Dave Meltzer Believes WWE Is Becoming Less Popular But Recent Ratings Are Misleading

This past Friday, "WWE SmackDown" posted its lowest ratings of all-time after going head-to-head with game 6 of the World Series and airing on Halloween night, drawing just 933,000 viewers and a 0.20 in the key 18-49 demographic. Viewership for all of professional wrestling has significantly dropped over the last month since Nielsen introduced its new "Big Data + Panel" system, which aims to deliver more accurate numbers on cable and broadcast going forward. However, along with the record low totals, "SmackDown's" attendance numbers this past Friday also suffered, with only 4,200 tickets being sold at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

WWE's recent ratings slump along with the blue brand's poor viewership this past Friday has led fans to question if the promotion is trending downwards both creatively and finically, but according to Dave Meltzer on the "Wrestling Observer Radio," the company is still excelling despite going through a cold stretch.

"It was Halloween night okay, so you can throw that one out. I think a lot of people are jumping on that one that's like some thing of like finally there's something between that and the attendance to 'SmackDown' this week that shows that 'WWE's going down, it's doing terrible,' and it's the farthest thing from the truth. It is not at its peak. I mean, it is very clear that the peak numbers that they were getting before, were past that peak and things are down but they're not in like danger zone."

Meltzer continued to explain that Halloween night has always had a negative affect on WWE and professional wrestling ratings, and is the reason why fans shouldn't take the record low numbers seriously for "SmackDown" last Friday.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Wrestling Observer Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.