Did the Roman Reigns vs. Rey Mysterio Hell in a Cell Match Draw a Bigger Audience for WWE SmackDown?

Roman Reigns and Rey Mysterio had their WWE Universal Championship Hell in a Cell Match pulled off Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view and pushed onto this week’s Friday Night SmackDown. The move came as a surprise to fans, and the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported over the weekend that the decision wasn’t made until Thursday and that it was not made just to get a bigger audience of the latest SmackDown episode. Regardless of whether or not that was WWE’s intention, the company wound up succeeding on that front as the show brought in 1.928 million viewers. That’s the biggest audience the Blue Brand has had since the May 7 episode hit 2.157 million fans.

Reigns won after tossing Mysterio out of the ring and into the side of the Cell with a release powerbomb, then dragged him back in and forced him to submit with a cravat submission hold. With Reigns vs. Mysterio off the card, WWE gave Bianca Belair and Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Championship match a Hell in a Cell stipulation and added Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn and Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins to the card. You can see the updated lineup below.

• WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre (Hell in a Cell Match, Last Chance for Drew McIntyre)
• SmackDown Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair vs. Bayley (Hell in a Cell Match)
• Raw Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair
• Alexa Bliss vs. Shayna Baszler
• Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
• Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins

Mysterio confirmed earlier this year that he signed a new deal with WWE, one that will likely be his last. He confirmed in an interview with Sports Illustrated at the time that his last run would center around working alongside Dominik Mysterio, which led to the pair becoming the first father/son tag team to win championship gold in company history.

“When I left WWE [in 2015], I was tired, I was beat and I was going through a phase in my life where I just needed some time off. That time away recharged my batteries,” he explained. “During that period, I was given time to think about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I sat down with my wife and my kids, and we ultimately made the decision together that it was time for me to come back to WWE. I am thankful for that opportunity because I knew my son wanted to be part of this industry, and I wanted to reopen the door for Dominik to eventually get a foot in the business. WWE has treated me like I had never left, and I am so grateful and truly blessed for that. I’m under WWE’s wings once again, and they’ve seen such potential in Dominik and such a bright future for him.”