How WWE ruined its historic SmackDown episode in Barcelona explained by surprised wrestling expert (Exclusive)
It was a special night for Spanish WWE fans as SmackDown emanated for the first time from Barcelona as part of the ongoing European tour. However, wrestling expert Vince Russo felt a lackluster lineup would hurt the viewership in the United States.
SmackDown featured multiple matches and segments that continued the build toward WrestleMania 41. Cody Rhodes, Jacob Fatu & Co., Paul Heyman, Jade Cargill, and many other acts were featured on the episode that had one of the hottest crowds in recent times. WWE always gets great live reactions for its international shows and Barcelona certainly didn't disappoint. However, Vince Russo was left underwhelmed by the content this week.
While speaking on BroDown with host Mac Davis, Russo noted how American fans would not have even watched SmackDown after seeing the spoilers. The former head writer for the Stamford-based company was confident that the latest show wouldn't draw great numbers as there was really not much to get hyped about:
"I want to back up a little bit because this show is not going to a good number and I'll tell you why. It was recorded. So everybody checked out the spoilers. Now, here's what is supposed to happen. You're supposed to read the spoilers and want to watch the show. You want to see something that's reported in the spoilers. Bro, I read the spoilers today and this was my kneejerk reaction, 'Oh this is great, I can fast forward through this whole entire thing." [From 6:30 onwards]
Check out his comments in the video below:
Vince Russo does a live session on his Twitch channel during SmackDown and noticed very few people tuning in this week, which could be due to the spoilers in circulation.
Russo further highlighted the tag team title win for Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford, and how WWE would have banked on the moment to attract more viewers. The former writer thought that a championship change on SmackDown involving the Street Profits and DIY wasn't something fans would care about:
"That's the thing, Mac! Do they think the hook of the spoilers was like the Street Profits beating DIY? Did they actually think people were going to tune in for that because they cared about that?" [From 7:40 onwards]
WWE will continue to present shows to an international audience on The Road to WrestleMania 41 and the expectations from Triple H's creative team are incredibly high.
If you use the quotes from this article, please credit BroDown and embed the YouTube video, and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.
