WWE SmackDown ratings up for Hulk Hogan tribute

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode — featuring a tribute to Hulk Hogan the day after his passing — averaged 1.707 million viewers on USA Network. That’s up 10.4 percent from the previous week and is the best audience total for the show since April 18, which was the night before WrestleMania.

In the 18-49 demo, SmackDown topped all of television with a 0.48 rating. The number is up 6.7 percent from last week and is the highest rating the show has done in that category since April 25, the post-Mania SmackDown.

There was no major sports competition on the night, and SmackDown nearly doubled the next highest-rated show in the key demo, (Celebrity Jeopardy on ABC). SmackDown finished ninth on TV in terms of total viewers in prime time.

As compared to the same week in 2024, when the show still aired on Fox, SmackDown’s overall viewership was down 17.1 percent while the 18-49 rating was down 7.7 percent. The year-over-year numbers are much closer than they have been in any week since the move from Fox back to cable.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership numbers and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 22.2 percent in viewers and 26.3 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.