Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made a shock return to WWE on Friday and in his wake, viewers adopted.
Based on Wrestlenomics, final Friday’s “SmackDown” was the sixth episode to crack 2,500,000 viewers in 2023, with 2,569,000 tuning in to see The Rock and Pat McAfee return to WWE, after each appeared collectively on ESPN earlier within the day. It is a 23 p.c rise in general viewership from final week. 918,000 viewers from the coveted 18-49 demographic tuned in on Friday, representing a 33 p.c bump from final week.
The Rock’s look, the place he dropped a Folks’s Elbow on perennial punching bag Austin Principle was the highest-rated section in each the general viewership and the important thing demographic, with each demographics bottoming out for the top of Asuka’s match in opposition to Bayley, which noticed Asuka victorious in opposition to the chief of Harm CTRL.
The Rock wasn’t the one particular look on Friday, as former WWE Champion John Cena additionally appeared on “SmackDown,” even crossing paths with “The Nice One” at one level throughout this system. Cena has been again in WWE for a variety of particular appearances and took a flip as a visitor on The Grayson Waller Impact throughout Friday’s episode. Cena was ambushed by Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa to shut the present, as tensions have been constructing between Cena and the previous WWE Undisputed Tag Group Champion.
The Rock talked about earlier within the day that he was set to wrestle a match in opposition to Undisputed WWE Common Champion Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39, however plans have been scuttled. Rock’s return has hung a lampshade on these feedback, as Rock identified that he is obtainable for WrestleMania 40 subsequent 12 months in Philadelphia.
