WWE SmackDown, AEW Rampage Ratings Both See Strong Increases On June 16

Friday night's edition of "WWE SmackDown" ended up being an eventful one, with Jey Uso solidifying his decision to leave The Bloodline with his brother, Jimmy by superkicking Roman Reigns. Meanwhile, immediately thereafter on TNT, "AEW Rampage" had its last episode before the launch of "AEW Collision," featuring a stronger-than-usual headliner in Bandido versus Konosuke Takeshita. In light of that, how did each show fare in the Nielsen ratings?

According to reporting from ShowbuzzDaily as well as Wrestlenomics on both its Twitter and Patreon pages, the June 16 "SmackDown" averaged 2,430,000 viewers overall across its two hours (up seven percent from the previous week), approximately 874,000 of which were in the "key demo" most valued by advertisers, adults aged 18 to 49 (up 11 percent from the week prior). The latter figure translates to a 0.67 rating in P18-49, which made it far and away the top show of the day in the demo among cable originals and broadcast prime time, with U.S. Open golf on NBC finishing in second place by scoring a 0.40 rating.

Perhaps most impressively, "SmackDown" drew an 11.2 share in men aged 18 to 49, meaning 11.2 percent of men in that age group watching television in that time slot were watching the show.

According to the breakdown of the quarter-hour ratings on the Wrestlenomics Patreon page, the closing quarter with The Bloodline gained nine percent over the previous quarter in total viewers (2,317,000 viewers to 2,765,000 viewers) and 16 percent in P18-49 (852,000 viewers to 991,000 viewers). The strongest quarter-to-quarter growth in other segments during that same episode was four percent and five percent in those respective demographics.

For a more extensive picture, the Wrestlenomics Patreon page tracks how "SmackDown" did in various demographics in relation to the median of the prior four weeks' numbers. By that metric, the news in all of the available demographics was positive, with the strongest percentage growth being in adults aged 18 to 34, which increased 22 percent over the median. It was followed by adults aged 18 to 49 at 18 percent, as well as both adults aged 35 to 49 and adults aged 25 to 54 at 15 percent. The other demos listed saw increases within Nielsen's stated ten-percent margin of error.

"AEW Rampage" got some positive news, as well. The show averaged 423,000 viewers overall (up a whopping 45 percent from the previous week), approximately 170,000 of which were in the key demo (up a similarly huge 37 percent from the week prior). That translates to a 0.13 rating in P18-49, which earned "Rampage" 12th place in ShowbuzzDaily's rankings of the day's cable originals.

According to quarter-hour ratings reported on the Wrestlenomics Patreon page, the Bandido-Takeshita main event gained seven percent over the previous quarter in both P2+ and P18-49. The biggest drop came in the second quarter which included Taya Valkyrie versus Trish Adora and the start of the trios match pitting Mark Briscoe, Papa Briscoe, and Aubrey Edwards against Jeff Jarrett, his wife Karen, and Jay Lethal. That quarter lost 13 percent and 18 percent in those respective demographics.

Wrestlenomics' look at the medians of the prior four weeks' numbers was largely positive. The biggest percentage increase came in women aged 18 to 49, with a 55 percent jump over the median. It was followed by healthy increases in adults aged 35 to 49 (47 percent), all viewers outside of the key demo (31 percent), total viewers (30 percent), adults aged 50+ (29 percent), adults aged 25 to 54 (28 percent), and adults aged 18 to 49 (26 percent). The losses came in adults aged 18 to 34, with a concerning 26% drop, and male viewers aged 12 to 34 at 16 percent.