A large audience tuned in for WWE’s tribute to Windham Rotunda and Terry Funk this past Friday night on SmackDown.
The show on Fox averaged 2,647,000 viewers and 1,022,000 (0.78) in the 18-49 demographic, which were up 26% in viewers and 41% in the demo, per Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics.
This was the largest set of numbers for Friday Night SmackDown since December 25, 2020, which had the advantage of a massive lead-in after an NFL game. Prior to that week, it was the largest since February 2020.
In the 18-49 demo, male viewership grew 43% to 675,000 viewers and females increased by 37% to 346,000.
Adults 18-34 expanded by 81% overall going from 226,000 to 408,000 viewers this week.
Adults 35-49 saw a 24% increase from 497,000 to 614,000.
In Canada, SmackDown averaged 214,900 viewers and 76,500 in the 25-54 demographic on Sportsnet 360, which ranked #4 for the night in sports and #3 in the demo airing against the Toronto Blue Jays vs. Cleveland game, which was #1. The replay of SmackDown at 11 p.m. ET on Sportsnet 360 averaged 79,100 viewers and 48,800 in the demo. WWE Main Event also ranked in the top ten sports programs that night with 74,600 viewers and 39,200 in the demo at 10 p.m. ET.
AEW Rampage saw a decline with 348,000 viewers and 139,000 (0.11) in the 18-49 demographic on TNT this past Friday night going into All In weekend.
Viewership dropped by 16% with the 18-49 audience declining by 18% this week.
In the 18-49 demo, males fell 22% to 84,000 viewers and females dropped 11% to 55,000 viewers.
Adults 18-34 saw a 19% decline, which was most affected by a 42% drop among men in the demo while women grew from 18,000 to 21,000 viewers this week.
Adults 35-49 fell 17% this week.
The taped episode of Rampage included a main event tag with Hikaru Shida & Dr. Britt Baker vs. Toni Storm & Saraya and an International Title Match between Orange Cassidy and Aaron Solo.
