How Roman Reigns' absence has impacted Smackdown's viewership?

In the absence of Roman Reigns, there has been a slight decline in the viewership of Friday Night Smackdown. It would not be wrong to say that the blue brand was carried by the story of the Tribal Chief and The Bloodline. While the story of the Samoan family has a new angle, it seems a bit pale compared to their story when Roman was the Head of the Table.

Especially during 2022 and early 2023, when the faction had the Uso brothers and Sami Zayn in it, there was incredible storytelling by the company. In the absence of Reigns, Smackdown has been pale. The only story that has been keeping it alive is that of the Bloodline. Otherwise, the viewers might not have anything significant to tune in to watch the show.

Cody Rhodes has not had a good story where his title reign can be mounted. The recent story with AJ Styles has been worth watching. Logan Paul does not appear on shows every week. LA Knight is the most over guy on the roster but has not had worthy opponents since Styles. Now that Randy Orton has been injured, the blue brand has suffered relevance compared to other brands.

The contrast in viewership before and after Roman Reigns

After the Night Two of WrestleMania, Roman has not appeared on Friday Nights. The first episode after Mania saw a slight decline in viewership, as the show witnessed an average of 2.499 million viewers and bagged a rating of 0.77. It was a decrease of 3.99 percent from its previous episode which witnessed an average count of 2.603 million viewers. 

Likewise, in May, when the episode happened on the 10th of May, the show recorded an average count of 2.128 million viewers, which was the lowest turnout for a Friday Night in the year. The numbers got better on the 31st of May, as there was a spike in the viewership. About an average of 2,310 million viewers watched the show, the highest since April, though nowhere close to the count the company had during Roman.