Friday Night SmackDown finishes first among network programs on night before SummerSlam

On the night before SummerSlam, Friday Night SmackDown finished first among network programming despite dropping from the week prior.

The July 29^th edition of SmackDown from Atlanta averaged 2,193,000 viewers and approximately 678,000 (0.52) in the 18-49 demographic – decreases of three and sixteen percent respectively – according to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.

WWE Smackdown, Friday on Fox (8-10pm):
2,193,000 viewers
P18-49 rating: 0.52

AEW Rampage, Friday on TNT (10-11pm):
375,000 viewers
P18-49 rating: 0.11
📊 https://t.co/1SscdBCpr8 pic.twitter.com/Y1iiWfIWQK

— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) August 1, 2022

Last week’s show aired hours after the news of Vince McMahon’s resignation from the company with heightened interest regarding how McMahon’s exit would be addressed.

Excluding last week’s numbers, this would be the highest SmackDown has performed since June 24^th and beat all other network programs on Friday night in the key demographic.

The show also experienced a drop of fifteen percent among adults 18-34 and a seventeen percent loss with adults 35-49.

The show included a ‘Good Old-Fashioned Donnybrook Fight’ between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus to determine the next challenger for the main championship at Clash at the Castle next month.

The final segment included an address by Paul Heyman, who was confronted by Brock Lesnar on the night before SummerSlam in Nashville.

Canadian figures are not available yet due to the holiday in the country and we should have numbers later this week.