WWE Smackdown Viewership & Ratings Report: 7/3/2026

Last week's episode of "WWE SmackDown" featured the aftermath of Night of Champions and Sami Zayn's first appearance on television with the Undisputed WWE Title, and despite the blue brand's ratings increasing over the last couple of weeks, its viewership took a dive this past Friday.

According to Wrestlenomics and Programming Insider, "SmackDown" averaged 1,064,000 viewers and posted a 0.25 in the key 18-49 demographic. When comparing both categories to the week prior, "SmackDown's" total viewership declined by 12%, but interestingly, the results were quite different in the 18-49 demo, which improved by 14%. Despite "SmackDown's" viewership totals taking a hit, the program still managed to top the 18-49 charts for the night on cable.

Although WWE can't be impressed with "SmackDown's" performance on Friday, the show's viewership declining doesn't come as a complete surprise, as the FIFA World Cup has been negatively affecting wrestling ratings across the board. On Friday night, the last hour of "SmackDown" went head-to-head with the final round of 32 game between Ghana and Colombia, which drew 10.3 million viewers. In addition, it doesn't help that last week's "SmackDown" was taped after "WWE Raw" the previous Monday, and full-show results and spoilers were leaked beforehand.

Going forward, "SmackDown" won't face competition from the World Cup, which will give the show the opportunity to increase its viewership on the road to SummerSlam. That being said, the program has struggled to grow its audience over the last 12 months, with "SmackDown's" viewership decreasing by 27% since July 2025. Unfortunately, things aren't looking better for the 18-49 demo, with the category being down by 38% since this time last year. Over the past five weeks, "SmackDown" has barely managed to stay above the one million viewer mark, but with the World Cup coming to an end and SummerSlam on the horizon, the program should be able to turn its luck around in the near future.