I love WWWY and am glad it was the second single. It was a nice compliment to Hello over the winter, it deserved better, it is a highlight of 25, should have been performed at the Grammys, and deserved a video.
I going to listen to it now actually as my God this reminds me... of how much I love it .
I still think WWWY is one of Adele's best singles, and I am glad it was one. Just because it underperform doesn't mean it didn't deserve to be a single. Let's not act as if WWWY didn't look promising in the beginning. Also, WWWY was obvious because "Hello" sounded more like a prelude to ("When we were younger and free").
Is WWWY one of Adele's best song? Yes. WWWY deserved to be a single? Yes. Second single? No.
Adele talked about WWWY way too much during interviews, Radio picked it up very quickly, hello didnt slow down.
WWWY deserved to be final single, it even sounds like it. SML would have done wonders as second single (top3 or even #1), then they could have released WUTB(top5/10), IMY/SD as fourth or WWWY as fourth and final single.
The problem with WWWY is the same problem Rihanna had with Shut Up & Drive, You Da One, Kiss It Better... the same problem all artists have after following up a huge smash #1 hit with a weaker one while it's still smashing hard. What happens is that the songs get drowned in the wake of the lead singles when they're too big and won't let up.