WWE Smackdown rating: Did Triple H help the rating with his first appearance since replacing Vince McMahon?

Friday's WWE Smackdown television show drew a 1.99 rating, which is up from the 1.86 rating the show drew last week. The show averaged 2.83 million viewers, which his up slightly from the 2.82 million viewers from the previous week.

Powell's POV: The Triple H appearance must have made a difference to some extent, as that was the only thing WWE was advertising for Friday's show. He's also advertised for Tuesday's taping according to the WWE website and the arena website, so it will be interesting to see if WWE advertises him again on television.

This original source for the above news was James Caldwell of PWTorch.com.