WWE’s Retribution stable continues making appearances on SmackDown, this past edition. They used the new faction to make things chaotic that in turn was able to raise interest in fans. However, Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt’s storyline with Alexa Bliss appeared to be the real attraction of the show which is going on for weeks.
The YouTube numbers following Friday Night SmackDown appeared to be pretty interesting. The appearances by Retribution and the Strowman-Bliss angles ranked well when it comes to the viewerships. But still, the faction’s segments didn’t reach closer to the controversial deeds by the Monster Among Men who threw The Goddess in the air and then down to the mat.
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3.1 million hits were recorded for that Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss’ main-event segment, as of this writing. Last week’s angle with Retribution destroying SmackDown set had 621,395 views within a couple of days.
It wasn’t the most-watched segment, though. Mandy Rose revealing her new shorter hair captured 749,237 views by then. So, now you get why she is getting a singles match at SummerSlam against Sonya Deville.
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As of this writing, Retribution attacking Big E and John Morrison, backstage on SmackDown has 480K views whereas Alexa Bliss’ interview got 618K views. These are going downward, compared to last week which indicates that fans aren’t interested in seeing repetitive things. Jeff Hardy’s segment with AJ Styles earned 598K views.
It should be noted that WWE aired SmackDown with a new TV-14 rating that could open up the possibility for more shocking segments if they continued to run shows with the same ratings. Fans have been immensely engaged to the angle between Alexa Bliss and Braun’s closing angle that also featured The Fiend by the end.
It paid off, nicely proving once again why WWE’s Goddess is an easy way to pull off the numbers when it’s needed. This is the reason why she’s involved in the Universal Championship storyline, anyway.
Braun Strowman also showed up on SmackDown with a new look that received a ton of attention. The Monster Among Men’s head was fully shaved and this look was shared on WWE’s social media accounts. We can only assume that he got a shave while being at The Wyatt Swamp. It also led to the strange heel aspect of his character that fans are bound to see in weeks to follow.