AEW Rampage Struggles While WWE Smackdown Viewership Soars

"WWE SmackDown" may have dipped down a bit in the ratings in the aftermath of Royal Rumble weekend, but it still remains as the "Head of the Table" for Friday night television. Wrestlenomics released viewership information for last Friday and "SmackDown" led the evening in broadcast primetime coming in at #1 overall for the key demographic.

The show was watched by 2,384,000 average viewers; however, that represented a slide of 6% from the previous week. The key demographic was down even more, experiencing a 10% drop from last week's "go-home" episode before the Royal Rumble on Saturday, totaling 790,000 average viewers aged 18-49 for a 0.61 P18-49 rating.

"AEW Rampage," on the other hand, just continues to see a drop week after week as last Friday's episode was watched by 406,000 average viewers, down 11% from the week before. The key demographic continues to see a drop for "Rampage" as well, being watched by 149,000 viewers aged 18-49 for a 0.11 P18-49 rating, down 20% from last week.

From a year ago, the numbers show a sharp decline for "Rampage" with episodes around this same time at 25% higher in total viewership in comparison to last week's while key demographic has suffered a 45% drop-off. "SmackDown," however, is up 10% in total viewership and up 16% in the key demographic from a year ago.

Friday's "SmackDown" followed up on the deterioration of Sami Zayn's relationship with Roman Reigns and The Bloodline post-Royal Rumble. "Rampage" featured The Elite defending their AEW World Trios Championship against the team of Matt Hardy, Ethan Page, and Isiah Kassidy.