Black Friday brings gains for SmackDown, record lows for Rampage

The final television numbers for Black Friday (Nov. 26) are in. As was the case the week before, they show two pro wrestling/sports entertainment shows -- with very different circumstances, mind you — heading in opposite directions.

At 8pm ET on network TV, WWE SmackDown had its biggest audience in over a month. On cable after that show ended, AEW Rampage had its smallest one in the show’s history.

SmackDown drew an audience of 2.149 million for FOX, a 4% increase over Nov. 19. The 18 - 49 year old demographic rating also rose. Last Friday’s .57 was a 9.5% week-over-week increase. It was barely beaten out for first place among broadcast shows by perennial powerhouse How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and won the 18 - 34 demo over the Whos & the Mean One.

In their usual and much less advantageous position at 10pm ET on TNT, Rampage was creamed by the holiday weekend and lots of college sports competition on cable. The 431K viewers the show pulled was more than 22% less than the Friday before. The key demo also took a hit. The .18 rating was 18% increase from Nov. 19 — the second lowest in Rampage’s three-and-a-half month history. For the second straight week, AEW earned their network 17th place on the night.

WWE and FOX’s spirits are likely buoyed by their results, while AEW and TNT brush this one off and hope it’s a holiday weekend anomaly (while reminding themselves nothing else would even pull Rampage’s worst numbers in that time slot).

Source: Showbuzz Daily