“Alex Morgan > Roman Reigns”: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Puts Triple H’s WWE in Jeopardy Despite Record-Breaking Numbers by The Bloodline, WWE Universe in Total Denial

For months now, The Bloodline has been putting up stunning displays to wow the crowd. Even though Roman Reigns’ stable is undergoing a split, it has managed to keep the viewership intact and, in some cases, has proved to be the propeller for the WWE. Despite their record-breaking numbers on SmackDown, it wasn’t enough for a television network to slot it over FIFA Women’s World Cup.

As soon as the news reached fans, they were left fuming. Several of them came down hard on Fox, while a few tried to reason. But overall, the WWE Universe was majorly upset with the development. But before reading what the fans said, let’s take a look at the numbers game.

The Bloodline elevates SmackDown to a three-year high

On the July 7, 2023, episode of SmackDown, Jimmy, and Jey Uso held a ‘tribal court’ for their cousin Roman Reigns. The segment was pre-announced, and it did not disappoint in delivering a gripping watch. The said segment was aired for 30 minutes, with the second quarter featuring no ads. This was a risk that the Triple H-managed WWE and Fox- the network that airs SmackDown- took and it paid off well.

According to Wrestlenomics, the last episode of SmackDown had 2,561,000 viewers and scored 0.76 in the P18-49 rating. “Excluding that Christmas Day 2020 episode, this is the highest P18-49 since March 20, 2020,” part of the tweet read. The numbers were largely drawn by The Bloodline.

The Usos, Solo Sikoa, Roman Reigns, and Paul Heyman played out the drama which was watched by 1.23 million viewers in the second quarter of their segment. According to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, this was the highest-viewed wrestling quarter-hour in recent times.

Despite packing in the numbers, Fox has chosen to cover soccer in the FIFA Women’s World Cup while WWE will have been moved to Fox Sports 1 for the July 21 episode.

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Quite naturally, this angered WWE fans, who had a thing or two to share on social media regarding the news.

Fans accuse Fox of ruining WWE’s ratings

This is no secret that the WWE has a strong fan base, fondly referred to as the WWE Universe. They are vocal about every little detail surrounding the Stamford-based promotion. No development misses the fans’ gaze and therefore the scrutiny that follows it.

After Fightful reported the news of the recent one-off change in airing, the faithful shared their views on the issue.

This fan wants the WWE to reconsider its deal with Fox, saying “enough is enough”.

One fan said Alex Morgan, the star player and captain of the USA Women’s Soccer Team, is greater than The Tribal Chief of The Bloodline. They also clarified that they did not make the rules.

A third user accused the network of damaging WWE’s ratings.

Several fans have commented that they don’t care about the soccer match. One even said they cannot be forced to watch something that they don’t want to watch.

While it’s true that women’s soccer is unlikely to find fans among wrestling faithful, especially after the recent news surrounding SmackDown, the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final, in which the USA defeated France 2-0 to win the trophy, gave Fox 14.3 million U.S. viewers, according to reports.

The total views were approximately 20 million. Interestingly, the US viewership for the women’s finale beat the 2018 Men’s World Cup Final by nearly three million. So, while it’s tough on WWE fans, one cannot overlook the sheer numbers pulled by the women’s soccer team and the support they have received lately.

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That said, what’s your view on the issue? Let us know in the comments.