Rampage & SmackDown both draw best ratings in months

The ratings are in for Jan. 21, and Friday night’s pro wrestling shows both drew some of the their best numbers in months.

Royal Rumble hype helped SmackDown to a final audience figure was 2.255 million. That was a slightly more than 3.5% improvement from Jan. 14. The really good news for FOX and WWE was with 18-49 year olds. The .64 rating in the key demo for Seth Rollins, Eric Bischoff, Jeff Jarrett, et al was a more than 14% week-to-week increase, and the blue show’s best performance since Sept. 10, 2021.

A rare live broadcast — and, of course, HOOK — served AEW well over on cable. Rampage’s 594K viewers was a nearly 13% improvement from the previous Friday’s taped episode. Mox & Jade Cargill delivered a demo rating of .24 that was up 20% over last week, and the show’s best since Oct. 29.

Rampage will be pre-taped, and HOOK-free, this week with a “Beach Break” edition. SmackDown will feature WWE’s final push to the Rumble.

We’ll see how that changes things.

Numbers courtesy Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston