WWE SmackDown Final Viewership For John Cena's Return Down From Last Week
Friday's live post-Money In the Bank edition of WWE SmackDown drew an average of 2.137 million viewers on FOX, according to Nielsen, via Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics.
This final number is up from the overnight viewership that was released on Saturday morning, which was an average of 2.04 million viewers. This number is down 7.49% from last week's final SmackDown viewership of 2.310 million viewers for the return to the road episode.
Friday's SmackDown drew a 0.55 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This is down 16.67% from last week's 0.66 rating. That 0.55 rating represents 709,000 viewers in the 18-49 key demographic, which is down 16.78% from the 852,000 18-49 viewers from last week.
SmackDown went up against the Olympics opening ceremony on NBC, which averaged around 17 million viewers from 7pm until 11pm ET. Friday's show was up 9% compared to the final 4 weeks of the ThunderDome SmackDown episodes. This past Friday's viewership was down 7.49% from the week before, while the 18-49 key demo rating was down 16.67% from the week before.
Viewership for Friday's SmackDown episode was up 11.07% from the same week in 2020, while Friday's 18-49 key demo rating was up 10% from the same week in 2020, which was the post-Extreme Rules episode.
Friday's SmackDown took place from two locations – the Rolling Loud rap festival in Miami, and the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. The show featured several happenings ahead of time – the blue brand return of John Cena, Carmella vs. SmackDown Women's Champion Bianca Belair, Toni Storm's debut, and fallout from Money In the Bank.
Stay tuned for more ratings data. Below is our 2021 SmackDown Viewership Tracker, along with the Top 10 moments from Friday's show:
January 1 Episode: 2.013 million viewers with a 0.53 rating in the 18-49 demographic (New Year's episode)
January 8 Episode: 2.120 million viewers with a 0.56 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 15 Episode: 2.262 million viewers with a 0.67 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 22 Episode: 2.383 million viewers with a 0.63 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 29 Episode: 2.304 million viewers with a 0.62 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 5 Episode: 2.257 million viewers with a 0.65 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Royal Rumble episode)
February 12 Episode: 1.990 million viewers with a 0.57 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 19 Episode: 2.217 million viewers with a 0.59 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 26 Episode: 2.145 million viewers with a 0.54 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Elimination Chamber episode)
March 5 Episode: 2.252 million viewers with a 0.60 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 12 Episode: 2.171 million viewers with a 0.61 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 19 Episode: 2.093 million viewers with a 0.57 rating in the 18-49 demographic
March 26 Episode: 2.191 million viewers with a 0.57 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Fastlane episode)
April 2 Episode: 2.137 million viewers with a 0.57 rating in the 18-49 demographic
April 9 Episode: 2.250 million viewers with a 0.61 rating in the 18-49 demographic
April 16 Episode: 2.119 million viewers with a 0.56 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-WrestleMania 37 episode)
April 23 Episode: 2.121 million viewers with a 0.54 rating in the 18-49 demographic
April 30 Episode: 2.018 million viewers with a 0.49 rating in the 18-49 demographic
May 7 Episode: 2.282 million viewers with a 0.65 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Throwback episode)
May 14 Episode: 1.917 million viewers with a 0.44 rating in the 18-49 demographic
May 21 Episode: 1.933 million viewers with a 0.50 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-WrestleMania Backlash episode)
May 28 Episode: 1.928 million viewers with a 0.50 rating in the 18-49 demographic
June 4 Episode: 1.883 million viewers with a 0.50 rating in the 18-49 demographic
June 11 Episode: 1.944 million viewers with a 0.48 rating in the 18-49 demographic
June 18 Episode: 2.045 million viewers with a 0.54 rating in the 18-49 demographic
June 25 Episode: 1.971 million viewers with a 0.54 rating in the 18-49 demographic (post-Hell In a Cell episode)
July 2 Episode: 1.861 million viewers with a 0.46 rating in the 18-49 demographic
July 9 Episode: 1.986 million viewers with a 0.48 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Final ThunderDome era)
July 16 Episode: 2.310 million viewers with a 0.66 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Return to the road episode)
July 23 Episode: 2.137 million viewers with a 0.55 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Post-Money In the Bank episode)
July 30 Episode:
2020 Total: 113.372 million viewers
2020 Average: 2.180 million viewers per episode (2 FS1 airings)
2019 Total: 112.530 million viewers
2019 Average: 2.164 million viewers per episode (1 FS1 airing)
2018 Total: 122.304 million viewers
2018 Average: 2.352 million viewers per episode
2017 Total: 132.401 million viewers
2017 Average: 2.546 million viewers per episode