Friday Night SmackDown topped all programming in prime-time in the 18-49 demographic while AEW Rampage scored its best figures since September.
The November 22 episode of SmackDown from Milwaukee averaged 1,578,000 viewers and 617,000 viewers (0.46) in the 18-49 demographic to rank first in prime-time on Friday, per Programming Insider & Wrestlenomics.
The show topped ESPN’s coverage of the Golden State Warriors vs. New Orleans Pelicans (1,378,000 viewers and 0.36 in the demo), programming on Fox News, and College Football on ESPN2.
SmackDown was coming off its lowest numbers since moving to the USA Network when it aired against the undercard of the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson card on Netflix. But this week, numbers returned to normal levels with a 28% increase in viewership and a 43% gain among the key demographic.
SmackDown achieved its largest audience since October 11 while the demo was only a two-week high behind the November 8 edition.
The show also ranked first among sports programs on Friday in Canada with 267,900 viewers and 106,500 in the 25-54 demographic on Sportsnet 360 and beat out the Winnipeg Jets vs. Pittsburgh Penguins for the top spot.
SmackDown featured multiple segments involving both versions of The Bloodline and concluded with the reveal of CM Punk as the fifth man for the OG Bloodline heading into WarGames.
AEW Rampage also experienced a boost by averaging 249,000 viewers and 121,000 (0.09) in the 18-49 demographic – increases of 34% in viewership and a big jump of 61% in the demo, per the same outlets.
The demo audience was the show’s largest since September 20 and was Rampage’s highest viewership since October 11.
Rampage ranked #11 among cable programs in prime-time on Friday
The main segment promoted was the weigh-in between “Big Boom” A.J. and QT Marshall on the night before Full Gear. The show was headlined by Mark Briscoe, Tomohiro Ishii & Rocky Romero beating Dark Order’s John Silver, Alex Reynolds & Evil Uno.