Aug. 11 episode to celebrate his 25th anniversary with WWE. It will also occur in Canada, which is the "Rated R Superstars" home country. Fans may be intrigued to watch this week's episode because of the match and how WWE plans to celebrate Edge on the show.

Another segment promoted for the show will have Mysterio appear on Grayson Waller's talk show segment, The Grayson Waller Effect. Waller will likely try to antagonize the WWE Hall Of Famer, but it's unclear if it will lead to a feud between them. It's possible WWE could use the segment to build towards a rematch with Theory, as he wasn't supposed to face Mysterio for the title.

As of now, WWE hasn't promoted a segment with Reigns, Sikoa, or the Usos for the Aug. 18 episode of WWE: Friday Night Smackdown. However, the show has a first-time-ever match and a Mysterio segment that could gain good viewership for the episode.