The debut edition of AEW Rampage averaged 740,000 viewers and registered 396,000 in the 18-49 demographic, per Brandon Thurston.
AEW’s new 60-minute Friday night series premiered on TNT featuring Dr. Britt Baker retaining the AEW Women’s Championship in her hometown, and Christian Cage winning the IMPACT Championship from Kenny Omega.
When Dynamite aired on Friday nights during the NBA playoffs, the first hour of the program averaged 562,000 and 276,000 in 18-49 over four weeks, per Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s data. This was also going against the NBA playoffs, which Rampage didn’t have to counter.
It does set the bar for this Friday’s follow-up edition of Rampage, which is billed as “The First Dance” featuring the largest attendance for an AEW event as they run at The United Center in Chicago.
Friday Night SmackDown finished with 2,084,000 viewers and 746,000 (0.58) in the 18-49 demographic, also coming from Brandon Thurston.
It was the fifth consecutive edition of SmackDown topping two million viewers and was highlighted by a Face-to-Face segment involving Roman Reigns and John Cena and a contract signing between Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks.
The number was down slightly from the week prior that averaged 2,169,000 and 792,000 in 18-49 for a show that did not feature Cena.
Since returning with live fans, SmackDown has averaged 2,149,000 and 768,000 in 18-49 over five weeks.
This Friday’s SmackDown takes place from Phoenix, Arizona on the eve of the SummerSlam event.
In Canada, SmackDown didn’t air in its regular slot on Sportsnet 360 due to Tennis coverage. The show streamed live on the Sportsnet Now streaming app and replayed on SN 360 from Midnight – 2 a.m. Eastern with an average viewership of 40,000.
AEW Rampage did not air on television in Canada and streamed on TSN Direct and through the TSN website, so there is no available data. This week’s episode of Rampage will stream live and air on a one-hour delay at 11 p.m. ET on TSN 2.
