How Was WWE SmackDown Viewership For A Holiday Episode With John Cena's Return?

This week's 4th of July edition of WWE SmackDown, featuring AJ Styles winning the Independence Day Battle Royal in the main event, drew 2.329 million viewers. This is down 11% from last week's 2.603 million viewers, however the holiday is usually one of the worst nights for television viewership. This week's show also the return of John Cena and Lana vs. SmackDown Women's Champion Naomi.

SmackDown was #1 in viewership and #1 in the 18-49 demographic on cable this week.

In comparison, Monday's RAW drew 2.839 million viewers, down from last week's 2.976 million viewers. It beat SmackDown viewership by 22%.

Below is our 2017 SmackDown Viewership Tracker:

January 3rd Episode: 2.596 million viewers
January 10th Episode: 2.533 million viewers
January 17th Episode: 2.652 million viewers
January 24th Episode: 2.556 million viewers
January 31st Episode: 2.817 million viewers
February 7th Episode: 2.627 million viewers
February 14th Episode: 2.626 million viewers
February 21st Episode: 2.792 million viewers
February 28th Episode: 2.566 million viewers
March 7th Episode: 2.738 million viewers
March 14th Episode: 2.628 million viewers
March 21st Episode: 2.647 million viewers
March 28th Episode: 2.698 million viewers
April 4th Episode: 2.885 million viewers
April 11th Episode: 3.105 million viewers
April 18th Episode: 2.544 million viewers
April 25th Episode: 2.493 million viewers
May 2nd Episode: 2.300 million viewers
May 9th Episode: 2.348 million viewers
May 16th Episode: 2.175 million viewers
May 23rd Episode: 2.328 million viewers
May 30th Episode: 2.350 million viewers
June 6th Episode: 2.349 million viewers
June 13th Episode: 2.072 million viewers
June 20th Episode: 2.597 million viewers
June 27th Episode: 2.603 million viewers
July 4th Episode: 2.329 million viewers
July 11th Episode: