WWE SmackDown ratings down for WrestleMania Backlash fallout

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown averaged 1.893 million viewers on Fox, down 5.3 percent from the previous week. It’s the lowest viewership the show has done since returning to live touring almost a year ago and is among SmackDown’s lowest totals ever on Fox.

SmackDown finished second on network TV with a 0.40 rating in the 18-49 demo, down 13 percent from the previous week. The show had big competition from an NBA playoff game on ESPN that averaged 5.5 million viewers and drew a 1.83 rating in the demo. SmackDown did top the networks in 18-34 with a 0.27 rating, 35 percent higher than the next best competition. 

In terms of total viewers, SmackDown was last on the networks as it usually is. 

As compared to the same week in 2021, SmackDown was down 4.5 percent in overall viewers and down 9.1 percent in 18-49, which is better than the year-over-year comparisons have been of late. 

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo numbers for SmackDown. This week’s show was down 7.1 percent in viewers and down 23.1 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages in both categories.