WWE SmackDown Ties Record 2021 Rating
People tuned in to see Brock Lesnar, Edge vs. Seth Rollins, The 'Demon' and more.
This past Friday's monster episode of WWE SmackDown pulled a record-tying 2.383 million viewers.
Brandon Thurston from Wrestlenomics reported that this is the most-watched edition of WWE's blue brand since the 22 January edition - that, for reference, also hauled in an identical 2.283 million number.
Brock Lesnar's much-hyped return to TV is being cited as a major reason. WWE also front-loaded SmackDown with a Becky Lynch/Bianca Belair contract signing, Edge vs. Seth Rollins II and more. It seems that plan worked, because the show pulled a higher figure that the previous week (WWE's 3 September episode hauled in 2.220 million viewers).
Breaking it down further, SmackDown scored a 0.65 rating (which equates to 852,000 viewers) in the key 18-49 demographic. That's also up from a 0.62 posted the previous week, so it's all smiles in WWE circles at the moment. Or, at least, it should be; these ratings aren't as high as FOX likely wants, but an improvement is still an improvement.
Meanwhile, AEW's own Friday night show has dropped for three consecutive weeks. Rampage hasn't come close to that impressive 1.129 million number from the debut episode on 20 August (CM Punk's arrival). This past week's episode logged 670,000 viewers.