WWE Smackdown Viewership & Ratings Report, 4/4/2025

Following a very successful European tour, WWE's main roster returned to the United States with the April 4 episode of "WWE SmackDown," and it's safe to say that it was very newsworthy show. Kevin Owens announced that he would be stepping away from wrestling due to a serious neck injury, Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair's promo battle went off the rails to the point where it had the wrestling world talking, and the WWE Universe got their first glimpse of former AEW International Champion Rey Fenix, who beat NXT Tag Team Champion Nathan Frazer in his debut match.

With "SmackDown" back on home soil, and with WrestleMania 41 looming, the TV ratings were also back to where they were before the European tour. According to The Programming Insider, the April 4 episode averaged a total of 1,578,000 viewers, a 17% rise on the previous week's 1,350,000 viewers, and 3% above the trailing four week average of 1,530,000. There was more happy news for WWE in the 18-49 demographic, as the show posted a 0.47 number, another 17% on the 0.40 number posted for the March 28 episode, and 2% above the trailing four week average, which currently sits at 0.46.

What didn't revert back to normal for WWE was that "SmackDown" did not take first place in the TV rankings for Friday night in any category. The show had to settle for fourth place in both cable telecasts and overall telecasts in the 18-49 and 25-54 demographics, being beaten by the NCAA women's college Final Four basketball tournament that aired on ESPN, with the two games and the ESPN studio show taking the top three spots, and the game between Connecticut and UCLA in particular ranking first for the night in terms of overall viewership, drawing over four million viewers.