WWE NXT 1/7/25 Episode Featuring The Rock Earns Highest Average Viewership Since 2019
"WWE SmackDown" had its first three-hour episode on January 3, "WWE Raw" made its highly anticipated Netflix debut on January 6, and on January 7 it was "WWE NXT's" turn to kick off their 2025 in style with the New Year's Evil special. Fans at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles saw three huge title matches, but one of the biggest stories heading into the show was the last-minute appearance of The Rock, and his presence made a big impact on the TV ratings.
According to Nielsen data gathered by "Variety," the January 7 episode of "NXT" averaged 957,000 viewers. Not only is this a huge 53 percent increase on the 626,000 viewers from the previous week, but also the highest average viewership "NXT" has earned since September 2019, the same month that the show began airing on cable television.
There are only two episodes of "NXT" that have earned higher averages, those being the first two episodes that aired on the USA Network over five years ago. This average will also boost the trailing four-week average for next week's episode, with this current number sitting at 684,000, 40 percent lower than the January 7 rating.
As expected, the key 18-49 demographic, an area that "NXT" has struggled in over previous weeks, also saw a big spike as the show earned a 0.25 number, a massive 67 percent increase on the previous week's 0.15, and a 56 percent gain on the trailing four-week average of 0.16. That 0.25 equated to around 341,000 viewers in the 18-49 demo, making the January 7 number the highest "NXT" has earned since the show debuted on The CW back on October 1, leading to the show ranking in eighth place across all networks for the evening in the primetime hours, according to "Programming Insider."