July 21st WWE SmackDown Sees Record High On FS1

With the last WWE SmackDown airing on FS1 due to a scheduling conflict, there was a positive sign in the number of viewers.

Although it’s not a particularly regular occurrence, occasionally WWE has to move from its standard FOX position on a Friday evening and heads over to FS1. For the 21st July 2023 edition of the blue brand, this was the case to allow the United States’ opening match in the Women’s World Cup to air.

The main event of the show saw Dominik Mysterio put his newly-won NXT North American Championship on the line against Butch, whilst this was followed by a rules of engagement discussion between Roman Reigns and Jey Uso. Amongst the other action, Rey Mysterio won his four-way match to go on to face Santos Escobar next week for a shot at the United States Championship, whilst the latter picked up a shock victory over current title holder Austin Theory.

A new report from Pro Wrestling Insider has detailed the viewership for the show, with it being the highest WWE SmackDown has achieved on FS1. According to the report, it was only the third time WWE FS1 viewership had broken the million viewers barrier, reaching a total of 1,230,000, with a key demographic viewership of 0.36.

Whilst this is a positive, especially since this is the first time WWE FS1 viewership has gone over one million in the last two years, it should be taken with caution alongside the standard viewership. To give context, the week before 2,309,000, with a key demographic of 0.62.