WWE SmackDown draws best ratings since post-WrestleMania episode

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown — which took place from Chicago and featured an appearance by CM Punk — averaged 2.336 million viewers on Fox. That’s up 18.2 percent from the previous week and is the largest audience total for the show since its post-WrestleMania episode on April 12th.

SmackDown was second on network TV, and third overall on television, with a 0.73 rating in the 18-49 demo. That number is up 40.4 percent from last week and is also the best rating SmackDown has done in that category since the April 12 episode.

The show went head-to-head with game six of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Final, which topped all of television with a 1.11 rating in 18-49 and averaged more than 4.2 million viewers. SmackDown also went against the Olympic trials that aired on NBC and USA Network.

As compared to the same week in 2023, SmackDown’s overall viewership was down 0.8 percent while its 18-49 rating was up 19.7 percent, so the audience is skewing much younger. It’s the fifth straight week that SmackDown has had a year-over-year decline in total viewers.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 5.9 percent in total viewers and up 19.7 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.