This past Friday’s SmackDown took place at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. Damage CTRL and Asuka kicked off the show. Bayley asked Asuka to join the faction with a Damage CTRL t-shirt in her hand. The Empress accepted to join the faction. They challenged Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi, and a member of their choosing to a WarGames match at Survivor Series. Shotzi, Belair, and Charlotte then attacked Damage CTRL but the heels got the upper hand.
The Street Profits defeated Brawling Brutes and Pretty Deadly to become the No.1 contenders for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins will face Finn Balor and Damian Priest for the titles this Friday.
Dragon Lee defeated Axiom.
Santos Escobar came to the ring and addressed the fans. Escobar blamed Rey Mysterio for holding him back. He said that Dominik Mysterio was right. Zelina Vega came and slapped Escobar. Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro were then attacked by Santos Escobar.
Grayson Waller defeated Cameron Grimes.
LA Knight defeated Jimmy Uso. After the match, Solo and Jimmy tried to put Knight through the announcers’ table. Cody Rhodes came to Knight’s aid and attacked The Bloodline.
In the final segment, Becky Lynch was revealed as team Bianca’s fourth member. Babyfaces and heels then got into a brawl.
According to Nielsen via SpoilerTV, the November 17th episode of WWE SmackDown drew 2.206 million viewers on FOX and a 0.62 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
WWE SmackDown viewership & ratings for the past few weeks
| Episode of WWE SmackDown | Viewership | 18-49 demographic |
| November 17th | 2.206 million | 0.62 |
| November 10th | 2.195 million | 0.57 |
| November 3rd | 2.119 million | 0.53 |
| October 27th on FS1 | 1.145 million | 0.35 |
| October 20th | 2.253 million | 0.59 |
| October 13th | 2.417 million | 0.62 |
| October 6th | 2.319 million | 0.64 |