WWE Smackdown Dips, AEW Rampage Rises

Welcome back to another edition of the weekend wrestling ratings with WWE Smackdown and AEW Rampage. This week both shows were back at their regularly scheduled times on FOX and TNT.

This week’s edition of WWE Smackdown was viewed by 1,952,000 million people and did .47  in the 18-49 demo. Both the demo and viewership numbers were down from a week ago. This has come as no surprise as early indications were the numbers would not be great for this show.

WWE Smackdown, Friday on Fox, 8-10p:
1,952,000 viewers
P18-49: 0.47
Lowest in both since Jul 2.

AEW Rampage on TNT, 10-11p:
518,000 viewers
P18-49: 0.19
Within range of recent months.

📊 https://t.co/1SscdBCpr8 pic.twitter.com/T2V1cHoBIk

— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) April 25, 2022

This was the lowest number in the 18-49 demo and viewership since July 2 for WWE Smackdown on Fox. Smackdown was the most-watched rated telecast not on ESPN. In the overall demo, Smackdown was 5th.

This week’s episode was a typical episode of Smackdown. WWE is continuing toward Wrestlemania Backlash with the tag team title unification between the Usos and RK-Bro. Riddle took on Jimmy Uso in a one-on-one match. This was probably the best match of the night. Then there was the Ronda Rousey and Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair contract signing. This feud has not lived up to the hype. It is time to move on.

The main event saw Drew McIntyre taking on Sami Zayn in a Lumberjack match. And somehow the match ended in a count-out. This has set up a cage match next week between the two.

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This week’s AEW Rampage was viewed by 518,000  people and did .19 in the 18-49 demo which is about the range for this program. Again AEW Rampage faced stiff competition from the NBA Playoffs. And with the Stanley Cup Playoffs starting Rampage could be moving times on Friday and maybe moving days.

Rampage was up from their previous week’s ratings as the time and day are tough for wrestling. AEW Rampage was ranked 14th on cable according to Showbuzzdaily.com.

This week’s AEW Rampage was good. Adam Cole and Tomohiro Ishii opened the show and was excellent opener. This match is an Owen Hart Tournament qualifier.  Cole got the win, but this is how every Rampage should start with a good match to get the fan’s attention. In addition, we saw Lance Archer in action along with a solid match between Eddie Kingston and Daniel Garcia. The main event was the TBS Championship as Jade Cargill took on Marina Shafir. This was better than expected with the champ moving her undefeated record to 30-0.