WWE Friday Night SmackDown Results: News, Notes As Controversial IC Title Tourney Begins

WWE Friday Night SmackDown featured the kickoff of the Intercontinental Championship tournament amid WWE’s controversial decision to strip Sami Zayn of the championship.

In first-round action, Daniel Bryan defeated Drew Gulak while Elias defeated King Corbin.

Zayn has reportedly chosen to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic. WWE’s decision to strip him of the title was subject to scrutiny given its accommodation of cruiserweight champion Jordan Devlin as NXT will be crowning an interim champion in his absence.

Last week’s broadcast of Friday Night SmackDown garnered 2.040 million viewers.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown Viewership—Last Five Weeks

• May 8, 2020—2.040 million viewers
• May 1, 2020—1.885 million viewers
• April 24, 2020—2.014 million viewers
• April 17, 2020—2.187 million viewers
• April 10, 2020—2.317 million viewers

From the Forbes WWE Vault

WWE Friday Night SmackDown Key Competition

• Coronavirus (COVID-19) Mainstream News Coverage

WWE Total YouTube Viewership for WWE Raw 

6,346,996 views (Down from 6,593,606)

• Most-Viewed: Drew McIntyre vs. Murphy (1,737,830 views) 
• Least-Viewed: Aleister Black on AJ Styles’ Arrogance (115,489 views)
• Median Viewership: 348,469 

WWE Total YouTube Viewership for WWE Friday Night SmackDown 

4,481,372 views (Up from 4,454,074 )

• Most-Viewed: Bray Wyatt Gives Braun Strowman one last Chance to home Come (1,513,407 views) 
• Least-Viewed: Carmella and Dana Brooke set their Sights on Money in the Bank Glory (97,869 views)
• Median Viewership: 486,306

WWE Friday Night SmackDown Results: Friday, May 15, 2020

Otis came dangerously close to humping that briefcase on his way to the ring.

Now that he’s won Money in the Bank booking Otis as “Otis the Olympic-Caliber Athlete” sounds far more productive than “Otis the funny fat guy who’s too fat to sit in a chair lol look at how fat he is.” The latter showed up tonight.

Within the first few minutes of his first WWE TV appearance since winning Money in the Bank, WWE is booking Otis as a full-on comedic fat guy. Otis and his supporters should be very nervous about his potential as a briefcase holder.

Did WWE kill Tucker off with dysenberry as a way to get him away from Otis?

John Morrison and Otis’ bodies, like Miz and Morrison’s promos, are night and day.

Elias def. King Corbin—Intercontinental Championship Tournament First Round Match

It’s so tough to tell any of Baron Corbin and Elias’ matches apart.

Elias had a golden opportunity to get revenge on Corbin this past Sunday by throwing him off the roof but he was content with smashing a guitar.

Elias is more protective of his car than most people are of their smartphones.

Dana Brooke def. Naomi

Since Dana Brooke grabbed the Money in the Briefcase with all that money inside, does she get to keep it? She should get to keep it, it could turn out to be a fun gimmick.

The highlight of this match was Dana Brooke clapping to rally the crowd before realizing there was none.

WWE has been hot-and-cold with Dana Brooke for the entirety of her career and, for now, they’re skewing hot.

Charlotte Flair Faces off with Bayley and Sasha Banks

If the NXT women’s champion can appear on all three brands, Adam Cole should try his luck and see if he can too. Lord knows the main roster needs all the fresh bodies it can get.

People forget that Charlotte and Sasha Banks were besties in NXT long before Bayley and Sasha Banks were on the main roster.

Charlotte vacillates between being a babyface and a heel based on what show she’s on. It’s fascinating to watch.

Daniel Bryan def. Drew Gulak—Intercontinental Championship Tournament First Round Match

I sure hope neither of these guys turn heel out of this. They’re so fun together and they’ve barely scratched the surface.

If you were flipping channels and you stumbled upon this match, for at least the first few seconds, it would be very easy to be tricked into thinking it was a UFC fight.

Otis and Braun Strowman def. The Miz and John Morrison

The Miz and Morrison were great in acting fearful of Braun Strowman, who has quietly entered his first full month as a world champion. Imagine that.

Next week’s SmackDown lineup sounds like a mini pay-per-view.

Braun Strowman and Otis performed a stereo Caterpillar, but Braun Strowman’s Caterpillar looked more like a pushup.

I continue to be paranoid about Otis’ prospects with Money in the Bank, but if WWE has buyer’s remorse, the least it can do is have him cash in down in NXT.