WWE SmackDown viewership rose to its highest level in three months for its broadcast on Friday, July 25th, which opened with a tribute to the late Hulk Hogan.
According to Programming Insider and Wrestlenomics, the show averaged 1,707,000 viewers on the USA Network, an increase of 10 percent from the previous week’s figure of 1,546,000. It was the program’s highest total viewership since April 18, 2025.
In the P18-49 demographic, SmackDown scored a 0.48 rating, which was up seven percent from the prior week’s 0.45. This represented the show’s best performance in the demographic since April 25th and made SmackDown the number-one program on all of television for the night.
The broadcast from Cleveland, Ohio, began with the WWE roster on the entrance stage for a 10-bell salute in memory of Hulk Hogan, who passed away on Thursday, July 24th. The tribute also included a video package on his life and career.
Also on the show, a confrontation between Randy Orton, Jelly Roll, Drew McIntyre, and Logan Paul ended in a brawl to build towards their tag team match at SummerSlam. Cody Rhodes also appeared to address his upcoming Undisputed WWE Championship match against John Cena.
The WWE Tag Team Championship match between The Wyatt Sicks and the team of Andrade & Rey Fenix ended in a disqualification. SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis later announced that the teams would be part of a six-pack TLC match for the titles at SummerSlam.
