The pre-Saturday Night’s Main Event edition of “WWE SmackDown” has seen a slight gain in the overall viewership and a notable gain in the all-important key demographic ratings.
The viewership for the May 22 show grew to 1,258,000 viewers from the previous week’s 1,184,000 viewers, according to “Programming Insider.” The blue brand’s viewership for the show was higher than the four-week average, as per “Wrestlenomics,” with it higher by 3% than the month-long average. Despite the gain, “SmackDown” is down in viewership when comparing Q2 2026 numbers to Q1 2025 figures, with the show drawing 10% fewer viewers this year.
Like the average viewership, the 18-49 key demographic ratings have risen for the show, growing from 0.26 for the previous week’s episode to 0.29 for the May 22 edition. It is also slightly higher than the four-week average rating, which currently stands at 0.27. However, the ratings are not showing strong numbers for the quarter compared to Q2 2025, having dropped from an average of 0.41 in 2025 to 0.32 this year.
Last week’s “SmackDown” had a few title matches, which included the Men’s and Women’s United States titles successfully defended by Trick Williams and Tiffany Stratton, respectively. The show ended with a clash between Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn, during which Rhodes’ upcoming opponent, Gunther, attacked the champion while Zayn looked on and did not come to the aid of his friend.
Read the full article here
