As we all know, social media and other outlets have become a huge means of drawing in interaction and viewers for WWE. Most people will point to television ratings like they did during the Monday Night Wars in the late 1990’s, however that can be skewed with so many various means of watching today that do not include cable television.

As you’ve become accustomed to, here is this week’s SmackDown Live YouTube Report (2:30 PM EST, 8/23/18):

1. Brie Bella returns to punch The Miz in the face – 1.7 million views
2. Becky Lynch explains her actions at SummerSlam – 1.6 million views
3. Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton – 1.2 million views
4. The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers – 1 million views
5. Samoa Joe attacks AJ Styles – 865k views
6. Paige gives Carmella her SmackDown Women’s Title rematch – 527k views
7. The aftermath of Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch’s brawl – 479k views

A big contrast in the amount of views at the top compared to last week’s SmackDown Live YouTube report after there were no clips to even reach 700k views. This week we see four reach the million mark as I believe a lot of the credit for that goes to this being the post-SummerSlam episode. Number one might come as a minor surprise to some people with Brie Bella’s return edging out the clip at number two. Lest we forget though, Brie has mainstream appeal due to Total Divas and Total Bellas, plus it was her return and gave the announcement of the first match at next month’s Hell In A Cell. All of which are a recipe for YouTube success.

Sliding in at number two is the follow-up to Becky Lynch’s heel turn at SummerSlam, explaining why she did it and also including a locker room clearing brawl with the new SmackDown Women’s Champion. I’ll stay away from my thoughts on the crowd’s reaction to her heel turn because I could write an entire column on that. However one thing is for certain; this is the most interesting ‘The Lass Kicker’ has been as a character in a very long time and I don’t think anybody can debate that. Also, the best promo she’s ever cut in her WWE career. Plus, who doesn’t like a good chick fight? I think that’s also why we see the aftermath coming in at number seven, beating out other action like Rusev and Lana vs. Almas and Zelina.

Numbers three and four are just some of the action from the blue brand this week with the highly anticipated clash between Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton taking the third spot. These two have had a pretty good angle going on for weeks and with the help of the show being the post-SummerSlam edition, coupled with Orton’s star power (sorry, Jeff Hardy doesn’t draw the type of views Orton does, these are facts), yet another example of YouTube goodness. The fourth spot this week is reserved for SmackDown Live’s main event and to be perfectly transparent here, neither of these teams have proven to be much of a draw on YouTube. With the news that Rowan was injured coming out prior to the announcement of this SummerSlam rematch, I think this can be chalked up to fans knowing/wanting to see the title change.

The next spots in our rankings are reserved for more segments with another violent attack perpetrated by Samoa Joe on WWE Champion AJ Styles coming in fifth. I thought these two low-key had the match of the night at SummerSlam and with the angle becoming more and more personal, it’s becoming more and more interesting. Also on a side note, I love the old school interviews with the people on-screen having their backs turned to the live audience. Reminds me of the good old days of ‘Mean’ Gene or Sean Mooney conducting interviews. Finally at number six, another simple backstage segment where Paige gives Carmella her rematch for the SmackDown Women’s Title next week. It was a segment that included something of “importance” with the title match announcement, plus the hilarious R-Truth continuing to lobby for a SmackDown Women’s Title match. Yes, it’s stupid and yes, it cracks me up.

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